WorkingWorki ng t too E Extendxt end D Democracyemocracy t too All  VolumeVlVolume 1 1N1,, NNumberum ber 2  AugustAugus t 20182018 THE NEW MOVEMENT THE CONTINUING STRUGGLE TO ABOLISH IN AMERIKA (2018)

By Kevin “Rashid “ Johnson oned has prompted increasing numbers of 10 civilians, then tortured hundreds more, The Rising Prison Movement to unite in resistance proclaiming sparking international outrage and expo- cross Amerika (home of the “no more!” And the momentum is building. sure of the inhumane conditions in U.S. world’s largest prison population) This “new” Prison Movement is seeing . Agrowing numbers of the impris- growing waves of open resistance to slave In a rare admission of the actual political oned are coming to realize that they are labor and conditions of abuse, which is purpose of subsequent high security units, victims of social injustice. eroding the structures put in place begin- Ralph Arons, a former warden at Marion, Foremost, as victims of an inherently ning nearly 50 years ago to repress the Pris- testifi ed in federal court: “The purpose of predatory and dysfunctional capitalist- on Movement of that era, such as solitary the Marion Control Unit is to control revo- imperialist system, which targets the poor confi nement. lutionary attitudes in prison and society at and people of color for intensifi ed polic- large.”[1] ing, militaristic containment, and selective From Yesterday’s Suppressed Alongside this repression also came con- criminal prosecutions. While denying them Prison Movement cessions to the Prison Movement, includ- ing prison offi cials granting prisoners more access to the basic resources, employment During the earlier wave of the Prison privileges and the federal courts opening and institutional control needed for social Movement (of the 1960s-70s), when the their doors to litigations challeng- and economic security. Deprivations which courts barred their doors against prisoners’ ing their living conditions. But this did not generate “”: economic , crimes lawsuits seeking redress against the inhu- last. of passion, and crimes of attempting to mane conditions that pervade U.S. prisons, As the U.S. prison system expanded cope (through drug use and addictions). the prisoners rose up in resistance. eight-fold and solitary confi nement units Secondly, once imprisoned they become In a dialectical relationship their move- contained prisoner resistance the conces- victims of inhumane abuses, warehousing, ment both informed and was informed by sions were rolled back and the courts soon and one of the most decadent and dehu- revolutionary ideas then prevalent in the made rulings like Turner v. Safl ey[2] and manizing forms of social economic injus- broader social movements of the time, laws like the Prison Litigation Reform tice: slavery. which exposed and challenged the capital- Act[3] were enacted, that in eff ect rein- This rising awareness among the impris- ist system. At the forefront of that move- stated the courts’ old “hands off ” doctrine ment was the original Black Panther Party towards prisoner lawsuits. and allied groups on the outside and Com- CONTENTS rades like George Jackson who formed the Oppression Breeds Renewed The New Prison Movement...... 1 BPP’s fi rst prison chapter on the inside. To suppress that movement and stamp Resistance Arousing Thought, Part 2 ...... 4 out its revolutionary consciousness, the Es- With these reversals abuse conditions in- tablishment began constructing and operat- tensifi ed especially with the vastly expand- Carceral Ableism ...... 7 ing solitary confi nement prisons and units ed use of solitary confi nement, a condition (called Supermaxes and Control Units) at which the U.S. Supreme Court found to be Nothing New ...... 8 an unprecedented level. Beginning with cruel and unusual and constituted torture Letters ...... 9 the Marion Control Unit which opened back in the late 1800s,[4] and the attendant in 1972, after the assassination of George enlargement of prison labor pools to be ex- Editorial Comments...... 9 Jackson by guards, and the peaceful 1971 ploited as free workers. Under these condi- uprising at Attica State Prison that offi cials tions of heightened abuse and exploitation suppressed by murdering 29 prisoners and a new Prison Movement has emerged and is only growing. term solitary confi nement policies and re- Outside protests took place in various cities At each stage of this new movement re- lease some 2,000 prisoners to general pop- across the U.S. in support of the prisoners. cord numbers of prisoners have joined and ulation in 2015. In response to the rising voices of pris- forged unity across racial and tribal lines Inspired by the 2010 GA , in oners resisting slave labor and abusive that the system has traditionally been able 2013, prisoner leaders of the Free Alabama treatment, on August 19, 2017, a March to keep prisoners divided and controlled Movement (FAM) called for a strike in pro- on Washington was undertaken in support by. Even more monumental is unity in test of Alabama’s “running a slave empire” of prisoners and against the 13th Amend- these struggles has been achieved not just and “incarcerating people for free labor”. ment which, enacted at the end of the Civil within individual prisons, but across entire In January 2014, prisoners at four Alabama War in 1865, legalized enslavement of the prison systems and now across the country, prisons took up the strike. As a result of criminally convicted, in violation of inter- with public support spanning the country FAM’s organizing eff orts and collaborating national law written and ratifi ed by the U.S. and reaching international levels. with the Industrial Workers of the World after World War 2, which forbids all forms This has and can only inspire greater (IWW), a committee within the IWW was of slavery and involuntary servitude.[6] levels of resistance and help us refi ne our formed called the Incarcerated Workers Or- Shaken by the protests of September forms of resistance, and methods of orga- ganizing Committee (IWOC), which now 2016, in an unprecedented move states like nizing and communication. has over 800 imprisoned members in 46 Florida locked down their entire prison sys- To these ends I’d like to summarize the states. The IWOC has since played an im- tem hoping to head off any possible upris- major events in today’s growing waves of portant support role in subsequent strikes ings attending the August 19, 2017, Wash- prison resistance and call on readers to join and building public support. Shortly after ington March. Florida went even further to and support the struggles to come. the IWOC’s founding, the IWOC and the serve its prisoners special gourmet meals New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison during the entire four day lockdown (from And Resist We Have! Chapter united as allies in this work, and I August 18-21). When in 2008 a migrant Jesus Manuel as a co-founder of the NABPP and numer- Despite this move Florida prisoners Galindo was left to die in a solitary con- ous other NABPP members joined IWOC. made an end run around offi cials and still fi nement cell from untreated epilepsy, hun- [5] undertook a strike codenamed Operation dreds of detainees at Reeves County Deten- In 2014, all 1200 detainees at the North- PUSH, beginning February 12, 2018, on tion Complex in Pesos, TX took over the west Center in Tacoma, Wash- Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. PUSH complex and put it to the torch. Over $2 ington, went on a 56 day hunger strike, involved prisoners across the state refus- million in damage was reported in an upris- which spread to the Joe Corley Detention ing to turn out for work and boycotting the ing that united detainees from Cuba, Nige- Center in Conroe, Texas, all protesting prison commissary. They were protesting ria, Venezuela, and Mexico. oppressive condi-tions at the facilities. unpaid slave labor, price-gouging in the During December 2010, prisoners in Outside protesters or-ganized in support of system’s commissary and packaging ser- six Georgia prisons went on a mass strike, the strikers. vices, the gain-time scam that replaced pa- role, compounded by extreme overcrowd- protesting unpaid slave labor; solitary con- At each stage of this new fi nement, and other oppressive conditions. ing caused by extreme sentencing, causing Latinos, Blacks, whites, prison tribes of all movement record num- inhumane conditions. orientations, Muslims, etc. united in this bers of prisoners have As Florida prison offi cials scrambled protest. Following the week-long strike, joined and forged unity to replace men who refused to work with two years later at Jackson State Prison, across racial and tribal more compliant ones and transferred and where many of the 2010 strike leaders were lines.... carted off strike participants to solitary con- transferred to, a 44 day hunger strike was fi nement, they falsely reported to the me- staged as guards violently retaliated. In April 2016, prisoners in seven Texas dia that no strike and no retribution against In 2011 and 2013 three historical mass prisons went on a work strike at the call participants occurred. An outright lie. hunger strikes were undertaken by Cali- of leading comrades of the NABPP’s TX As one of Operation PUSH’s main out- fornia prisoners protesting indefi nite soli- branch and IWOC. The month before a side supporters informed me in a letter dur- tary confi nement and other abuses, where spontaneous uprising took place in Ala- ing latter January 2018: 6,000, 12,000, and 30,000 prisoners re- bama at Holman prison, where the new “I am receiving mail daily from prisoners spectively participated. Prisoners in other warden, Carter Davenport, known for his all over FL who are either participating in states also joined the strike – in Virginia, role in physical assaults on prisoners, end- Push or being retaliated against for having Oregon, Washington state, etc. This strike ed up on the receiving end of violence. literature or correspondence with outside united and was led by Blacks, Latinos, and These initiatives in early 2016 inspired a organizations that support the strike, such whites, and all the major California prison call to prisoners across the U.S. to engage as IWOC and FTP. Some have been out- tribes. Which led to a call by the prisoners in a county-wide strike beginning on Sep- right threatened with if they to end all racial and group hostilities, and tember 9, 2016, a date chosen to commem- continue to talk to us … There was only 6 which Cali prison offi cials have repeatedly orate the 1971 Attica uprising. weeks of planning and it was covered by tried to sabotage. This strike and unprec- September 9th proved historical as over 50 news outlets including Newsweek, The edented unity alongside legal challenges by 30,000 prisoners in up to 46 facilities in Nation, Teen Vogue! I think we’re off to a some strike leaders and participants forced 24 states took up various forms of protest good start and the DOC is lying that no one the Cali prison system to reform its long from refusing to work, to hunger strikes, to is participating.” prison takeovers, to disrupting operations. Not only this but I can bear witness to

2 The Kite Florida offi cials’ lying about there being no form you if they are participating in this keep. This was done at taxpayers’ expense. strike nor reprisals, because I also partici- boycott. This oppressive dynamic must con- pated. 4. Hunger strikes: People shall refuse to tinue to be resisted as must the inhumane On the eve of the strike the warden at eat. and dehumanizing conditions that attend Florida State Prison (FSP) had me and The strike will raise the following 10 in Amerika. It was only by nearly a dozen others with whom I was general demands: resistance that the slaves of the old ante- known to socialize split up, which we’d an- • 1. Immediate improvements to the con- bellum slave system eff ectively countered ticipated. This did nothing to prevent our ditions of prisons and prison policies the lies and logic of the ruling powers of planned boycott of the commissary for sev- that recognize the humanity of impris- that system erected by them to justify their eral weeks. In fact it allowed us to spread oned people. institutions of slavery; it was only by uni- the word. • 2. An immediate end to prison slavery. fying in that resistance and sabotage and Then on January 10th the warden had me All persons imprisoned in any place of ultimately fi ghting for their freedom, with charged with a disciplinary report for incit- detention under United States jurisdic- the support of outside allies and comrades, ing FL prisoners to riot, in retaliation for tion must be paid the prevailing wage in that the slaves of the old South destroyed me writing an article explaining the strikes their state or territory for their labor. the system as it was. purpose and the prisoners’ need of public • 3. The Prison Litigation Reform Act But it was only reformed into the sys- support that was published online.[7] After must be rescinded, allowing imprisoned tem of penal slavery that it is now. So we a prompt kangaroo hearing and conviction humans a proper channel to address still have much work to do until slavery in of the infraction I was put in an unheated grievances and violations of their rights. Amerika is abolished once and for all. ● cell with a broken window as outside tem- • 4. The Truth in Sentencing Act and Sen- peratures dipped into the 20s, and guards tencing Reform Act must be rescinded Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win! kept exhaust fans on 24/7 sucking the so that imprisoned humans have a pos- All Power to the People! freezing air into the cell.[8] sibility of rehabilitation and parole. No Yet another call went out, initiated by humans shall be sentenced to Death NOTES any NABPP’s Comrade Malik for a re- by Incarceration or serve any sentence newed round of strikes across the U.S. to without the possibility of parole. [1] Quoted in Stephen Whitman, begin on Juneteenth (June 19, 2018). As • 5. An immediate end to the racist over- “The Marion Penitentiary – It Should be I and several dozen prisoners at Florida’s charging, over-sentencing, and parole Opened-Up Not Locked Down,” Southern Santa Rosa prison where I was then con- denials of Black and Brown people. Illinoisan, August 7, 1988, p. 25. fi ned prepared a commissary boycott for Black people shall no longer be denied [2] Turner v Safl ey, 482 U.S. 78 (1987), this strike, and undertook to build unity parole because the victim of the crime basically established that if prisoner offi - among the prisoners there in solitary (to was white, which is a particular problem cials can invent a rational sounding justifi - counter the culture of guard-manipulated in southern states. cation for violating a prisoner’s established violence between them), I was abruptly in- • 6. An immediate end to racist gang en- constitutional rights the courts will allow terstate transferred back to my home state hancement laws targeting Black and them to act illegally. of Virginia and promptly assigned to a per- Brown people. [3] The “PCRA” is a federal law passed manent solitary confi nement status called • 7. No imprisoned person shall be denied by Congress that makes it diffi cult for pris- Intensive Management. access to rehabilitative programs at their oners to sue in federal courts and get mean- place of detention because of their label ingful relief when they do. Many states as a violent off ender. have adopted similar laws. The Struggle Continues [4] See, In re Medley, 134 U.S. 160 But the struggle doesn’t end there. A • 8. State prisons must be funded specifi - cally to off er more rehabilitative servic- (1890). broad call has gone out for a sustained [5] Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, “Black prison strike from August 21-September es. • 9. Pell grants must be reinstated in all Cats Bond: The Industrial Workers of the 9, 2018, for prisoners across the US. Par- World and the New Afrikan Black Panther ticipants are called on to participate in any, U.S. states and territories. • 10 The voting rights of all confi ned Party-Prison Chapter.” http://rashidmod. several, or all of the following manners: com/?p=1251 1. Work strikes: prisoners will not report to citizens serving prison sentences, pre- trial detainees, and so-called “ex-felons” [6] See, Article 4 of the Universal Decla- assigned jobs. Each place of detention ration of Human Rights, which states: “No will determine how long its strike will must be counted. Representation is de- manded. All voices count! one shall be held in slavery or servitude; last. Some of these strikes may translate slavery and the slave trade shall be prohib- into a local list of demands designed to ited in all their forms.” improve conditions and reduce harm Conclusion [7] Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, “Flor- within the prison. Slavery and oppressive “containment” of ida Prisoners Are Laying it Down.” 2. Sit-ins: In certain prisons, people will the marginalized and poor never ended in (2018) http://rashidmod.com/?p=2498 engage in peaceful sit-in protests. Amerika. The 13th Amendment was passed [8] “How to Organize A Prison Strike,” 3. Boycotts: All spending should be halted. as a compromise to previous slave owners Pacifi c Standard (May 7, 2018) https://ps- Those outside the walls are asked to not whereby they could continue to exploit the mag.com/social-justice/how-to-organize- make fi nancial judgments for those on labor of disempowered people, but now a-prison-strike. the inside. People on the inside will in- free of the burden of paying for their up-

Volume 1, Number 2 3 AROUSING THOUGHT WHILE BUILDING PUBLIC OPINION Part 2 [This is the second part of a two part ar- so that the ideas are preserved in and business into their own hands, have ticle. It was too long for all of it to fi t into carried through. And so on, over and “set up” control over the insignifi cant our fi rst issue of The Kite.] over again in an endless spiral, with minority of capitalists, over the gentry, the ideas becoming more correct, more who wish to preserve their capitalist By Jose H. Villareal vital and richer each time. Such is the habits, and over the workers who have Marxist theory of knowledge.” been completely demoralized by capi- People’s Literature From the masses to the masses is the pro- talism – from this moment the need for n any social Movement throughout cess as Mao explained of taking the ideas government begins to disappear.” history the momentum, at some point of the people and synthesize them in their A true people’s lit exposes the states er- Iwhen facing an oppressor, there will be most advanced form and take them back rors at every turn. It also shows the people a need for the people’s side to be told. This to the people. This method is repeated and ways in which to rely on our own eff orts will mean that a people’s literature will be built on so that our ideas become more and kicks state parameters and infl uence needed and a cadre of writers will need to advanced and closer to truth. Because our to the curb. This is when as Lenin says the be unleashed. This works to educate the social reality, along with all phenomenon need for the state becomes unnecessary in people who may be bystanders to the par- is constantly changing this process never the minds of the people. ticular struggles while bringing more to ends. We constantly need to assess and re- There are dual struggles in constant bat- understand that we stand on the side of jus- assess the people’s thoughts and politicize tle within the people. These manifest in si- tice. Our version of history will require our the most advanced theory. lence and speaking out. Through passivity own writers. It’s important that we arouse the Lumpen and activity and resistance and surrender. In WHAT IS TO BE DONE Lenin de- to wield the power of the pen. Lit is a part These struggles will ultimately determine scribes the use of literature as a form of of culture and culture is an ideological the fate of our oppression. Paulo Freire war. He described this method of strug- weapon, one we need to use in the class described ones perception as an “interven- gling via the pen as “exposure literature” struggle of the imprisoned Lumpen and tion” in an oppressive reality. One that is where in Russia in his day this literature the state. Our target audience fi rst and not in the oppressor’s interest. The state sought to expose working conditions of the foremost is prisoners. It is essential for the would rather prisoners not read of struggles Proletariat and these writings were most prison mass to understand it is oppressed or revolutionary theory, of national libera- eff ective. The Russian proletariat were the and then to realize its power. tion, nor of socialism because it weakens most revolutionary at the time in Russia. In Political literature has a real role in the its hold on our oppression. So, in this sense the same vein our people’s literature needs building of true political power. An organ it is a struggle in the realm of ideas. to highlight the contradiction between pris- in any mass movement is its scaff olding Writing allows us to venture outside our oners and the state, shine a light on the which ensures a strong theoretical training oppression and not only visualize a world various forms of oppression that we face in and guidance. This is important because in where our land is not is not occupied by the U.S. prisons. any struggle, at some point it needs a defi - oppressor nation, but identify steps which Just as the state has propaganda, the nite political character. The prison struggle overturn our oppression. The use of lan- people need our propaganda arm as well. for human rights is no diff erent. If this is an guage is a rich medium full of a trove of This is possible via publishing no matter embryonic class struggle that we are facing expression and lessons. The use of fi gura- what kind of concentration kamp we may in prison than we cannot fall back on primi- tive language for example, is understood fi nd ourselves in. Our writing should be tive modes of struggle, we need to ensure in ways other than its literal meaning. Just harvested from the people from the people we meet 21st century needs, this would in- like the word Aztlan when used today in in the method of “from the masses, to the clude a strong propaganda arm. discussing the Chican@ national territory, masses”. Mao explains this process as fol- Social media, the creation of pamphlets, we do not mean its HISTORICAL defi ni- lows” the production of solid articles and litera- tion of the origin of the Mexica, rather of “In all the practical work of our Par- ture which deliver powerful portrayals of what it implies to the Chicano@ nation ty, all correct leadership is necessarily prison oppression and our struggles to ob- TODAY and is LAND. “from the masses, to the masses”. This tain justice should be pursued with as much The writer should understand words, means: take the ideas of the masses vigor as we can espouse. their power and the contradictions. Paulo (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and A people’s literature should expose the Freire defi nes the contradictions in words concentrate them (through study turn fallacy of the state while promoting inde- as “refl ection and action” where they are them into concentrated and system- pendence of the oppressed internal nations fused together in a unity of opposites. atic ideas), then go to the masses and within the U.S. as well as the imprisoned Words are at once refl ective and active in propagate and explain these ideas until Lumpen. Such examples transform a peo- the consciousness of the reader, thus they the masses embrace them as their own, ple and ideologically unhitch the people become transformative. It is then no sur- hold fast to them and translate them from the oppressor. As Lenin said it: prise when we read history and how books into action, and test the correctness of “From the moment all members of were targeted in oppressive societies, or these ideas in such action. Then once society or even only the overwhelming how the CDCR states that “gang leaders” again concentrate ideas from the mass- majority, have learned to administer are held in the S.H.U’s. It is then no sur- es and once again go to the masses the state themselves have taken this prise why the state would want to prevent

4 The Kite leaders of the oppressed from advancing all culture within U.S borders for hundreds understand this term since it is used against their knowledge and keeping revolutionary of years, but we were all mostly born and us so much. theory away from its S.H.U’s. Amplifi ed raised with the oppressor’s view of his- “Crime” in the U.S. is debatable, be- analysis of these concentration kamps are tory, of world events, of what is right and cause what is considered a crime in this needed more today. We know this because wrong. The oppressor has framed what is society may not be a crime if this were the state is attempting to smother this anal- morally right for us and our ancestors. We another society. Crimes in the U.S. are po- ysis so it is a signal to unleash it as never have all attended the oppressors “schools” litical because we live in a political soci- before. (brainwash kamps) and have learned to act ety. Because we live under an occupation, Prison theoreticians can’t theorize with- in self-destructing ways. where the laws are the laws of the oppres- out the prison masses. Lumpen theory The oppressor has been so crafty that sor nation, the colonizers rules, it means without the Lumpen ain’t shit. Lumpen many Third World peoples have been brain- its laws are questionable to say the least. theory should be one with, and provide a washed into believing they are a part of the When we liberate our land and rid it of the clear translation of the challenges within oppressor nation, even when they stand on oppressor we can install people’s courts to prisons and defi ne ways to combat the op- land stolen from their people by this same determine what crime will be. Occupying pressive constructs. This should be writ- oppressor. It’s incredible. At some point in another people’s land will surely be seen ten from the oppressed perspective. This the process of consciousness the oppressed as a crime. is the only way to locate a real remedy to will be faced with some critical junctures One author described crime as follows: our situation. Theory is important and its in the path forward. Freire describes these “There can be no universal theory core theorizing is teaching and teaching predicaments of the oppressed as: for “crime”, because it is defi ned by is liberating. The essential act then of the “Their ideal is to be men, but for the shifting boundaries of the law and theoretician is to help the people to liber- them, to be men is to be oppressors. law enforcement, and the objectives of ate themselves, not in the physical sense This is their model of humanity, this a given ruling class.” at this stage, but through their ideas. Their phenomenon derives from the fact that Here the author reveals how laws in any thought should advance, grow and expand the oppressed at a certain moment of given society are created by those in pow- in ways that benefi t the oppressed and dis- their existential experience adopt an er. In the U.S. the ruling class has created tinguish the oppressor. attitude of “adhesion” to the oppres- laws which in most cases reinforces the The oppressor nation understands the sor. Under these circumstances they oppressive nature of our reality. The poor danger of a thinking Lumpen. This is be- cannot “consider” him suffi ciently are criminalized in ways which secure the cause it will ultimately be the Lumpen and clearly to objectivize him to discover states grip on power. The term “criminal” Third World people who fi nally put this him “outside” themselves”…..and is more if their propaganda which is used baby to sleep. So prisoners have a major Freire here even goes so far as saying to divide the people and ensure that those role in the future of this society, being of “the one pole aspires not to liberation, on the bottom of the heap receive no sup- the Lumpen class, prisoners when politi- but to identifi cation with its opposite port from anyone outside their class. So cally conscious are amongst the state’s big- pole.” that even within one’s particular national- gest threats. Organized Lumpen are the So, Freire reveals that the reality of op- ity they are separated from the rest of their states enemy. The state fully grasps this, its pression can end up blurring the lines of respective nation and looked down upon as why so many are tortured in isolation con- oppressed vs oppressor to the point where a “criminal”. centration kamps. The prison writer when some model the oppressor and seek out Because the oppressor controls the press striking up theory, is almost like a transla- those same trinkets that lure the individu- and offi cial documents as well as the laws tor who delivers these truths to these con- alist out into the abyss. Rather than want- they can write falsehood and not only will trol units and beyond. ing to get free, the oppressed can end up much of the public believe it but many pris- wanting to be oppressors. This is the real oners may as well. Recently CDCR passed Oppressors Literature danger that is at hand for any people who out a new “Notice of Change to Regula- As we begin to delve deeper into what suff er oppression. This process is nothing tions” dated 6-9-15 which states in part: a people’s literature is, this analysis would new, it is no big shocker and is not being “There is no ‘solitary confi nement’ not be complete without studying its oppo- discovered in this writing because we can in California prisons and the SHU is site which is the oppressor’s literature and look back to history and see it re-appear not ‘solitary confi nement’. Many SHU propaganda. One cannot fully understand over and over, it should then not surprise inmates in fact have cellmates. The any phenomenon without also studying its us if it arises in U.S. prisons. conditions of confi nement in CDCR opposite because one cannot know what When we are dealing with the oppres- facilities, including the SHU have propels the other to struggle. sor’s literature or press we have an uphill been reviewed and monitored by ex- First, it’s important to understand that as battle for sure. Writers are fi ghting a war ternal agencies, including the offi ce of prisoners our oppressor (the state) controls of words, with the people’s writers on one the Inspector General.” the media as far as main stream news out- side and our oppressor’s writers on the I read this notice, which is becoming lets etc. The bourgeois press is the states other side. So we should understand that the rules to the prisons in Califas, and as mouthpiece so they support the states view one of their main weapons in these battles I sat in solitary confi nement I read about on its war on the poor. The poor are often is to label us as “criminals.” For most out how the state is saying there is no solitary labeled as “criminals” and worse by the in society the term “criminal” frightens confi nement. It made me think what our press. Because of the oppressors grip on them. Some prisoners may even become situation would be like if no prison writers power it has not just controlled the over- demoralized by this term, but we should existed and the only thing that people out

Volume 1, Number 2 5 in society learned about prisons was from the oppressor. It would be a sad situation. CARCERAL ABLEISM AND DISABILITY The oppressor’s press will continue to JUSTICE write, as CDCR Director Beard did in his The following is adapted from the Rust- really be cautious about the diff erence be- op ed for the L.A. Times during our hunger belt Abolition Radio episode “Carceral tween creating the new or reproducing the strike. By prisoners not engaging in creat- Ablism and Disability Justice’, featur- old. The point is not to assimilate people ing literature which promotes our struggles ing an interview with Liat-Ben Moshe, into the society as it is now, the point is to it will not make the oppressor stop its lit- co-editor of ‘Disability Incarcerated: Im- completely change what we have now, in- erary off ensive, it will only give up this prisonment and Disability in the United cluding abolishing systems like racism and battlefi eld to the oppressor. States and Canada’. To read or listen to the capitalism. Which is something that rights full interview, visit https://rustbeltradio. movements not necessarily are prepared to Conclusion: org/2018/01/10/ep13 do, especially with capitalism and settler Education is something that the state at- Edited by Emily Sarah Gendler Zisette colonialism, maybe racism too. tempts to keep out of our reach if it in our And so if a rights movement is more true interests. Their attempts to ban pub- iat Ben-Moshe: What I think is about fi ghting for the rights to employment lications and writings from prisoners in really important is that when we for people with disabilities, I would say recent times refl ects this. This is because think about abolition as only tear- disability justice would be more concerned revolutionary education leads to CON- L ing down, what it leads us to is what James about people’s value, regardless of whether SCIOUSNESS. Consciousness is the key Kilgore calls carceral humanism. And what or not they’re employed. So this idea of to one’s deliverance from oppression of I would call carceral ableism, really. It’s going beyond the productive citizen, that’s all types. Prison writers are the visionar- this idea that we can make a more humane more out of the purview of the disability ies which take the prison experience and carceral state. […] We can do things that rights movement. […] But what disability translate it to others in prison and outside alleviate the suff ering of people right now, studies, I think, does really, really well is to of these concentration kamps. The prison in terms of the current prison conditions. talk about how disability is constructed by theoretician see’s those path’s which are And one of the things that’s problematic the social. And the social could also be eco- not yet cut and inject theory into our world with that approach alone is exactly this dif- nomical, the social could also be geograph- so that others can build on these thoughts. ference, between tearing down and build- ical, the social could also be environmental One of our strength’s even as prisoners ing anew. – and all of those connections – but it’s to is in our writing. This is one way that we So rehabilitation is also imbued in these convey that disability is not in people. It’s express what cannot be expressed in any kinds of carceral logics. Because we know not in people, it’s not in minds, it’s not in other way because of our location. from people who […] psychiatric survi- bodies. It’s in the interface of those things The prison writer captures history vors, people who identify as mad, crazy, with environments, and societies, and cul- and enshrines it in annals of the people’s consumers, ex-patients, anti-psychiatry, tures, and histories. The idea that disability thought. Imprisoned writers should propa- these are all diff erent defi nitions that people is not inferior, so diff erence by itself does gate Lumpen thought and keep it moving might umbrella under. They tell us that for not need to be in a hierarchy. So if we just toward complete liberation of the people. a lot of them, forced medication for exam- had disability by itself, in which people are There are many ways in which an op- ple, hospitalization, these are also imbued just diff erent, I don’t think we would be pressed people can struggle. Revolutionar- within the same kind of carceral logics that having this kind of conversation even. The ies in Turkey for example had their armed try to rehabilitate the productive citizen. fact is that disability is in a hierarchy, by underground wing “Kurdistan Workers Which is of course based on white, settler, which able-bodiedness or able-mindness, Party” (PKK), which has an urban semi- male, able bodied, straight, all these kind is defi nitely superior to disability. And that underground wing called “Union of Com- of norm inducing ideas of what productive is the problem, and that is the problem that munities in Kurdistan” (KCK) and an means. And so to create this kind of model we seek to abolish. above ground liberal wing called “Peace citizens through rehabilitation, and this is So what disability studies does really Democracy Party” (BDP) which has seats something that we also know from schol- well, is to connect movements who see dis- in the Turkish Parliament. They correctly ars who have done work on the connection ability as a form of identity and pride. Take understand that there is a need for the op- between prison and settler colonialism es- pride in their identity, and it doesn’t mean pressed to struggle on diff erent levels. This pecially in the US, is that the work of re- that they everyday wake up and say, “Oh, is because there are diff erent spheres to the habilitation is the work of the settler state. I’m disabled and beautiful, and proud! And oppressor. The point is to rehabilitate the savage, to everything is sunny and roses, and I get all Prison writers need to be unleashed and create this modern, educated citizen which the services I need, and I live a happy life!”. work toward combatting the state propa- is never the indigenous. Never the person No. But it’s really I think radical, to think ganda. We need our own press and our own of color, never the disabled person, and so about disability as beautiful, and to think cadre of powerful writers. ● on. And of course, not the intersections of about disability as part of biodiversity. And all these. to think about disability as something that Mother Jones said: "I have never had And so, if we understand rehabilitation we can be proud of, even if we are not al- a vote, and I have raised hell all over as that, it’s a form of violence. And so this ways are. Just like we’re not always proud this country. You don't need a vote to is not an alternative to incarceration, this of being queer, we’re not always proud of raise hell! You need convictions and a is a form of a carceral logic. And if we being women, and sometimes it’s shitty. voice!." connect that to DuBois, again we should [Interviewer] a Maria: What are a

6 The Kite couple of examples of the intersections be- selves. In certain cultures, this is consid- for example? Case managers, occupational tween race and disability, as well as impris- ered a sign of being closer to some kind of therapists, all these professions, they’re onment? deity or god. Not to romanticize any of this, built on the backs of people with disabili- Liat Ben-Moshe: Absolutely, that’s a but of course somebody would do that in ties. A lot of whom are of course, people of great question. We’re close to Flint, as this society, we incarcerate them. So our re- color. And I’m not saying these are not pro- just one example of what’s going on right sponse is to do the exact same behavior that fessions to be had, I’m not saying people now. In terms of population of people of people have, are very diff erent culturally, don’t deserve if they need to, to go to an oc- color, poor people, that are going to have and are also very diff erent across time and cupational therapist or something like that. very high rates of disability unfortunately. geographical areas and so on. And so, if we But what I’m saying is, that it’s really in- Because of lead based poisoning. This is understand both race and disability in this teresting that those are the people we see as just one example of so, so many that are kind of way as really socially constructed, burdens. And yet they bring so much profi t connecting the intersection of race and dis- I think it’s really important to talk about into the economy at large, and if they didn’t ability. And there’s a lot of historical con- that intersection as well. So I’m really in- exist, we didn’t have all these other profes- nections of that kind. In an article that I did terested in talking about the intersection sions. So that’s a really interesting dynamic with Jean Stewart, we talk a lot about that of impairment and race, but also the inter- that we often don’t talk about. intersection, especially in regards to envi- section of disability and race, as a cultural ronmental induced disabilities in prisons. marker. And in both of those ways, they’re EPILOGUE So we talk about a few examples of par- both devalued. Andres: The foundational imbrications ticular prisons that were built on sites that This really leads us to think about the of ableism and the carceral state are evident were known to be environmentally toxic, surplus populations that you mentioned. not only in the marked overrepresentation and a kind of production of disability that So if we take that to understand disability of disabled people within formal sites of happens because of the legacy of the toxic- and race as being socially constructed, well incarceration, and among the survivors of ity of those sites. And this is going to aff ect often within capitalist societies, which of police violence, but moreover in the forms people’s lives for a very long time, some- course is what we live in. And not just capi- of surveillance, discipline, and confi nement times even generationally. talism, but racial capitalism, and settler ra- that structure a host of institutions typically a Maria: How does the devaluation of cial capitalism in the US case, then we can understood as outside the purview of the disabled people because of their suppos- think about how do we reproduce disability carceral state, such as: nursing homes, psy- edly “non-productive” embodiment con- and race. Especially their intersection, as chiatric institutions, and rehabilitation cen- nect to racial capitalism’s rendering of a kind of burden on society. And when we ters, among them. Moore turns our atten- particular populations as “surplus,” or “re- think about who are the burdens on society, tion to the generative relationship between dundant” from the vantage point of capital? the “disposable” bodies, and I’m saying disability justice and abolition. If abolition Liat Ben-Moshe: The reason why I burden of course with quotations. I don’t means creating a world in which, as Ruth think it’s really important to understand really mean that, but I mean from the point Wilson Gilmore puts it, “there is no bound- it from those angles is because, as a dis- of view of settler, racial capitalism. ary or border [used to] keep somebody in abilities studies scholar and as an activist, Well, these are the unproductive that we or keep somebody out[,]” then abolition I think we understand disability a little bit talked about earlier, the need of the state to must be the practice of dismantling the vio- diff erently maybe than the way a lot of make people productive. So the unproduc- lent walls erected by ableism and imagin- people understand disability. I think the tive would be people of color, particularly ing a world in which a great diversity of way a lot of people understand disabil- men of particular age, and we know that bodyminds can fl ourish. ● ity, is that impairment, as something that they are worth much more to the gross do- makes you not being able to do something. mestic product when they are in prison. Oc- And the way that we understand disability cupying prison beds, and it doesn’t matter Editorial Comments within disability justice, disability studies, if the prison is for profi t or not. The same If you are planning to participate in is that disability is really the interaction logic happens in both, so it’s not just about the natiuonal work strike, the editors of between people and their environment. So private prisons. But they’re worth more this newsletter urge that it be orderly and for a lot of us, we wouldn’t be disabled if to the gross domestic product if they’re in peacefully carried out. We don't have to tell it weren’t for environmental barriers that prison, than they are when they’re not. And you how the public will react to violence are put in place. And these barriers could the same is true for people with disabili- and property destruction. This is what your be capitalism, but it could also be people’s ties, and of course people who are disabled captors want. Don't oblige them. attitudes, and it could also be not having of color, are worth more in nursing homes, The root of the failure of self-givernment ramps or having interpreters, or not having and in institutions, and in prisons, than they at Walla Walla during the early 1970s was everybody speak sign language, or com- are in their own beds. the unwillingness of that government to en- municating only orally. Or all these kind of This is what Martha Russell called force discipline within the population. things that we decided as a society, that we “handicapitalism”, it’s a “great” alchemy Were I on the inside right now, I would are going to do. So this is not something that capitalism does where it makes the be ensuring that hot-heads witrhin the pop- in people’s bodies, but it’s the connection unproductive into super productive. And uilation were under fi rm control. Any so- between people’s bodies and the societies we created this whole industry of both the ciety must have rules and, at this point in in which they live, and the environments in prison industrial complex, but also the in- human history, that includes the means to which we live. stitutional industrial complex, and also the enforce those rules. So for example, people talk to them- health industry. What are social workers, Until next month, good luck.

Volume 1, Number 2 7 them against one another, favoring one be able to determine if prisoners want to NOTHING NEW group over the other, in respects to Jobs, go home or not is total BS, by integrating By Mutope Duguma etc. I been in Calipatria three (3) years, SNYs and GP prisoners who should’ve An End To Hostilities” is an agree- and there have been countless incidents never been separated in the fi rst place. ment/document that was brought forth where staff attempted to instigate or agi- Those of us who were manipulated into “to build Peace amongst the Prison tate violence amongst prisoners, but due this violence have fi rst-hand experience on Class, which means that strong communi- to our AEH we have been able to coun- how it works, and we are doing what we cation between the groups will to be used ter these attacks through Sound Com- can to educate those prisoners who don’t to end any problems that may surface with- munication, rooted in respect for what see the un-seen hand of CDCr. Because, in prisons. is right!!! unlike our past, we are today very mature We prisoners had to come to terms with 2. It was CDCr who created the debriefi ng thinking men and women who have taken the realization that our inactions have al- program that put prisoners against pris- responsibility for our roles inside the man- lowed prison offi cials to suppress us under oners that led to thousands of prisoners made madness, by coming together and their Social Tyranny, where we have been becoming informants (i.e., snitches) and establishing An End To All Hostilities, held in what we call ‘protracted this was done by torturing each of these whereas the Four (4) Principle Groups violence.’ From 1979 to 2009, prison vio- prisoners held in solitary confi nement agreed on their word alone to end this pris- lence would devastate prisoners throughout units, that forced many of them into be- on violence amongst the races, which has CDCr, and sadly would do the same to our ing informants. saved countless lives thus far today. communities, where we would also be con- 3. It was CDCr who created the indeter- What is CDCr’s objective to off -set the ditioned to this violence inside of Califor- minate SHU program that held men many positive programs/ policies that s nia prisons. Based on gathered intelligence, and women indefi nitely inside of soli- aff ording prisoners the opportunity to go there has never been an impartial nor thor- tary confi nement units, through a gang home? CDCr’s objective, as always, is that ough investigation into how prison offi cials validation process that allowed them to Peace goes against their bottom line: Profi t- allowed such violence to occur as well as remove all the “unfavorable” prisoners ing off Prisoners. spread into our communities. off general population, where prisoners So, as long as CDCr offi cials want to use Prisons, no matter what their classifi ca- where held for decades; the longest up violence in order to secure their income, tion levels, I, II, III or IV, are very dan- to 44 years. there will be violence in prisons. (See re- gerous environments. They house mostly 4. It was CDCr who created the Sensitive cent article by Nashelly Chavez, May young people; those who suff er from drugs Needs Yards (SNY), which is one third 27, 2018, titled: California Prisons Phase and alcoholism. Least we cannot forget (1/3) of the prison population today… out ‘Sensitive Needs Yards’ Critics See A those undeveloped minds, which have yet SNY prisoners who are, or were, “keep Rough Transition.) to become rational thinking men and wom- aways” from general population prison- We are an expendable source, therefore, en. Therefore, it’s relatively easy to social- ers for various reasons such as: infor- our lives have no value to our keepers. It ly engineer prisoners under social tyranny mants, child molesters, rapists, Elderly, is us who put value in our lives and this by manipulating confl icts that lead to their etc., all of whom requested to be placed is where our power comes from, Reclaim- destruction. in protected custody. ing our Humanity. The violence is Nothing Prison offi cials have total control over 5. It was CDCr who set up the Gladiator New. ● all prisoners held in CDCr and this aff ords Fights inside Corcoran State Prison Se- One Love - One Struggle’ them the power to impose their will upon curity Housing Unit – CSP-SHU in the Mutope Duguma prisoners as they try to see fi t. 1980s, that led to seven (7) prisoners So, prisons and citizens of this country being murdered in cold blood and thou- Mutope Dugumais at CSP Calipatria. He should not be surprised to see that CDCr is sands of prisoners being wounded and is a member of the Human Rights Move- managing prisoners with violence in order beat on in these confl icts instigated and ment First Amendment Campaign and to secure their best interest: Higher Pay and agitated by CDCr offi cials. PLEJ for Liberation and is a prolifi c au- Job Security. Peaceful prisons go against 6. It was CDCr who did away with all the thor, with articles published in the SF Bay CDCr agenda, and therefore, violence has positive incentive programs that led to View and many other places, including his to be its trademark. the hopelessness that we see throughout website, http://www.mutopeduguma.org. This explains why CDCr would want to cdcr today. Write to Mutope at Mutope Duguma (s/n disturb the current peace achieved by more 7. It was CDCr who did away with nutri- J. Crawford), D-05996, CSP Calipatria experienced prisoners who have built soli- tious foods and went to non-nutritious B-5, C-242, P.O. Box 5005, Calipatria, CA darity around our “Agreement to End All foods, starting in 1997, that is today hav- 92233-5005. Hostilities” (AEH). CDCr needs to ‘come ing an adverse eff ect on prisoners health clean’ and take responsibility for their role and behavior. in fueling so much of the violence between These failures on CDCr’s, part led to prisoners. deadly consequences for prisoners. The See, They Are Employable The million-dollar question for all tax senseless violence we experienced in the BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho prison of- payers is: Why disturb such a Peace??? past is now being introduced again by fi cials say 364 inmates hacked the JPay Case and Point: CDCr, who continue to fi nd ways to so- tablets they use for email, music and games 1. It was CDCr who manipulated the racial cially engineer prisoners under Social Tyr- and collectively transferred nearly a quarter violence between prisoners by putting anny… The claim that they (CDCr) will million dollars into their own accounts.

8 The Kite LETTERS LETTERS Hi Kite! Thus, if administration wants to discrim- toms Enforcement and the fami- Just heard about your newsletter from the inate against pagans, Jews, Muslims or lies you are forcibly kept from. folks at Causerie. Please place me on your other groups, by policy they can by simply You are held in those for profi t mailing list. pulling or not issuing sponsor badges to the , whose aims are to main- There is an exciting amount of collective people that want to volunteer their time in tain a rotten nationalist- racist- action going on in my neck of the woods the prison. Even groups that already have capitalistic social order. The Au- here at Monroe Correctional Complex- sponsors live in constant fear of this. The gust 21st National Prison Strike Washington State Reformatory (MCC- Jewish community here at WSR has had a called for strikes and boycotts WSR). Here we have the Black Prison- thriving program for many years that was in and against those so called ers Caucus (BPC) and Concerned Lifers nearly destroyed by the Chaplin here by immigration detentions for a reason, to ac- Organization (CLO). Both these groups simply taking away the volunteers’ sponsor knowledge for the world that our struggles are led by currently incarcerated people & badges. are not separate. work from prison abolitionist & consensus So here’s your mission, should you The Prison Industrial Slave Complex is a frameworks. The ‘UniversityBeyondBars. choose to accept it. Fill out the paperwork massive dehumanization business. With the org’ (UBB) is an AA degree program which on the DOC web-site to be a sponsor at ongoing rages against the detentions, we was originally a BPC project & now is it’s your local prison. There are about a dozen now feel justifi ed in our call for National own separate organization. Healing Edu- scattered across the state. Even if you can Strikes and outside protests against these cation and Accountability for Liberation only commit to showing up once a month, places (immigration, federal, state, and (HEAL) grew out of a collaboration be- add three other people to that & suddenly jails) that for the most part are warehouses tween the CLO & BPC to bring the Insight- there’s a weekly program. Or maybe you of human bodies. PrisonProject.org (IPP) in California up to join an already existing program. It takes Those occupying the so called immi- Washington State. over a dozen volunteers to make the UBB gration detentions must not allow a small [HEAL] gives us incarcerated folks an work any given week & who knows, may- concession by a policy change make you opportunity to participate in restorative be you will be the last sponsor standing that go away. You hold the keys to change. A justice healing circles. ‘Unloop.org’ is an- keeps a program alive when the next time full demand to abolish Immigration and other education program, this one focused the DOC tries to arbitrarily shut down a Customs Enforcement should be the only on computer programming. It brings Web program. resolution on the table. Otherwise the same developer programs into the prison & helps However that plays out, there are thou- problems will persist. Strike now, and strike graduates from the program upon release sands of men, women & children being hard while the momentum is going. August get internships & the basic gear they will warehoused in Washington State’s part of 21, thousands of prisoners in other places need to be a programmer. the PIC. We need you. of detention will be joining at all costs. While it sounds super exciting that all In solidarity, Amber Kim, We will keep the beam on so called im- this wonderful work is happening at MCC- migration. No let up. WSR, let us contrast with Washington State Abolish ICE Educate, organize, mobilize! Resist! Penitentiary West Complex (WSP-WC) Solidarity with those detained (children, Abolish ICE! where I did eight years closed custody women, and men) by immigration and Cus- Emily Sarah Gendler Zisette time. There is no group there which runs on consensus or is so much as informed by prison abolition. They have programs there like thinking about your thinking & anger management & control training. For a short time there was a Toastmasters Club, however, administration shut it down by revoking the sponsor badges of the won- derful people who came into the prison & allowed us to have a club. The administra- tion used similar tactics to halt religious & other programs from existing. No WICCA circle, no Jewish services, rarely Muslim services, even AA (alcoholics anonymous) was shut down through this tactic for fi ve of the eight years I was there. The reason this tactic works is because according to DOC policy incarcerated people cannot meet without someone from outside the prison coming in to sponsor the group.

Volume 1, Number 2 9 Solid Black Fist Free Electronic Copy A new Seattle-based newsletter for prisoners. A Solid Black Fist Outside people can read, down- can be reached at the following load, or print current and back is- address. This is a great newslet- sues of The Kite newsletter by going ter--a hudred percent behind the to https://thekite.info and clicking on struggle for justice. Write for a back issues of The Kite newsletter sample copy: they'd like to read. Solid Black Fist Outside folks can also have a 14419 Greenwood Ave. N. Suite free electronic copy of the newslet- A #132 ter sent to them each month by way of email. Send requests for a digital Seattle, WA 98133 copy to [email protected]

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