How Prisoners Use Zines to

Empower Themselves &

SUBVERT

The Mass Incarceration
Slave System

Address for the "Made in America” Event
at the Maryland Art Place

May 4th, 2017 (131st Anniversary of Haymarket)
By, Anthony Rayson of South Chicago ABC Zine Distro
Maryiand ArtPlace
Api 27, 2017

Synopsis

1n 1865, hethrteenih amendment 1o the Constufon banned savery and invourtary serviade
e U.S, but wih one excepion 0 the clause: ‘a5 # punishment for rme whoreol the party
‘shal have boen duty convictoc”

Today, the U.S. pison populaton s maching over 2 millon people mast of hont e forced
Intolabor receiving none 0 smost 1/101h the houry ruta of a ree U.S. worker. Major
‘companies ke McDonald', Victoria's Secrel, and Wak-Mart have raed on and profted from
forced inmaie abor, and contnus o do s0.

American Mads explores the modes In which prscners, their cose ones and sctvelscombat
is widespread system o labor exploltation through appropeating mass productin. From
widely circulatod znes that el firsthand accounts ofpisonar experances, 1 cloting s that
raise awareness and.drect ihelproftsfo rmioal usioa raform, the works i this exhbtion
subvert methods of mas producon t resist the systam.

Greetings! Earller this spring of 2017, I was invited to
participate in a project, put toghther by graduate art students
from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) located in
Baitimore. It was unique In that the last year's students had
picked the subject for this year's students' year-ending project.
They had met with some Chicago artists / writers known as
Temporary Services, who had done an interview zine with me a
few years ago, and who hipped them to my work.

So, I flew out there, which the college paid for and their
professor, Jeffry Cudlin picked me up and we had a delightful
conversation on the way to Baltimore from Washington. I was
given a student apartment to stay in and even a stipend.

My presentation was held on May 4th, the anniversary of
the "Haymarket Riot" here in Chicago. That wasn't a "riot* but
rather what happened was, a very suspicious bomb was thrown
by who knows who, followed by wild shooting and killing of
demanstrators and cops, by cops. Four brilllant anarchists
were hung the following year. They were eloquently defiant
2nd obviously Innocent of any “crime.” Many people were
rounded up in the ensuing days, making it rather apparent that
it was a set-up type of deal. The whole world watched!

At any rate, I put this zine together, with various
supplements, as [ am wont to do when I give these types of
presentations, so that others (averwhelmingly prisoners) can
read what was conveyed at this event and by other prisoners.

“he Abps’ Otfyong Roe 2663
Todd (Ryung: Rue ) Tarseth

Ry-8025
175" Fregress Drive
u.‘a,,vefi;g, R 15 37¢ 6C8Y

Commenss & Ceermpondence
Whleoned 4

INTRODUCTION

Like everything else the United States government claims to be
true, the opposite is the grim reality. The canned elections are not
"freedom” or demogracy." The "People” do not run.government,
‘but rather; the corporate elite does. As for the prisons, it is not
about "rehabilitation." Itis about ruination. ‘The "justice" system
has nathing to do with actual justice!- Afrikan, Latino, Native and
othrer poor. people, are targeted for their vicious system of mass
incarceration. There treatinent there is meant to destroy their
minds and render them so damaged that they cannot fumetion,

“"Rehabilitation" means bludgeoning into submission. They do
makea lot of money off of prisoners exploiting their labor and
ripping them end their families off in many ways. But really,
‘hardly any prisoners have what are considered “real® jobs being
exploited by various corporations. Prisoners are being kept from
deliberatély dangerous conditions. This is a recipe for violence
and the descent into madness.

So, for each and every prisoner, every single minute of every
single day,is a desperate struggle to retain a semblance of sanity. T
feel weighing in on this struggle with the brutal truth is the real
power of zines. This is how I have found my purpose in life.

Maleolm X said that before the masses can move, they must
find their humanity - then they'll move. I'm sure that is why he
decided to become such an articulate educator. People need to
read, hear and feel the genuine truth in their banes and their souls
0 begin the lifelong journey of discovering their humanity and
developing their interests and talents in service to humanity to not
only got a hold on their sanity, but to also be conneoted to
something meaningful and important, allowing their lives to flower
and feel positive.emotions like love and solidarity, instead of
bitterness and despair. Plus, we need all hands on deck!
‘The whole idea of sticking people in cages to make them
“etter" is an insane and monstrous concept. If a parent locked
their children in cages ot chained them to a bed, beat them, starved
them of food and affection, ignored their illnesses, etc. they would
(cightfully) be considered the worst type of human scum
imaginable. This s what the government does to 2.3 miltion
people, every single day! s

Ii's nat by accident that thase engineering the massive
bloodletting in Iraq hired regular U.S. prison guards to do thejr
dirty work at Abu Ghraib and other torture centers throughout the
world. There are over 200,000 rapes in U.S. prisons every year,
half committed by guards and many other rape, assaults and.
yrders.ars archestrated &/or itted by guards, But like the
trained killers in the U.S. military, &ll their evil crimes are shielded
from us. Some "free press" eh? We're told nothing - about the
‘wars, about the prisons, about mugh of anything of real
importance. Prison rape Is a punch line for gays like Jay Leno.

‘How do-you "reform war?. Ji-it by killing people and blowing
their bodies to bits from airplanes or drones, instcad of gassing
them? Incarceration is the same thing. It is modern-day slavery
and cannot be reformed - only abolished,

Other means of dealing with aberrant behavior work way better
than mass incarceration. Here'are ten better ways to deal with
crime - ostracism, public denunciation (& possibly forgiveness),
restitution to the victim(s), persuasion, education, Social pressure,
‘non-corapulsory therapy, help of friends and neighbors, non-
collaboration and nonviolent resistance.

But, in a society of hyper capitalism, where the government is
‘massive organized criminality and the economic system js based
on exploitation, the whole of society is hideously warped and
thrown out of any kind of humanist-based sensibility to impact
much of anything. Violence-glorying culture in a sea of societal
‘madness is the-template for worldwide disaster, which we.are in
the epicenter of causing to slowly accelerate. So, I would say, itis
not just the prisoners who need to be liberated, but all of us as well.
How Prisoners Use Zines to Empower Themselves
& Subvert the Mass Incarceration Slave System L
Like most everyone else in saciety, prisoners have generally never

heard of zines or saw one. Sure, they've run across magazines and
pamphlets and newspapers, but mostly, it all about the screen. School
had been such a drag that the effect was to make people not want to read
books and to hate *learning” because it usually had nothing to do with
their actual lives. Schools are run by goverments and they arc .
interested in creating people who are proficient in running their deadly
system, either as grunt workers or as managers without the messiness of
a genuinely aware social consciousness and the willingness to "flip the
seript" and expose systemic criminality, ala Chelsea Manning or Eric"
Snowden. Their "crime" i telling the truth about govemment, using the
‘government's own documents!

During the chattel slavery centuries, it was illegal to even teach &
slave howto read. Nowadays, they make it so sifling and miserable,
combining bogus education in militarized schools with a social
atmosphere of danger, destitution, drugs, guns, cops and hopelessness,
that many people just tam off. Cell phones, booz, the idiot box, gangsta
rap, endless drama, etc. all combine to cause a feeling of impending
death or the inevitability of incarceration. Many are even almost relieved
to have their nightmare interrupted by beginning their "rite of passage"
(prison) - until the brutal reality of it sets in. Some meet their fathers for
the first time - in prison.

T was Jucky. grew up with plenty to eat, books all around me, room
0 run around and play safely and parents who cared about things and
instilled in me 4 burning desire to do something positive with my life. 1
still hated school, did self-destructive things, felt hopeless and totally
alienated from society. 1 was lucky to have survived my adolescence. |
never wanted to be anything - except a freethinker. But, how do you
make a living doing that in this brain dead society? So, I knew, I would
have to actualize myself totally outside of the mainstream, to create a for
real life. In fact, I had to cocoon myself even from my immediate
family, as they had no understanding of what I wanted to do. [ would
have to be totally self-reliant - a very lonely option, indeed!
7

S0, 1 guess you sart with yourself, Bverybody sooner or later has
sort of epiphany. My first one came in the spring of 1972, when Nixon
& Kissinger invaded Cambodia "illegally” again. Every university ond
college went out on strike. Mine, Grianeil Colloge in Jowa, stayed out
one day. I stayed out on strike and after a couple of weeks, sot out htch
hiking around the country for the next couple of years. This was the
beginning of my real education. Along the way, [ ended up almost. -
getting shot a couple of times, once by the cops, and thrown into jail in
Nevada. I was facing six years for & half a nickel of ragweed I couldnt
even give away. Itried! [ luckily got two years probation - barely! Fad
150 much as smirked at the judge, Id have gotten the time.

‘When I came back to Chicagoland, I wrote my first zine - Peoples’
Polar Express. This was 1974. 1t was a wild mishmash of rants, pocry
and ravings. All my friends thought it was cool - and that | was crazy. 1
‘was ready o revolution, but since the goverhment stopped the draft;
nobody around me cared anymore about anything except getting wasted
and disco. I fellinto a deep depression. I got a job and a wife and
small bouse and a divorce and subscriptions to fadical magazines. 1 still
never heard of or saw a zine. | neared thirty, drifting along, writing
occasionally. I decided I wanted a family for myself, s0 I put an ad in
the Penmy Saver. I said T was an "existentialist” but it came out as an
"extraterrestrial” as E.T. had receatly come out. I had dates, got married,
‘we had two sons and moved to an even smaller house out in the sticks.

I went back to school and became the valedictorian, winning a writing
ontest, which I titled, "How fo Think." This was in 19951 1 was 41 and
still had never heard of a zine! One day, I read an awesome interview in
the Progressive magazine with Noel Ignatiev, a then Farvard professor
spearheading the brilliant journal, Race Traitor. He soon got fired. 1
wrote a letter, which was published and embarked on a determined effort
t0 connect with the underground. Finallyl Fred Woodworth of the
Matchl a long-running anarchist journal, hipped me to the zine
underground. 1 soon realized, by gum - I'm an auarchist! I started
‘writing like mad, ordering zines and books and sending my stuffall over,
looking for like-minded writers to collaborate with and try to get some
agitation going.
1s00n realized most “zinesters” were armchair revs who wrote zines I
came to call, "navel-gazing zines." They would criticize each other and
not much else happened with those zines. More and more, it became
obvious to me, that the critical thinkers were prisoners. I also started 8
grassroots group, called STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down)
and South Chicago ARA (Anti-Racist Action). At an ARA conference in
Columbus, Ohio, all the ARA groups had a little literature table of their
stuff and I said, "wodldn' it be nice if we could get these from one.
source? Obviously, if that was to happen, I would be the person to do
it. So, my distro, stated as ARA-ABC. 4

By now, this was 1998 and mass incarceration was in full swing. An
awesome bi-sexual prison abolitionist, by the name of Sean Lambert, out
of Buffalo, NY mentored me into the world of prison zines. Idove in
ol borel My first prisones zine was eatitled, Decidedly Radical, by
Frank J. Atwood, a lifer still in Arizona. We did a few others together,
to0. Soon, I was working with such heavyweights as Khalfani Malik
Khaldun of Indiana, Kevin (Rashid) Johnson, now in Texas, Olugbala.
Shakur in Cali and many others.

(OK, enough about me. Let's talk about the prisoners. There are so
‘many prisoners in the US and so little support for them. Many support
‘groups are tied to the government or some religion and sort of walk on
eggshells in tieir analysis. Others may be part of some radical political
faction, but they have their agendas, They may put out a newspaper or
newsletter they will send to prisoners, but not much eise. My distro now
has over 1,200 zines made freely available to prisoners, most of which
are written all or in part, by prisoners! So; E lot them guideme as to what
i important to make available. Of course, | have my own rants and zines
and those of fellow anarchists offer, too.

‘What do they care about? They want help learning the truth of their
dire predicament, whit is actually going on in the world, how to navigate
the labyrinthian mess of logal challenges, what to expect when they get
out, help getting vicious guards and wardens neutralized, how to stop
being raped, acquiring an actual person to care about them and their
lives, how to acceds resources, how to get their material published. They
want to tll ther stories of the injustices they endlessly suffer. They
want to wam the kids bangin' on the stroets that this is no lf to aspire to.
They want their lives to finally mean something that others can benefit
from. In short, they want to actualize themselves.
Like me, their familios are usually oblivious to their needs, wants,
talents and intprests, 5o they must find another family - an activist family.
1feel closer to some of these peaple than most of those on the *outs.”
Ao, although, I rarely visit with them, we communicate brain to brain in
hand-written letters and through the zines we write. For, 95% of these.
people will one day leave the hellhole that is prison. Where are they
going to go and what are they going to do? Being stigmatized 9
(disoriminated against) for a felony conviction, they have limited
housing, educational and employment optians. Helll They can't even
vote n the rigged elections. Technology has passed them by. Sensory
deprivation and brutalization has rendersd them totally PTSD. Like
everybody else, to become their roal selves, they have to totally tear
everything down and start from scratch. I¢'s impossible to undo all the
dambge done by prison, but a reasonable life has got to be an option.

So, these anticopyrigi zines are a perfect medium o collaborate with
and learn from prisoners, develop relationships and help others reorieat
themselves from a self-destructive dead end life o one with some hope
and meaningfulness. Zines sort of fall under the radar of the prisons.
‘The censors do have a laundry list of restrictions as to why they'are
disallowed, but the "gulag censor trolls" are a lazy lot and hardly
educated themselves, so most get through. Religious racts are allowed,
50 they have to letin zines. The only real requirement is that they come.
from a publisher, 5o you make up a name, buy a stamp, stamp the
envelop and the back page of the zine and WHAM! You're a "publisher."

George Orwell once said that the most dangerous thing in the world is
the 50-paged pamphlet. Indeed, modermday political zines are the
samizdat press of America. All you really need are rudimentary tools
and copying machines, which abound. Mostly, you need resolve! Tl
talk about creating them in the zinemaking workshop, later.

Fora prisoner, participating in this zine distro as a writer or-an artist is
a very dangerous proposition. They are lterally putting their neck on the
line, as they can and often are, beaton, tased, gassed, starved, moved to
the even more hellish control units there or at a different prison, have
their "privileges" taken away and sef up for assault by guards or other
prisoners who are rewarded for their viciousness. Women face the
nightmaro of having their children fegally kidnapped and foroed-to:
endure the state's abusive and predatory form of child-rearing, known as
DCFS. So, they need to know that we as outside supporters and
comrades have their back and are in it for the long haul and wil stand up
to their persecutors. s

Legally, according to the 13th Amendment, they are considered
slaves. Not only that, but the courts consider them the same as they do
dead people - that they legally don't even exist. Extra prison time can be
slapped on them and often is, if they are politically active. Like the
Chicago police, the guards and other prison authorities can get away with
all kinds of criminal activity, including murder, torture, assaults, bogus
conduct tickets, medical neglect and etc. and the courts just wink st
them. And, like cockroaches, they do not like it whea the light is shined
on their despicable behaviors, my apologies to the cockroaches. So, we
have to be very careful in how we approach our work.

A fow prisoners can Gommunicate via the phons or during visits and
even through email, but they are heavily snooped on and [ muich prefer to
cate with prisoners through zines and my tortured hand

ich only the sharpest prisoner cryptographers can decipher.
Mote: even going o visit with a prisoner is tumed into a vile
ordeal, Whicre guards strip search visitors. Then, you may be behind a
thick pane of glass and can hardly hear them. O, they put you in a room
and skype the prisoner onto a screen, maybe a block away.

As [ mentioned before, 1 taks the cues from them - especially when it
comes to disruptive activity. When they decide to go on hunger strike o
otherwise challenge their captivity, it is not our job to goad them on, but
sather have their back and support them. They'rc the ones facing the
g00n squads, the gun towers, etc. What we can do is help therr to
develop a sound revolutionary education and give therh a movement they
can be a part of, albeit on the other side of the concertina wire. So, it
‘means the world to ses their name and address on their zine and get
letters from other peaple (including prisoners from other prisons) so that
they're not just walking into a buzzsaw of repression.

As well, solidarity is extremely important and prisoners need and
‘want to leam of e struggles of different people who aro also
challenging the system. They have to work together to be offective and,
a5 always, the screws pit them against each other and sow suspicion
using stool pigeons, snitches, provocateurs, damaing rumors, eto. And
Just like their murderous campaigns in other countries, there are no
serious reportors, only yes fen and women. We have to be the eyes and
cars o prsoners o thewarld. Wo have tobecome the ralmedia. |

Evorything is magnified in prison, rom the stark iliteracy to the most
brilfiant thinking, from raving mad to remarkable lucidity, from poiatless
violence to tender nurturing. Half of the rapes in prison are committed
by guards, who rarely face any punishment - just like Chicago cops. As
well, many rapes and other types of assaults (including murder) are
orchestrated by them. Many prisaners who particigate in my zine distro
project realize it is only a matter of time before they are assaalted, their
possessions are destroyed and they are'moved to an solation cell - or
worse. This is the prioe they are willing o pay, 50 wo myst be there for
them. Unfortunately, we have little influcace on the beastliness they are
forced to endure, but we can'still have importance for them as genuine
comrades, friends and supporters.

As well, if they did have a wage-slave job, once discovered as an
educator, or jaillouse lawyer or someone who partiipates in a strike o
other supportive activity of their fellow inmates, that person will quickly
be barred from working, have their access to commissary, phone calls,
visits, T.V. or any other "privileges” (like showers, matiresses, food or
even clothing) cut off. The lights and cameras stay on, though.

Ifthey do have job, most of it goes to the prison anyway, in inflated
prices for anything, as “fees" restitution, past medical debts or whatever.
And, of course, the "profits" produced by prison labor go to the vultures
who prey on the prisons, cither as higher-up prisoncrats or the guards
(who seil dope and other contraband) or the contractors. State and
federal prisons are taxpayer funded, which translates into high wages and
salaries (compared to the workforos in the "outs") lavish benefits and
pensions for the job of basically being the armed face of prison authority,
while the prisoners o all the work. There is even a push to force
prisoners (or their families) to pay for "room and board."

Private prisons are in it to maximize profits. They hire guards at
‘minimum wage, train them poorly, causing high tumover rates,
prefabricate cheaply made prisons, dish out even worso food, clothing
‘and medical care, warchouse prisoners more tightly and force prisoners
to pay for basic needs, such as toothpaste and underwear.- The heat
doesn't exist in winter, nor does air conditioning in summer (except for
the higher-ups). They pollute the environment horrifically and tax the
focal services heavily.
How do prisoners deal with this nightmare? Being so uber repressed,
most are sucked into going along with the program of hooking up with
some gang or other, just to (hopefully) have a modicum of physical
protection. 95% will eventually be released, so they want to stay in one
piece. All the while, the system is trying to destroy their minds, o that
even if they do get out, they will not be able to function. The few who
have the temerity and strength to endure it, understand the reality they
are faced with and gre willing to try to do something, write letters to
‘whoever they think might be willing to help them. )2

Frustratingly for them, most letters are not responded to. Support
orgs are often tied to government or some religion, with their own
agendas and 50Y C-3 status they are tied to. Some politically active
groups also have their own agenda and usually only offer their own
newsletter o some limited type of "approved” support. Fervent prison
abolition types are often into street protesting, getting arrested
themselves, under or unemployed, perhaps part of a squat, young and
restless and without sustained means to help prisoners outside their own
affinity group. All too often, a promising group with a dynamite point of
view and helpful ideas to help prisoners, slinks off into nowheresville
and prisoners end up faced with angry captors without any outside
support,

So, a sustained commitment is very important and if not vouched for
by someone they already trust, it will take a while to overcome their
cynicism. Its difficult because “victories" are very rare, but eadless
turmoil and suffering are part of the daily deal. Very few people around
you will want to have anything to do with the prisons or the prisoners.
‘The media avoids it like the plague, so we have to be the media, too.

‘That's why 1 ry to write out everything and make it publishable
instead of just, say, giving a speech at a demo that just drits off into the
air. Prisoners need to know that they are part of the struggle! Even at
conferences, it rare that prisoners are contacted by phone (difficult) or
their thoughts are solicited beforehand and road. For, as far as what is
happening in the prisons is concemed, what they have to say is diways
more important than what outside activists have to say.

‘What do prisoners have to say about their enslaved existonos? Hero
are some examples. Anthony Rayson .

South Chicago ABC Zine Distro / P. O. Box 721 / Homewood, IL 60430
2117
Dear Mr. Rayson: 13

1 am writing in large part to extend my deep and heartfelt
‘appreciation for your exemplary efforts in spreading and raising
awareness on the subject of political science and for shedding light
on the perverse and unconscionable acts executed by considerable
members of our government, which sadly go unnoticed by many. T
have a buning desire to acquire more insight pertaining to the
topics you focus on. 1 have in my possession four pamphlet-like
printouts: The Liberation of Education, We the People, The
Crimes of Government and Voting Is Fraud.

Before 1 go-any further, please be-advised that I am actively
serving a prison term of 4 - 9 years for armed carjacking. 1am
twenty-two years of age and over the course of my incarceration,
I've slowly been able to turn away from the destructive values of
the street and ['ve reformed many of the attitudes that led to my
incarceration. My long term goal'is to earn a PhD in psychology
and sociology and ultimately become am adjunct professor in those
fields.

In short, I will continue to maintain an optimistic outlook while
at the same time utilizing my "time" productively to continue
‘growing and reaching my fullest potential. I will tremendously
appreciate it if you can send to me all the back issues of your
publications, as well as all recent ones.

In Struggle, Sando

Feb 13, 2017

Dear Mr. Rayson,
"peace & Solidarity." It's been a while since I wrote. I

been going thru hell down here fighting these laws and the
gangs they use to keep us pitted against each other.
Everywhere I go I work for the struggle and the righteous
cause. I've been to some purty tuff places. Have you ever
heard of the "Ferguson Unit" on Savage Drive? It's a very
evil place. But even there the inmates have some form of
unity & structure. Ik

Over here where I am at now, it's worse than anywhere
T've been in terms of unity and structure within the prison
population. There is no sense of cohesion... no forward
momentum at afl. “TEXAS*in general is in a very
reactionary statelll But out here in the backwoods of East
Texas, it's bad! Damn “Nazis"are everywhere! The white,
black and brown ones. I've never been in such a highly
racist environment. And it's hard for the brothers like me
who been places and seen what unity and solidarity can do.
It's sad and it's frustrating. If these young brothers could-
only understand their commonality. We are “One”humyn
species... One Mankind/!

Please send me any and all material I can use to combat
these super-Nazi-racist-ideologies. Anything disproving
the whole superior/inferior race rhetoric. Any "scientific”
studies disproving the (theory) of "race"... and the false
science of eugenics. 1 know it's not just in prison. Racial
ideas are all in the air and where they are there it is our

“duty”to combat and fight it. Please give me some arms
and munitions to use. We desperately need itll!

On behalf of all the brothers here at the Gib Lewis Unit,
thank you in advance and it will be very helpful. Ileave as1
came...

Peace & Solidarity - "YAYA"
(it's in my DNA)... Naw 4-real... “Be loyal and stay true,”

this is more than just a slogan for us. It's a mentality and a
lifestyle. Loyalty has helped-me survive this Texas-prison
experience. It has gotten me thru my late teens and all my
twenties in TDC... Thru "Terrible Torres" in Hondo, thru
"Ferguson's Purgatory" on 12120 Savage Drive in Midway,
and thru "Johnny Bey Connally” in Kennedy's capitol /S
murder land... Three of the most notorious youth farms in
Texas.

In this enclosed and controlled society that is literally
stuck in a (time-warped, pre-Antebellum - Jim Crow - type
apartheid) split between shades of gray and white, where
right and wrong are confused and muddled together and
called "Justice.” Where the value of human life is likened
to the roaches and rats that infest these places... "Loyalty"
is the only righteous and principled stand a man can make.
It's the binding thread in this human fabric.

“Loyalty” replaces love for these calloused youth
standing arm-in-arm and toe-2-toe. Knowing 4-sho, right
or wrong - we stand together because we strong together.
Knowing w/out doubt the Brothers and (Sisters) in these
trenches got my back, to pick up my slack, and help me if I
fall. To counsel and console with me when we miss mail
call. To fight the law like Hank Williams, Jr. and Johnny
Cash all the way to the walls or 'till the basket falls. To
break bread even if it is the very last ramen noodle soup in
the box only one week into a 90-day instant lockdown. To
share the very last spoonful of bittersweet Colombian black
coffee - just to warm the bones in a cold, concrete casket
holding our living souls...

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty... It is so much more than a
word. It is a way of life for millions of us locked in
America's tombs of the living...

Remember Attica... Solidarity... Loyalty, loyalty,
loyaltytit (4-16-17)

By, Yahya at Gib Lewis Super Seg...
Writings by Brittany James

Pins and needles made the way to belng re-born -and )
in comections not all loud voices are created equal. This /-
isn't an empty box - lines inspire me to redefine what is

and Isn't possible. I blend, shape and mesh until 'm at

the perfect angle for compiete balance, always a steady

fight plan when It comes to facing harsh realltes, create

my own lines and curve my eight ball down a snake hole,
steady best to finding a way to the complete.

PAIN

in my chest, a test I can't pass, falure so we abort, walk
2way with empty hands. This door is closed - there is no
vacancy. An empty soul, the journey's over, completion
but I didn't win, Is there a prize? Or did I see past the
prize unti I missed it completely? Never again, 13 steps
back, no need to re-track, I felt every step - on or jump
off, take off the mask there Is nothing to hide, overdrive
there's too muuch to cope,.cut deep or not at all, no one
wants superficial, no way out 5o why not stay in, brew
and stew a venomous blle, sit In shit untilIU's too sordid
to ever be pure, crystal clear that something's wrong,
drawn to all the bad sick and twisted things, what do you
see in the mirror? Deranged and disturbed or pretry in
pink? Thoughts on the brink of the cup that never fills, a
constant lack of, aiways without, poverty rich in soul,
mind and body, If you look in the mirror long enough you
couid be somebody, anybody there? Un-noticed and un-
touched, there never is enough, times not aiways on your
side, crouch and hide from the un-understood. It will

never make sense. It's only a pain in your chest that
happens to be a test...

over

and done, without results, time only made things worse,
anger and resentment is well known, a feeling I've grown
alt on my own, always alone. I'm sick of witheut. It
never pays off. Leave It be and wipe hands ciean.
Recycle the salvageable and hoard It because It's all you'll
get. Deprived and hungry for what 1 don't have, will
ever have? Out of ."nt and out of mind. It's over. We
ran out of time. Dissect all you knew and gain a different
way, a random route with a random you, looking at a
distorted view of what never was, pretend, an lliusion of
Your own mind, ucid dreams and reallty on a tightrope,
cut both and you have a noose. There s always a way.
out even If there is no door or window, tunnel vision, all
you see is the beginning and the end, severed ties, there
shouldn't have been a secand try, fiy by with a wave
goodbye, because I shouid've never said hello...

Revolted Silence
17
We revolt agalnst silence with a bit of spesking, but
‘what's I really matter when the volces are silenced,
volume's turned completely down, no sound, but static.
What's the real picture here? Everything Is the same only
not, voices stepped on by too many shoes, and only one
set of feet - with one heartbeat, and they cotld really
care less If It continues to beat or not, slave day for all
day. Stand up and say something;.any fucking thing,
scream out on lines, splash ink until you can't think of
anything else to say, silenced and muzzled ke a mutt.
Even they're treated better than us. Take a stand or
you'l continue to fall - a never ending well of hopeless
dreams and those silent screams for help. 911 the
emergency is I'm dying inside from oppression. 1 just
need to be heard, Is that 5o absurd, to open up your
ears and hear my fears that taunt me, about another
thing 1 may wake up to not having, lack of, to cease, put
to halt, an abundance no more. Liberties become
luxuries that are no more. No more volces because no-
one hears them anyways. All you see Is a number.

HATE
sedate me tillit's over, nail me to a chair and strip me of
Ty thoughts, the feelings never die, found the missing
ink In the chain, petal my way straigh to hell fal down
and never get up, coffin with no escape route. Who
Knaws how to use first aid kit? Resusciate me, one
two, three breathe. Operation - there s no puise, a
Zorible from the walking dead, even they feel hunger

feed my un-censored need, food for thought? My
thoughts are never enough food. Scale your way up the
Side of a building and see the view before you decide to
Jump. You may want to finish before you start again, run
Tn Clrces, untl you're right back where you started, re-
play and rewind and then burn. The Images you've
Fefected on, welcome to realty. If realty s real, then
hy do we Guestion the things that shouldn't need proof?
Dedipher through the un-necessary and find what you
remember, distorted images flushed down crain, no
fain 1o gain, what do you gain when there's only pain? A
Pohstant ache, fall asieep and never wake, choking on 2
Gream because shit's too real. Throw away the deal you
wera brought, sentenced to this duration, s psycho, crazy
paranola - my reallty. Sedate me tl ks over

“ZINEOPHOBIA”

The prison indisstrial complex Is Hiving with a stifiing gulp in its throat.
This *guip” Is what can be termed as “zineophobia™: the fear of zines.
1t's a fear that the authorities have been unable to fix.

1t's a flame that rehashes in the dark places of America,

2nd in aphotic lock-down units across the globe.

1n the 13™ century, sfate institutions bumed books & used public
torture as a way of extracting information & as an overt method of
instilling a religious fear & maintaining authority with an iron fist. B
Contrary views.were subject to the rack, Individuals “bured alive™ .
20 faced other Sadistic twists of fate In the name of Religion.
1t was 3 living nightmare for many indeed.

While centuries have elapsed since the days of public scourging,
the methods of control enforced today are no less barbaric. y
They've only become more sophisticated. More covert & confined.

Today, In the name of Homeland Security, the State s banning 2ines
And uses torture - such as with the San Francisco 8 & waterboarding
In Guantanamo, much like the thumbscrew - to extract information.
To a greater (and less publicized) degree, they work to instill a
socio-political fear to untold millions of we who they dally oppress;
tuming solitary confinement into a living nightmare.

Authority is maintained behind lock-ri-key with an iron fist!

Those of us who radically dare to qpen heads in a book Instead of a
wall, quickly discover that the association between the body rack
and the book rack s a relative one.

notice things about myseif when such literature is deprived me. .
Tick my lips from the dryness of an Irrepressible want. .
1feel my nose inflate.

Their hatred for us.reading them makes me lust after them even more.

Moreouer, the fact that the war against the (Imprisoned) poor Is losing
idéological ground In the “free” distribution of this medium feminds us
that what we value s priceless (and should be for alt).

‘The cruel suppression of these brutal truth writings become to my
ming What chastity belts are to the amorously amicted.

1 burn with every denlal knowing iy hands are tied & yet the most
malevolent grin grilled by the prison Seeurity Team

is unable to mask their stink of fear, -
1 appear unreadable to the prison librarian, but inconsolably ache
within these repressive, confines to REBEL with every inch of libidic
frustration that nature endows me; knowing they always have &
aiwbys will - for a6 ong 26 they have the power to répress - drip
buckets of sweat before the exercising muscle of an inexorable Idea.

For you who are reading this from the "other side,” ask yourself:

11

What conclusion would you arrive at if, without
provocation or warning, the police routinely
confiscated your papers, booklets & publications?
Or to have everything you write - from the most
Intimate to the mundane - violated by their
unyielding eyes at.any time? _

And would you give up on the'ldea of Freedom?
Would a fear of writing:consume you?

Would the persistent threat'of isolation deprive
You of the notion of free-thinking.& depth?

Liberating litegature is a reflex of Nature birthed from the

contracting womb of Liberating ideas.

The fact that aoy suthority.can suppress it at any institution not

only confirms how dangerousty alive epression truly s,

‘but that ideas “themselves” may be taken from human beings a5
contraband. And where ideas are confiscated as contraband

there too do we find the most confining & calloused crusaders against
Liberty.

What we struggle for is not merely to emphasize "the Struggle”

we perpetualy live in, but to sabotage the cags in this industrial
‘machine by monkeywrenching its stronghold over imprisoned minds.
1t's to inspire a very necessary & logical résistance against oppression
among the disempowered & all its coercive and draconian vices.

Til Abolition, may every imprisoned writing hand

continue to free the next.

May every ABC and distro publishing the brutal truth know that
through these steel bars my fist of solidarity is raised & feel my
love and my fervor. -

And may every devoted warden of life be haunted with the unhushed
‘whisper of a pencil moved in the silence of a hollow cell.

‘South Chicago ABC

~ Hybachi Lemar, Zine Distro
P.0.Box 121

anarchist * Homewsod, 1L 60430
ZINE MACHINE 22

1n this unwavering struggle called Life, as we reside
amongst the imprisoned and the confined, in a suffocating
world where darkness permeates our lives, perpetually, as
the lights get turned out in our minds, long before they get
turned out in our cells, as we become turned out to 2
‘degenerate culture of death and stagnatior

It is the hungry one, the thirsty one, the strong, the
rebellious, the brave one, who seeks to pick up a zine and
learn new knowledge that can and will change and save
their lives, while the other prisoners around them continue
to absentmindedly tread down the zombied-out path of
conformity and confusion.

Zines have the power and ability to transcend a
prisoner’s mind beyond the depths of the dark pits they
Teside in, taking our minds to greater heights than was
Gescribed in The Flight of Icarus, beyond the sun, where a
brave, bright new world lies. A world of self-sufficiency and
autonomy, where the trees are the greenest you've ever
seen, and the seas the bluest.

Many a prisoner has stumbied and fallen, tripped over
their own confusion and ignorance, and haven't been able
to prop themselves back up again. But put a zine in a
prisoner's hands, and watch and see how all of their
2spirations and ambitions come afive! Put a zine in 3
prisoner's hand and open thelr hearts to a new world of
freedom, open their minds to the courageous and beautiful
idea of resistance and revolt, and watch how easily the
chains begin to sfip and fall off.

Once we have been wakened to the Truth, we have no
more excuses, and no more can we continue to aimlessly
Gwell in a world of robots. Our brains become re-activated
and alive again as we begin to reconnect with our own
Humanity, seeing that there are other people going through
the same things we've gone through, and are still going
through, and as we see how they are taking action, and
taking steps to take control over their own lives, we begin
to realize that they are awake, they are alive, and when we
read their zines, and become invigorated and inspired by
the realness and the depths of their words, while their
reality becomes our reality, as we realize that by all means
we can do and be the same. A bridge is built, then
crossed, and the rest is history. 23
This is the real power of zines. In the dark confines of
these gulags, nothing can be more powerful, more
galvanizing than the radical and revolutionary truths that
have been printed on the pages of these prisoners' zinest
If you don't belleve me, all you have to do is read Tray
Way's "Delberately, I Defy!” zine, or Russell Maroon
Shoatz' "Black Fighting Formations” zine or Hybachi
Lemar’s "Resist, Rebel, Defy” zine, or all three of Sean
Swain & Travis Washington's "Last Act of the Circus
Animals" zine, or the Papyrus Collective's "Write or Die”
zine, or Anthony Rayson's "Brutal Truth” zine or my
“Thrown to the Wolves" zine, and you'll see what I mean.

We are only but a few of the zinesters, churning out
these zines like a Zine Machine, and we are here to free
your mind, as we bring new culture, new thought, and a
new world of revolution to your celli We are the zinesters,
the liberators, we are the ones who pour our hearts out on
these pages. These words aren't just written with ink, but
with the blood of our own hearts, mixed with the tears
from our eyes as we shed them for the oppressed captives
in this world. That's how we make our ink in these gulags,
with our blood, our sweat and our tears. We have even
gone as far as ripping our own hearts out and placing them
in these zines, just for youl

We are the reason you have become conscious, and you
are the reason we keep putting these zines out, as we try
to make the next one better than the last one. This has
become a part of our culture, our life, our world. While
other prisoners concentrate on the mind-numbing T..
shows that are coming on tonight, or who they're going to
get thelr next shot of coffee from, or while they're selling
all their food to buy a freak book to ook at, we are in our
cells producing, manifesting and creating revolution! This
has become an integral part of our lives, and once you read
Smoke Blown

Her watery words were larded with lies.
The cold and calculated diffidence in her
persona was to fool only fools, but never the
Mise. We've been down that well-trodden road
many times before, enough times to know when
smoke is being blown... 2y

The things that at first glance seem
alluring, can oftentimes be quite dreadful upon
Closer examination... Though she may be unduly
Fevered by the unseeing and the unknowing, she
has become abominated by those who have already
felt the ice-cold tactility of her suffocating
embrace.

One slight glance upon her uncaring,
opaque eyes would be a definite result in one’s
Untimely demise. High and mightily, she sits
of her peremptory throne, looking down on her
Civilized society with a subtle hint of
Gnhinged brutality. More's the pity for those
who do not obey, I1'd say. They'd be lucky to
be thrown into a prison, never again to see
another sunshiny day.

Dishonest, dishonorable, despicable,
manipulative, cruel and vindictive...
Conniving, condescending and carnivorous, is
She. what is her name you ask? Well, surely
my friend, you've heard of her before... her
name is Authority.

Rise Against The System

Coyote
@ SOVt Chicago ABC
e Zine Distro
A~ P.0.Box721
Homewood, IL 60430

our zines, it become an integral part of yours. s
The more zines you read, the more enlightened you

become, and the more enlightened you become, the more ' -

you resist the everyday stagnation and ignorance around

you, and the more you resist, the stronger you become,

and with that newly acquired strength, it Is only natural

that you seek and strive to liberate yourself.

Through the last zine of mine, you've already learned
that stagnation Is death. Now pick up another one of my
zines, and learn how to bring death to stagnation!

Rebellion
~ Coyote ~
October 7th, 2012

Anarchist Black Cross
Nevada Prison Chapter

Coyote can always use your letters of love and light.
Please write to:

Coyote Sheff #55671 / .
P.0. Box 1989 o, ¥ o
Ely, Nevada 89301-1989

Also, you can view his articles, poems, essays and other
writings at:

1) Coyote-calling.blogspot.com

2) nevadaprisonwatch. blogspot.com
3) Facebook

4) solltarywatch.wordpress.com

5) SFBayview.com

His zines are available at either of these addresses:

South Chicago ABC Zine Distro Chicago ABC \
P.0. Box 721 1321 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Homewood, IL 60430 P.M.B. 460

Chicago, IL 60622
Zines Are Our Real Weapons

From the cold confines of this pitiful place called prison, 1
bring this message to you. They may have us sitting between
these walls, but please believe me when 1 tell you that these
walls ain't nothing but slabs of stone that we will use to
sharpen ourselves on, as our minds become like steel, Take it
from me comrades, I'm a veteran at surviving and defying this
dally stagnation, and as unfortunate as it s, I can sadly say _
that I truly understand what it's (ike to be bogged down.in
these sordid conditions, living in a box for years on end, going
through all of the motions, spitting into the face of madness as
it stares lts strange, lifeless eyes at me, knowing in my heart
that I have to be strong no matter what, and not allow my mind
to sfip into that lingering darkness that calls my name late at
night. No, none of this can break me or take me under, and If
you're strong like I've had to be, comrades, then you will find
ways to take all of that shit you've been served and turn It Into
sugar, while always keeping fortitude and resistance in your
hearts.

Imprisoned comrades, I encourage- you to pick up a zine or
to write the address stamped on the back of this zine, send
some stamps and request some zines yourself. 1 encourage
You to learn about history, struggle, anarchism, revolution and
about the struggles taking place all over the world. Use your
time wisely, and find ways to be more productive. You can
bulld up your vocabulary, you can work on developing your
writing skills, you can practice your hand at making
revolutionary art (art that makes a statement about what's
going on In your life, environment and the social conditions you
live under), you can do all kinds of things that will enable you
to bulld your mind into an explosive weapon.

Get yourself some zines, raise awareness, organize your
fellow prisoners around real causes. Pass out literature, write
your own and pass that around too, hold speeches, study
sessions, try to build up a solid support network with activists
and advacates on the outs (et them know that we can't get
anything going in here on a serious level without their support
from the outside.) Start up your own prison chapter, organize
book drives, stamp drives, organize other prisoners around
solid causes (you don't need everybody to join, just enough
people to make things happen), reach out to other prisoners,
teach them, train them and be there for them to the fullest.
You can recruit, organize, start up collectives and even build up
a revolutionary, anarchist army. You can do anything you put
your mind to. Yes, you'll be up against great odds, but your
dedication and your persistence will cut through those odds like
2 samural sword cuts through the body of an opponent. 2,

Comrades behind enemy lines, now is the time for your
underground education to begin. Now is the time for you to
become aware and to develop a social consciousness. It all
starts here, it all starts now. If you're anything like me, then
You've probably been fighting and struggling all of your life,
now s the time for you to take that struggle to another level,
and to start struggling for a better cause, for real change and
for a better tomarrow,

Zines are our real weapons, this is how we get powerful,
dangerous, this is how we cut through the bars, tear down the
walls, and defend ourselves from our enemies, with the
knowledge we obtain from these zines.

Zines are like grenades, or bombs, because when you real
them your mind explodes, something goes off in your brain,
and once that fire has been lit, there's no extinguishing it. It is
through these zines that we get our real underground
revolutionary education. We see what's going on with other
imprisoned people and we find strength and example from what
they've got going on. With these zines we can write and record
our own history, build a movement, teach, learn, organize,
agitate and educate. Zines have become a major part of
radical and revolutionary cuiture for all comrades under lock
and key.

For the young gangsta who looks to make the transition
from gangsta to guerrilla, these zines are for you:

1) Deliberately I Defy - Victor Trayway

2. Thrown To The Wolves - Coyote

3) Disposable Outcasts - Hybachi Lemar

4) Write or Die - Papyrus Collective

5) Aztlan Realism: Revolutionary Art of Jose Heladio Villareal

6) Defeating the Criminal Mentaity - Lacinto Hamilton

7) An Updated History of the New Afrikan Prison Struggle -

Sundiata Acolt

8) Interviews With Russell Maroon Shoatz - Conducted by

Anthony Rayson

9) The Last Act of the Circus Animals 1, 2 & 3 - Sean Swain &
. Travis Washington

10) Remembering the Real Dragon: Interview With George

Jackson - Karen Wald
There are many more zines, but these are just a few good
ones that will really help set you on your way in making the
transition from gangsta to guerrilla (or from criminal to radical).
These zines are serious zines, written by serious comrades who
have been very active in the struggle, and bring the strong-
minded, deep thinking warriors that they are, they have really
token the time to pack some explosives into these writings, 5o
please send some stamps to the address on the back of this
Zine and check them out for yoursel.

‘Before 1 close this, 1 just want to say these last words. As
imprisoned guerrilias, anarchists, revolutionaries and as -
comrades in the struggle, we have learned to create our own
Identity, so as not to be written off by those who try to crush us
under the weight of thelr boot. We've had to lear to endure all
kinds of pain, torture, isolation and many other hardships,
while still standing strong and keeping a tight grip on our z3
<anity. Many of us could be walking on these lower yards right
fow If only we chose to break, bend, conform, snitch, debrief,
and suck the master's dick! But that's what we won't do, that's
what we can't do. Instead we find ways to fight back while
Sticking to what we stand for, as men. We find ways to stay
alive, to hold on, to stay heaithy and strong, to keep pushing,
keep striving, keep resisting, We do not accept the fegitimacy
of the prison industrial complex (PIC), and we do all we can to
fight this beast from within - when we look around, all we see is
destruction and death, but we do not allow ourselves to
Succumb to that. We choose to remain as symbols of
Tesistance amongst all of this misery. We are not the type to sit
back and do nothing as the conditions around us get worse and
worse, and as we see our fellow prisoners get crushed and
sometimes even die under these brutal conditions. Revolution
Teans change, so first we have to change ourselves, change
our thinking, our way of lfe. That's where it all begins.

1 wish to welcome you Into this new way of life, comrades.
This is't going to be easy, we have a huge battle in front of us,
50 be prepared for war, be prepared to die, be prepared to be
tortured, abused, despised, hated on, siandered and more. Be
prepared In your heart and In your mind. But know that we are
not destined for fallure! So be prepared to fight and to winl Be
prepared to take power in your own hands, be prepared to start
Faking control over your own lives. Revolution is here, and we
are the ones to bring it. Stand strong, comrades, I love you
and I'm prepared to die with you!

Viva La Revolucion!
ABC - Nevada Prison Chapter
ELY STATE PRISON
October 2012

For words of encouragement and support, please write to:

Coyote Sheff #55671

P.O. Box 1989 Seeer ./ 29
=

Ely, Nevada 89301-1989

For more Information about Coyote, or to read more of his
brilliant writings, visit any one of these sites:

www.coyote-calfing. blogspot..org
‘www.nevadaprisonwatch.org
www.scribd.com/prisonwatch

A message to activists and comrades on the streets:

Please get involved in the prison struggle, today! Prisoners
cannot do anything on a serious, effective level without solid
support from comrades on the outs. We need you to help us
type up our zines, help us acquire the zines and other reading
materials that we so much need to elevate our thoughts and to
free our minds, especially while under such stagnant
conditions. These zines are what keeps us strong, active and
alive. Our connection to comrades and activists on the outs is
our most viable asset to our survival, you are our lifeline and
we need you!

Educate to Liberate - Prison Strike!

Of all the gross injustices plaguing the U.S.
today, the ‘War on the Poor' (the criminalization of
poverty), and the so-called 'War on Drugs’ are surely
anong the most harmful. These ‘Wars’ effect every
aspect of daily life, and have been the means by which
the U.S. elite has terrorized and corralled the
population into subservience. The agents of oppression
- the police and various related “law enforcement”
entities, now have a virtual carte blanche to attack
anyone they choose, using conspiracy laws and other
statutes validating ‘anti-drug’ and ‘anti-terrorist’
tactics to 'legally’ run amok. Mere suspicion of
crininal activity is sufficient to allow government
thugs to seize all your property and throw you into a
dungeon indefinitely - or even to kill you on sight (if
they're pissed off enough). 30

Unfortunately, those opposed to this system of
governnent domination have few effective ways to combat
it. This grotesque system has won the propaganda war,
convincing the upper and middle classes that without
police "protection” (though in reality, it's an almost
laughable myth - the police rarely do more than pick up
the pieces of tragedy) society will descend into a ‘Mad
Max® kind of chaos. Further, the overwhelming fire-
power of police government agents, coupled with mastery
of information gathering and processing; a high-tech
"surveillance state” in place, and the power of the
state is nearly impossible to challenge head-on.

Armed conflict simply cannot succeed without broad
public support - which is utterly lacking. Similarly,
popular strikes, boycotts, protests and other systemic
attacks are too difficult to target and are too diffuse
to be effective. Some clever efforts, like Cop Watch
(videotaping police brutality) are good, but are not
anywhere near enough to do more than create cosmetic
change, leaving fundamental problems and structures
unaltered.

So, what can be done?

Luckily, the system does have its Achilles Heel -
the prison system. prisons are incredibly vulnerable to
mass action of one kind - the labor strike. Without
prison labor, the system cannot operate. It is
therefore a relatively simple matter of education -
raising the political consciousness of prisoners, and
teaching them that if they refuse to support the prison
systen by helping it to operate, it will collapse. It
isn't possible for the government to replace prisoners
with guards and employees; indeed, it is impossible for
the prison authorities to replace even a fraction of
prisoner labor, should prisoners strike.

'Add in the enormous potential assistance that ex-
felons / ex-prisoners (now numbering in the tens of
millions in the U.S.) offer, and - should a way to
mobilize them be found, a recipe to destroy the current
status quo is at hand, cheaply and easily available.
Without a prison system capable of locking up
millions of non-violent offenders (i.e. dissenters)
oppression by the system becomes far more difficult.

The apparatus of the state - courts, cops, etc. would be
thrown into chaos by the mass closure of prisons, as the
system itself would be forced to undergo fundamental
changes.. 3/

Educating prisoners so they understand the power
‘they hold and the desperate need for them to rise up and
demand change, should be the most important priority of
any group calling itself anarchist.

The intellectuals within the @ movement, rather
than bickering over esoteric - and largely meaningless -
theoretical differences of opinion MUST unite and devote
themselves to finding simple, effective actions ex-
felons can take to support and exacerbate a nation-wide
prison strike (along with devising a powerful,
emotionally moving media campaign to ignite such a
strike and gain it support among those sympathetic
within the general population - mainly ‘minority’
communities).

It is our best, and most effective route to change
the status quo. Love & Rage, T. M. Hoy

The Pen is My Sword, The Zine is My Bomb...

Powerful messages of resistance and revolution are conveyed
when an Anarchist picks up a pen and wields it the way Miyomoto
Musashi taught his Bushi's to wield the Kitana (samural sword). With
one swifi stroke, we slice off the ugly head of the oppressive beast,
the enemy, the one we've been fighting and fighting for years. The
pen is our sword.

If you listen closely, you can still hear the thunderous sound that
reverberates through our hearts, and the explosions in our minds,
after we've been exposed to a new way of thinking, a radical way of
life, where lessons of seff-sufficiency, solidarity, and mutual aid are
feamed, and where strategies of guerrilla warfare and survival are
taught and carriéd out everyday. Every time we read, an explosive
zine, we, ourselves, become expiosive, alive, a dangerous threat.
Zines are our bombs. . 3z

‘Sometimes we read zines about resistance. Prisoners love to
read these zines, as many of us have intimately come 1o learn that
another day in thesé gulags is another day to resist, and resistance
has become a way of life, a way to stay strong, to stay sane and to
stay alive. Whenever we become thirsty for this knowledge that has
become so essential to us in these situations, we can pick up a zine
and drink from the fountain of resistance. Refreshing, quenching,
sustaining, zines keep our minds hydrated.

Pick up a zine, my fellow prisoners, and there you will find the
truth you've been seeking all along. Revolutionary writings to teach
you, Instruct you, inform you, and to awaken your sleeping, stified
mind. Through these zines we have become strong. through this
strength, we bave become explosive. With this strength and
explosiveness, we have leamed o be dangerous, and when you're
dangerous: there's nothing you can't do!

With the simple stroke of a zinester's pen, these manifestations
have been drafied, redrafted, read, memorized and etched Into the
readers' minds. These manifestations carry on, from cell o cell, unit
1o unit, prison to prison, uniting an oppressed class around a similar
ideology. We need no Bible, no laws, no master to tefl us how 10 five,
or how not to. Our hearts carry the very truths we live by. These
same hearts that pump and thump with vibrant joy as they've been
aroused and warmed by the fire of revolutionary love.

Many the prisoner I've inspired and educated through my writings.
‘and words, only to have them write something, say something, or do
‘something very deep, profound and touching enough fo come back

and inspire me, even more than | inspired them. With these zines a

culture is being raised, a movement being built and revolutionaries.

are being bom. 23
These prisons have been built to serve as wastelands of

iwnmwmm\m.mmmwmm
thelr jaiihouse rats and pet prisoners within our midst, while creating a
level / reward system designated to encourage snitching and other
cowardly behaviors that eat away at the basic characteristics of
manhood and humanity. Thus, keeping us disorganized, divided and
facking the soclal consciousness and activism necessary for
prisoners to take hold and control the destiny of our own lives. But
these zines are here to educate us about these things, to bring unity,
bulld character and to help prisoners develop a social consciousness,
giving us amongst the poor, imprisoned and oppressed classes the
opportunity to gain the strength we need to fise up on our feet and
start organizing ourselves accordingly.

With these zines, we find our voice and we use that voice to say
‘something real, something good. | find it necessary to be someone
that has something good to say, because when you're speaking truth
and intelligence, and saying something good, there will aways be
people who will come around just to fisten to what you have to say.
This is how we learn, and this is how we teach. By writing these
Zines, by talking, istening, sharing. This is how we grow, and how
we evolve. This is how we empower ourselves and become strong,
wise, sharp. | don't have a T.V. only because | don't wanta T.V. I'd
rather read books and zines and write and engage others in serious
dialogue, than to sit back and watch the bosses’ propaganda that's
constantly being displayed on these “idiot boxes.” I'd rather use this
fime to create revolution. The pen is my sword, the zine Is my bomb.

Revolutionary Love, Coyote / ABC - Nevada Prison Chapter / ESP
Zinemaking Workshop

Zines are awesome! At least, they can be. They're just
self-published pamphlets, short for magazines and 3¢
pronounced "zeen.” They can be about anything, any
length. They usually aren't sold, don't have bar codes and
can be easily reprinted. They are only subject to self-
censoring. But to get a zine into a prison, it has to come
from the publisher. That's simple enough. Just become
the publisher by making up a name, getting a stamp with
that name and a mailing address (P.O. Box). Then, simply.
stamp the back of the zine.and the envelop. it is.sent in.

Most zines nowadays are only available online. But, that
doesn't help prisoners because they are not allowed
internet access. So, this is all about d.i.y. paper zines. I've
made zines from tiny little things to big broadsheet
whoppers, but for convenience sake, the standard size of
81/2" x 11" is easiest and most economical. This means it
will be 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" once folded and stapled.

I do use the computer for writing, transcribing and
editing the texts of the zines and for making them fit nicely
into this format. Thmnumyoexmhemrgnmllz*
wide, 50 as to give the margins a chance to function
without cutting off the words. They move around a litte
bit when you go from an original to a master copy and
then again, when you reprint them on a copying machine
(or have someone else do it) and these-machines are not
always calibrated properly. As well, the machine can't

recopy the full length of the paper. So, I give the side
borders at least 1/2" border and the top and bottom

between 1/2" & 3/4". The length is adjustable.
Graphics can be inserted at any time. I especially like
them on the cover and back and for the centerfold. Some
folks use computer gemerated graphics, but I find they lose
t0o much detail in the copying process. Also, copying
pictures from say, a newspaper or a photograph doesn't
translate clearly, either. The best graphics, at least for
prison-related zines, are created by prison artists, using
pen and pencil. Btack on white, like tie text, reproduces
pretty cleanly. 25

The less color the better the copy, unfortunately. It is
t00 expensive to create zines in color and they would be
diminished, once recopied, anyway. That's too bad
because prisoners so desperately need color in their drab,
gray dungeons. I try to send colored graphics, landscapes
and so forth, separately, in hopes they'll be allowed to
keep and display them in their cells.

To maximize the value of a zine (more bang for the
buck) the font is refatively small and all the pages are fully
covered. Also, many times, the zine is specifically made the
length that would make it 1 oz. or 2 oz. or 3 oz. or 35 oz.
ta maximize qur value on postage. This means the zines
would be 16 pages (4 sheets) or 40 pages (10 sheets) or 64
pages (16 sheets) or 76 sheets (19 sheets). If they are not,
then other zines will be added to get to these numbers
before mailing.

Prisoner zines are unique in the zine world, known for
their clarity and easy to understand language. They are
adamant and succinet. Human slavery is not a subject we
can be lazy with the words, with! We want as many people
to understand what is heing conveyed, as possible.
Often, one person reads the zines to others. Some have
never learned to read yet. Sometimes they have to scream
the contents through the-ducts and pipes to other celis or
floors. A kiting system, made from untangling towels is
used to get zines from one cell to another. The more 3L
valuable the impact of a zine is, the more likely it will be
confiscated by the guards - if it makes it past the censors.
So, a lot of time and thought must go into-creating these
tomes, because they are vitally important and precious and
in constant danger of being destroyed.

The real power of a well-written zine is the memorable
verbal content in them. Graphics have their place, but
explosively written ideas tade easily understandable:keeps
popping back up into a person’s mind, as (s)he takes the
ideas and indelibly imprints them onto his or her psyche
and adapts them to their situation and how those around
them understand reality. You know how it feels when you
read something and-it sends shivers-up amd down your
spine? Well, think how a prisoner feels when (s)he first
runs across liberating ideas! They reread them over and
over and talk constantly about them - and yearn for more.
It's actually often life-altering in its impact - at least as far
as their thinking goes. Their caged reatity does ot change
but they can deal with it better, knowing there are people -
somewhere - who actually give a damn about their lives.

Written communication is the lifeblood of relationships
with prisoners and those on the "outs.” All the screaming,
yelling, endfess drome of the idiot box and clanging; jercing
prison noises, take a back seat once two minds are
connected by the written word. And, hand-witten letters
are the plasma of this hlood and perhaps, even more
imoortant than zines. Without letters there are no zines!
First, you have to decide on a subject and who is going
to write what. It's a lot of trial and error. I was never
taught how to do it: It just evolved. Ask someone, a
prisoner who is willing to work with you, or even just
discuss things with you, or reach out to someone who does
this type of work. They should be able to answer any
questions you may have. Just take the initiativel -,

There's a lot of excellent material on the internet that
can and should be used. Usually, they only ask that you
acknowledge them or put their contact info in there,
somewhere. I don't worry about “copyright infringement”
and have never had any.real prablems with anyane about
that. This is anticopyright, samizdat stuff, not for sale. 1
believe that the truth and genuinely useful ideas belong to
all of humanity and no govemment can do anything about
it. Keep the authorities out of it! I've never had a banking
accaunt for this distro and keep zippo "records". I figure,
“It's already been paid for - by me! Now, it's freel”

How does one afford to do this type of work on such a
scale? You have to live frugally and be exceptionally
resaurceful, that's how! You have to be dedicated pretty
much on a daily basis. Use your persuasive powers to get
people with copying machines to help you. Make friends
with people who work at copying centers. Get your school
to do the printing. Like anything else, you've got to *learn
the tricks of the trade." Most of all, develop your self-
reliance, for that will mean, you will a/ways have someone
you can count on - yourselfl Ninety percent of anything
worthwhile, is getting off the dime. Someday, you may do
time. Then you'll know why I do zines. OK, enough
lecturing. Let's put this thing together!
ZINEMAKING WORKSHOP OUTLINE 23

You desire lo change the word from racist, murdering hellhole

~need Courageous, tinking human beings. but most people are
broin decd from a fifefime of being hommered by mainshream
bulshit. Feople need genvine education, 5o you're going fo creale
azine. Fuckin' A i
. Educaling Yourssi

'A. Read fhick non-iction books analysing society

8. Order fons of insightful zines

C. Usten fo and ploy asskicking music:

©. Wiite constantly unfil you leor how 1o do i effectively ond
your witing callouses are formed

€. Become involved in 0 local grassroos group (or five) fighting
oppression
. Conceptualiting your zine

A Nome your zine

8. Decide on size ond # of pages

C. Develope an overiding theme for your ine

5. Design an appealing cover. back poge. nside covers and fifle
page.

& Recrit coliaborators or go il alone, but expect much work
. Collecting Malerial

A. Cany @ notebook af of fimes. Gel lolders, fies, brief cases.
sofchels and boxes for papers

5. Insisl on phone #'s and addresses of those interested and
RuisU them

'C. Have o folder fo collect good stuft rom zines, papens, fyers,

D. Grophics are very imporfant. Draw your own, solicit others.
save pictures ond carfoons fhof siike you
IV. Formating your zine

‘A, Tile poge. poge 23 last page second fo ast and middle of

zne

8. Paginaling

C. Struclure your sections - rans, grophics. leflers. interviews.
reviows.etc.

'D. In 1he moming, when your mind s Iresh, wile o checkis! of
things o do and pecple 1o confact for that doy and ty fo work oni
~llowing for sponteneous modifications ofto ust blow everyiting
o ot tha day. 1 you do biow I oft, gel going the nex! morning on
i, Accompish azeiog.evey oy, oo
V. ‘Copying teducing, eniarging, ightening, darkenl

. Copy. cleon, recuce or eniarge fo fitfoma. Paste simiary
required pieces onfo o poge for quicksr CopYing

. Make Iwo coples of each and profect carelully

€. Loam how 1o use copying machines proficiently belfore serlous
copying s undertoken i

'D. Bécome fiends wilh e people with computers ond copying

mechinas
E. Moke on unobirusive presence felt by those who work of the
copy store. You'llbe there often. Let them eniov your presence.
VI. Cuting

‘A Gel @ box cutter knife and @ metol rlec

8. Use newspapers fo cut on. Wooden cutting boards get
scarred and hard plaslic ones hove no give

C. Give yourselt ot least 1/8" clecrance from actuol text on ol
foursides

D. Collecting, witing. printing and culling wil be an ongoing
process. Don't be overanxious. You'llknow when you'reready 1o
poste the zine fogether. For best resulls. have-much more moteriol
Than you'll need, 50 you can legifimately edt, puting only the most
relevant. impaciul stufin that ssue. Eoch poge should have
disincfive quality of completeness In ond of sel, and when strung
Vil Pasting/Uquid paper

'A. Uightly number the blank pages in the middle.

8, Have G center to work oul from

C. Eyaball carefuly. paste evenly. get edges thoroughly

D. Stay ot least 3/8" lrom edge of poper of copler wil Cip it

€. Paint over splofches with liquid paper

. Have o finger bowi &/0r @ 1og 1o wipe glue off of hands
requently.

G. Dol on fop of newpoper and use o fresh page for each new
glued page

W Delicately place in folder and press. so poges of ariginals wil
be fot (not curly]

1. When you're done - you're nol donel Finishil.

VI Prepating the master

A. Moke two copies

5. Don'l setlie for diry copies. Check glass for dried liquid poper
#ing a cleaning fag fo cleon Carefully

C. Take maslers home fo firish. Don't iager at the store and
‘make olhers woil.

0. Painstakingly proofread ond clean ol ines, yping mistokes
‘ond sploches

€. Put fnishing fouches on master

F. Moke suré your name, odcress and ihe price of he zine is
easly findable (0s f someone is octuolly going 10 oy for il HAHAT)
IX. Copying the zine

‘A Get allarge satchel and paper pouches

5, Biing your own cover pages, f other than white:

C. Have a helper oin you In prograss.

5. Cullivale fiendships with CopyMax & Kinkos worker. Give
them cool zines. {Forget Stoples, you want 10 d1y.)

€. Enter store with sublle knowing confidence and self-assurance.
Act ke you know what you're doing and actually know whal the
hell youwant fo accomplish

. Keep them busy fthey re idle. Have them laminate somelhing
or16ad a Bne. Usualy, other customers keep fhem hassled

G. Copy diigentl. quickly. efficiently and unobirusively

H. Just copy and collect papers info your safchel. Don't do
anything eke.
. Tell them 1/3 (orless) of whot you actually have done
J. Make 1/10 of the copies all while & keep them as fiat maslers
X. Collating/Stapling
A. Collafing fray .
8. Special stapler, proper stapies. smail piiers
C. Creasing
D. Rubberbond into lens
E. Inserts and letiers
X1, Dishibuting
A Maling
1. Use comectly sized envelopes. Buy by the hundred
2. Coleulate weight of mailing 1o be gxaclly on the ounce
3. Know the mailing rafes
4. Use stomps onlyl Glue both sides
8. Who fo mail yourzine fo
1. Moilfo ofl decent zine review zines
2. Gel Shannon Colebank's Whizbanger Guide ond mai fo
select distios. Go globol if you con pul i off.
3. Mail 1o other lkeminded zinesters & ofhers inferested in your
motedol
4. Wite letlers o fons of zines
5. Moke up and place ads for your zine
4. Salurate your locaiity with fiyers of your Zine and the zine
ifsell. Gel your zine In record shops, coffee shops and shows. Don'l
y to get any money forit. Hey. not once did 1 soy this s gona bo.
cheopl Peopié have fo get use fo It ond actually develope o desire
fori. Of course, by fhen, they'll expect t for freel
7. Putinserts and lefters In oll your zines
8. Do iterature fobles as offen os possible o shows, ralies, &

9. Cany astock of your zines with you o ol fimes

10. inltiate conversations with skrongers wherever you go

1. Forge! obout “making money.” If you receive 110 of the
money back fhat you put inlo I, consider yoursell kicky

12. Keep ofiginals ond masters safely stored for future
reprinting & 10 safisty requests for masters
Xil. Anarchy in everyday He®

Work on your zine everyday. You'l siowly improve your zine, you

obillty fo fashion arguments ond your effectiveness in speaking with
people. You will develop o more ordered, efficient mind. You'l
become generaly more knowledgable and meet Iruly great people.
0 you work o get your message out. In lieu of funchioning world.
wide anrchist collectives, the closest thing 1o a liberated fife we.
con aspire fo. s 10 ive o fearess. principled He fighting this system of
death, will evory breoth. Enjoy ilel Revol - ecrly ond offen®

P.s. Yourzing willbe free fo prisoners!
‘SOUTH CHICAGO ABC

ZINE DISTRO
POB 721 HOMEWOOD IL 60430