The Re-

irth of Humanity in a Pathological Capitalistic Society
Richard M. Flood

My entie Iife has been In struggle - one long, continuous battle; many
times for sheer survival; for a long time against myself, and finall, In joining
others in striving towards a better world for all people.

For mast of my youth, even the most basic human material needs of
sustenance, l.e. food, clothing, shelter, etc_, often appeared as privilege or
luxury. T was always told *We cant afford that,” In comparison to families of
privilege, whose children are taught early on to elevate their level of thought
to "How can we afford that.

My father was a drunken Irish ironworker, who earned enough money to
provide thase basic material needs that we were lacking. He just never
brought any money home. What he did bring home was anger, rage, rape,
Violence, torture and mayhem. 1 was six years of age when my mother was
able to free herself from the psychological stranglehold of my father and
leave him - but it seemed that she didn't have much use for me elther, as.
her own lifestyle kept her away most of the time, until one day when she
Just didn't come back. 1 would see her from time to time, coming out of or
0ing Into some nelghborhood tavern, always with a different man.
Sometimes when she was drunk, she would call me and try to hug me and
tell me how much she loved me, but by that time I was aiready Indifferent to
€empty word play, although deep down 1 wished It was true.

The combination of may father's abuse and my mother’s neglect and
‘eventual abandonment, left me spiritually bankrupt, psychologically
traumatized and emotionally dead. Abandonment to a child Is the equivalent
of death - for when a chid Is abandoned, elther psychologically or in
actuality, they perceive the world as dangerous and frightening, even
deadly. From my perspective, 1 could never imagine forsaking gratification
or securky In the present for the promise of greater gratification or security
in the future, since to me, my future seemed dublous indeed.

‘The streets of the west side of Chicago raised me, the Humboldt Park
neighborhood to be exact, home of "el Reyes Latinos,” and they became my
psychological family. By the age of eight, I was deemed incorrigible by the
Chicago public school system, and delinguent many times over by the police
state apparatus. But delinquency was merely an effect. The cause was that
1 was diseased, for I had contracted the debilitating disease of psycho/socio-
pathalogical capitalist mentaiity and behavior. The particular strain that |
had contracted was exceptionally hazardous as It rendered me socio-
politically unconscious, perhaps even comatose, even from an early age. 1
‘showed the same symptoms of typical capitalist soclety - greed, a need for
power, conspicuous consumption, conformity, etc. However, because of the
conditions of my life up to that point, as described above, 1 émployed means
of obtaining these things that were deemed “illegitimate” by the power
system.

My new psychological family provided me with some of the basic human
‘emotional needs that 1 longed for - a sense of value, acceptance, comraderie
and a sense of belonging. My early horrific years with my father made me
prime candidate to carry out much of the *dirty work” for a familla, as all my
pent up anger, rage, frustration and pain bolied inside of me and searched
for release. My spiritual bankruptcy, psychological trauma, and emotional
coma soon degenerated into some of the most hideous psycho/socio-
pathological thought and bevavior one might imagine. By the age of
eighteen, T had put in more “dirty work” for 1 familla than most CIA
operatives accomplish in a career.

Eventually, I ended up In prison. I recall my sentencing especially, where
thew Judge said, "I see no potential for rehabilitation in you, Mr. Fiood, even
at your young age. Therefore, I hereby sentence you to one hundred years
in prison!” I had to be restrained as [ nearly went at him, then I shouted,
~One hundred years, are you fuckin’ nuts? I can't do one hundred years!*
“The bastard gave me a devilish grin and sarcastically remarked, “Well son,
then do as much of It as you can.”

Within my fist few days in prison, I ended up In the “hole” for assauting 3
“r0bocop-type" guard who was hindering la familia’s activities behind the

wall.So just as quickly as 1 did on the streets, I made my bones inside
prison too.

The "hole” on a segregation unit In the older maximum securly prisons are
basially “dungeons of doom.* You will never, ever see warden of any one
of these Jolnts conduct one of thelr choreographed “propaganda tours”
through these units. For I these dungeons you wil ind America’s most
cormupt capitalistic criminality a Its worst - s psycho/socio-psychologlcally
tormented sous a thelr worst - babbling incoherently, howling, screaming,
crying, growing, self-mutiating, etc. Thi sickening crime against humanity
(isolation & sensory deprivation] was held unconstitutional as “cruel and
unusual punishment” some two hundred years ago by the United States
Supreme Court, In a case Involving the old Cherry St. Jal, in Phiadelphia.
Once again, history seems to repeat itsel.

Conversely, it i also in these dark dungeons where you will find some of the
brightest beacons of humanity and conscious light. It was In these dark
dungeons that somehow I rose above the insanity - mine, as well as others -
and realized that It was up to me to make a change. 1 was able to diagnose
myself as to the disease I had contracted. I had always enjoyed reading and
was fortunate enough to have had someone I knew from my neighborhood
(who was a member of the Young Lords Party) working In the hole as a
runner. He introduced me to Marx, Lenin, Fanon, Guevara, Malcolm X, the
Black Panther Party, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Confucius, Sun Tzu, Lso Tz,
Buddha and a host of others.

From there, T immersed myself in psychology, and countless self-help books.
Thus, I began my Journey of breaking myself down - analyzing mind, body
and soul - looking for some sign of hope. It took time, and at first It wasn't
much, sort of lie a small candie flickering in the wind. Ah, but there It was!
Truth, the principal of spirituality! 1 was not who I appeared to be, for that
‘poor, wretched creature was the product of something unnatural -
Conditioned to perpetuate vicious cycle of manipulating everything opposed
to truth In order to create a different truth, a false truth. It was then that I
renounced everything 1 had contracted and had been conditioned to
perpetuate.
My re-birth began with sell-discpline, which equates to self-caring. From
there, I began to practice what I had leamed. As I became more consclous,
naturally I became less reactionary. A | became more understanding, I
became less antagonistic. As | began to seek higher levels of consciousness
and spicitual evolution, I learned great truth - “Lfe Is diffcult.” This Is the
st of the “Four Noble Truths” which Buddha taught. Once we really see
this truth, we transcend k. Once accepted, It no longer matters. So lnstead
of complaining of my strugles, T began to embrace them. L saw that ife Is
a serls of problems. Now, did T want to lament about them or solve them?
In dealing with my probiems head-on, 1 grew spiiually. 1 began tending to
my neuroses and character disorders with the new tools I had acquired.
John Wesley's “Rule of Conduct” became the meaning to my ife - “Do all the
3000 you can, by all the means you can, I all the ways you can, In al the

places you can, at all the times you can, to ail the people you can, as long as
You ever can.”

My evolution did not come without Its setbacks, especially those from the
prisonkrats who learned of this "white" dude taiking all this Black Panther
and solidarity shit to the different organizations. Now I needed more tools to
defend myself against state repression, 5o 1 entered a paralegal program
and graduated at the top of my class! Before long, I became a well-known
Jailhouse lawyer within the linois state system. 1 am fortunate to have
been Involved in drafting the originial writs that eventually freed two
Innocent men from death row and countless others from prison, period!

Meanwhile, the contemporary social, polltical and economic conditions (Inside
and outside of prison) became the catalyst which inspired me to begin
developing theories to raise the political consclousness of the various street
nation” members within the Iiinals system, while quelling the “llegitimate
caplalistic,” L.e., criminal mentallty that Is prevalent in them, much in the
spit of the late BPP leaders Fred Hampton and George Jackson. The gist of
the theoretical mechanisms are fluid and adaptable to the various Internal
structures of the varlous organizations. 1 only touch upon this lightly as
anything further would be outside the scope of this essay. (For a further

study, see my essay entitied “Towards a Theory of Revolutionlzing Street
Nations.")

On a global scale, up until the WTO talks In Seattle, I shared concerns with
Others regarding the fragmentation of the Left. Since then, we have
witnessed solidarity between marxists, anarchists, feminists,
environmentalists, labor unions, etc. This re-energized movement was not
Spontaneous initally, (with regards to Seattie) but now appears to have
‘grown legs, as tens of thousands of protestors trek the globe in step with the
“Brettonwoods Twins” (IMF & World Bank) and the bunkered down meetings.

Perhaps many progressive peaple, organizations and movements on the
outside, took for granted that this now re-energized movement would find Its
‘way behind the walls of America's qulags. Or perhaps there Is an oversight
‘among some groups with regards to prisoners. This is no wonder as we.
have been Isolated, ostracized and alienated, even from our own families.
However, up until now, the Inside movement has been somewhat stalled by
‘extreme levels of repression and censorship. The few politica prisoners with
Instant name recognition - Mumia, Peltier, “Maroon* Shoats and perhaps.
‘even myself, to a lesser degree - are fortunate enough to have very
effective support systems in place. But what about the hundreds of
thousands of unconscious wannabe’s, the aforementioned lost souls, not to
mention all the truly wrongfully convicted? Most people never hear their
stories, however. We al have a story to tell, even the dull and the ignorant.
Listen to us! The conditions of confinement across the board have regressed
to pre-Attica proportions.

1 was fortunate enough to be able to re-educate myself and others at a time
when progressive literature was stil available within prison. However, that
15 o longer the case as the level of censorship has reached "Orwelllan”
Proportions. On the Inside, we are being attacked on several fronts. Fist,
any and all politically consclous prisoners, or paralegals, or even prisoners
possessing “leadership quaities" are Isolated In *Supermax” laboratories
under the guise of some percelved “security threat.” Next, the agent
provocateurs, stool-pigeons and police collaborators are let out of “PC™
(protective custody) and presented as leaders to the *fish” (newcomers to
prison) by the prisonkrats. In this fashion, they are kept posted as to any
possibiity of a progressive movement andcan quickly neutralize it,

Sl In these difficut and challenging times, there Is hope. Brother Harold
H. Thompson Is legally challenging the censorship of Anarchist lterature
within the Tennessee state system and Khalfani M. Khaldun appears to be
doing similar defense work of New Afrikan literature. 1 am certain that 1 will
Joln this legal battle against the Tiinois system, If and when the situation
presents itself.

PARC, the October 22nd Coalition/Stolen Lives Project, ABC-Chicago, and
other prison abolitionists from around the globe are railying for our cause
with benefits, conferences, meetings, art show projects, and other activities
In an effort to raise awareness concerning the plight of all prisoners.

One possible missing link appears o be any type of substantial legisiative
lobbying for prison abolition/reform. From my perspective, there would need
to be a transitional stage between reform and total abolltion. In any event,
we need to continue developing peoples movement that includes’
prisoners, as we are on the front lines of the battie against the real “evil
empire!” What they are doing to us today, they may do to you tomorrow!

In the words of Walter Scott, Quentin Durward, 1823, *Necessity Is the
mather of courage, as of Invention.” So now is the time to rise up, settle our
differences, unite, organize and move forward, in theory as well as practice.

In prison, many times when negotiations with prisonkrats failed to bear fruit
£.0r they didn't even consider our proposals - someone would always say,
“Those peaple only understand ONE thing!” Le. Attica, etc. Just as
something as simple as a toy wil POP I It Is wound too tightly, 50 too will
humanity. 1f courage Is the ladder upon which ail other virtues mount, we
all need to call upon our inner selves - our true humanity and do the right
thing. I call upon all people, in and out of prison to Join our struggle. For
“What Is thine Is mine, and all of mine is thine." - Plautus.

1 wil close this with the words of John Dewey, from Reconstruction in
Philosophy - *Since changes are going on anyway, the great thing is to
learn enough about them o that we will be able to lay hold of them and turn
them In the direction of our desires. Conditions and events are nelther to be
fled from nor passively acquiesced In; they are to be utilized and directed.”