Bomb Fragments

for the Mind
“Walking Eagle”

President Bush was invited to address a major gathering of the
American Indian Nation last weekend in Arizona. He spoke for
almostan hour on his future plans for increasing every Native
Americans present standard of iving. He referred to his carcer as
Governor of Texas, how he had signed “YES” 1,237 times- for
every Indian issue that came on his desk for approval. @

Although the President was vague on the details of his plan, he
oermed the most enthusiastic about his future ideas for elping
his “red brothers”.

At the conclusion of his speech, the tribes presented the
president with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name-

Walking Eagle.

the proud President then departed in his motorcade, waving to
the crowds

A mews reporter later inquired to the group of chiefs of how they
e to select the new name.given to the President. They
cxplained that Walking Eagle is the name given to a birg so ful
of shit it can no longer fly.

November 24, 2008

Whndouitmmwbelmvalnfiumrywmnd:? What does it
mean 1o be a comrade in the revolutionary struggle? This is the
Question put to me by comrade Coyote.

ofmflcsmd!hickmmwppud with razor wire, Coyote and |
are both prisoners but from different states. The ruling class has
seen fit o lock both of us up for many years, o isolate us, to
excommunicate us from society. But we are more than just
prisoners; we are also revolutionaries and Anarchist guerrillas.
Despite the miles and concrete and razor ‘wire, we are connected
by the mind and the rebel hearts that beat vibrant and defiant life
lnourchnl.glhisiswlmilmumlobelcomndc.

Being a revolutionary comrade also means that I always stand
with the people and against the oppressor. That means always.
Revolutionary Anarchists have faith in the beautiful idea that the
people, working together, without artificial hierarchy or
authority, can better manage our lives than any govermnment,
state, or cop could ever do. Being a revolutionary comrade
means living out this idea in everyday life, even if it sometimes
feels like you are the only one doing it. There are comrades all
over the world, of all different skin tones and all different
languages, living out the same idea. You are never alone in the
revolutionary struggle.

And what is the revolutionary struggle? What does revolution
mean? | am talking about the complete overthrow of the existing
system and all its mechanisms and rebuilding a society from the
bottom up. [ am not talking about votes, elections, or tweaking
the system. I am talking revolution. We all deserve more than
this system could ever provide—we owe ourselves so much
more. A revolutionary comrade is someone who dares to
dedicate their lives to this dream. Some of us are in prison; some
of us are in the so-called free world. Some of us are men, some
women. We are of all races, cultures, and ages. There is aplace
for you...if you dare.
“When passion fades”

With deep, calm, relaxed breaths
He says to me,
That he’s just trying to beat life, because
He can’t cheat death, and |
Shrug my shoulders and say, “I Guess?”
And this was how our conversation began.

Nothing to talk about anymore, these days
His life has become routine.
A sad, sad situation, when passion fades
And the mind erodes, while
Eyes are stuck on the television screen

Coyote, April 2" 2009
“My World”

She reads fantasy books, sometimes
To escape the redundancy of her life
Marriage seems like a trap 0 her
And she doesn’t see the point in it
Any more

Twrite to her at her work
Her husband doesn’t know.
And 1 love this woman, very much
Which is why 1'm left waiting.
For her to let go

Freedom lies on the other side of
Pointless misery
Where the sun shines and the birds sing
And I'm just looking for a twinge of a
Glimmer, of happiness
In her beautiful green eyes
To brighten up my dreary world

Coyote, April 2, 2009

o
“Ten Words of Nahuatl”

1) TLAHCOYOHUAC- Midnight

2) ZAHUA-To fast, to abstain, hunger- strike
3) TLATLACUALOYAN- Chow hall

4) Z0QUITL- Mud

5) TLAHMAH- Doctor

6) XIHUITL-A Year

7) TLAHCUILOA- To write

8) YAOCHIHCHIHUA- To arm oneself for battle
9) TLAHCUILOHHUILIA- To reply to someone in writing
10) YAOTL- Enemy

AMERICAS PRISONS IN THE DOCK

The United States incarcerates a higher proportion of its
population than any other country, yet a report published recently
reveals a system failing i its essential functions. With public
opinion against forgiveness, what hope is there that it will make
a difference?

The United States now has more people incarcerated than any
other nation on earth. Yet the American people know virtually
nothing about prisons. Most of them are unaware that the number
of people incarcerated, 2.2 million, has quadrupled since 1980;
that over half of the inmates are African Americans although
only 12.5 percent of all Americans are black; that at least
500,000 prisoners have serious mental health conditions; and that
the reoffending rate is about 60%.

Earlier this y. ur the privat..y sponsored commission of safety
and abuse in America’s prisons reported on the state of the
country’s prisons, exposing the poor conditions, the lack of hope
and the over-reliance of the United States on prisons as a
solution to crime.
The 20- person body spent months on hearings on all aspects of
the problems in some 5,000 jails and prisons in the United States
before producing their 126-page report on a system that sees 13.5
million people each year spend some time in jail or prison at a
cost of more than $60 billion a year. @

Twenty years ago the United States, congress and most state
legislatures enacted laws that require mandatory sentences and
eliminated parole. Laws were passed requiring 2 life sentence for
a third offense. But major offenses have risen, with violent crime
increasing by 2.5 percent and murders by 4 percent in 2005.
Guns play a significant role in many of these crimes.

Prison overcrowding is a particular problem, blamed for violence
inside jails and for clashes based on race, in spite of the new
prison facilities built in the states such as California.

Another major problem that the commission exposed was the
inadequacy of medical care for prisoners. As a result of poverty,
substance abuse and years of poor health care, prisoners as a
group are much less healthy than the average American, but
congress has denied Medicaid and Medicare coverage for all
inmates

There has been an attempt to develop standards in prison. The
American Correctional Association set up framework but less
than half of all prisons have become accredited, with only a tiny
fraction of local jails taking up the proposals.

As the commission report states, one of the major forces in penal
reform has been the number of lawsuits brought by individuals

or by groups secking penal reform. More recently, this method of
reform has been sharply curtailed if not eliminated and the
commission urges changes in federal law that will permit
prisoners to have their claims adjudicated by a tibunal outside of
the prison system.
One of the key issues that the commission highlights is the need
fora greater transparency and accountability in the prison

system. Most jais keep the press out of their facilitis; the courts
have not defined any right by the press or the public o visit
prisons;and prison staffdonot like 0 be isible 0 the res. 5

There are gaps in the commission report. It has little to say about
‘women, juvenile offenders or education for prisoners. Nor does it
focus on spiritual values and what prison officials may
communicate to inmates.

‘The new report may have some impact on public opinion. People
‘want certainty, predictability and severity in the way the nation
treats those convicted of crimes. Corporate offenders receive
little sympathy. These individuals are highly educated and have
the assistance of eminently qualified lawyers.

But people also have little sympathy for the 19 year old black
man who drops out of school, takes to drugs and engages in a
serious felony and they do not understand the futility of sending
him to prison for five to ten years. Well over half of such men
‘will return to a life of crime.

One of the purposes of incarceration is to act as a correctional
institution, but that intention has almost disappeared from
America’s penal system. Instead society seeks retribution. There
is little consideration of reform or rehabilitation, or in deed for
the needs of some two to three million children of these inmates,
‘many of whom have to live with relatives or in foster homes.

Around 95% of all inmates retun to society but most have not
leamed any new skills during their incarceration. Those who
have mental problems do not know how to get help. And in a
minority of states (mostly in the south) former felons are denied
the right to vote for the rest f their lives.
Reading this report, one is tempted to think about death row,
which it does not address, and where 3,200 prisoners languish. It
is part of a system that brutalizes people, destroy the self-esteem
of persons charged with crimes and demonstrates a pattern of
cruel conduct to the nations of the world. @

Will the new report have some impact? In the last 25 years
American public opinion has moved towards an attitude of
unforgiveness to criminals, a view that may contain elements of
racism and even of vengeance. The new report on prisons quietly
challenges that attitude but there is no reliable way of telling.
‘The hostility to criminals, particularly those involved in drugs
and robbery, is deep and abiding. At the same time one can only
hope that the problems exposed in this report will cause the
American people to persuade their leaders to bring about
substantial changes. Such changes will be popular if they reduce
substantially the cost of keeping over two million people in
prison.

The United States is a country filled with wonderful aspirations.
But it is also a nation that has made terrible mistakes. Americas
present treatment of its prisoners may in the generations to come
be deemed to be one of its worst mistakes.

Richard W. Dyches, K68728
Dixon Correctional Center
2600 N. Brinton Ave.
Dixon, 11 61021-9532

A copy of this 126-page report may be obtained by writing to the
Commission on Safety and Abuse in Americas Prisons, 601
Thirteenth Street, N.W., Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20005

Tired of being stepped on?
One of the challenges today s to exist in a world in which you

have no real control over your destiny. Our options are limited
depending on demographies of ethnicity, gender, and wealth (or
lack of). In conjunction with “the system” as it stands, we also
‘must contend with cultural trends that negate our independence
and interest in freedom from the ruling class.

In certain sectors of society, generations have survived o
‘welfare; this being a trend in the particular family or
community. It takes an individual in that particular family or
community to “think outside the box™ and break from that
trend. The next greater challenge for that individual is to set
anew trend.

Using the analogy of welfare, our societies parallel s the trend in
which the masses rely on the government-not for public aid, but

for interpretation of facts (i.¢. the media), interpretation of reality
(i.¢. academics), policy making, decision making, and seftlement
of disputes.

If we can reason as a people that it is wrong 1o live off, o rely on
the government for food, clothes, and shelter, then we should
also be able to reason that it is equally self destructive, “lazy”,
and wrong to rely on the government for social welfare.

‘The youth are faced with the tedious task of breaking the trend
and setting a new trend. The Hip Hop community came under
attack for its self-initiated “stop snitching” campaign.

First the fact that this was a self determined initiative by the
commuity, it conflicted with the norm because the community
is expected to leave the policy making to the aristocrats.
Secondly, the particular determination, that snitching should end.
conflicts with the cultural structure in which Americans exist.

We are expected to provide whatever information we know
about each other to the government, spy on each other,
eavesdrop, and settle all of our disputes through mediation of the
government.

With respect to the former, if we are going to do the jobs of the
CIA, FBI, and liocal police, then why are we paying them our tax
dollars? If we aré expected to volunteer, then they should exist as
a volunteer agency. A community servant works as a service to
the community, a mercenary is a hired gun. The military and law
enforcément are mercenaries that are paid generously to ignore
the “Rule” of the ruling class. Unfortunately, they are paid with
our hard earned tax dollars.

With respect to the latter, suing each other and calling the police
on each other to settle disputes has led to the outright destruction
of our community and respect for each other’s existence as
neighbors. It has deteriorated our social skills and ability to deal
with each other. If we can’t respect or eamn the respect of our
fellows then we have a problem that the law simply can’t solve.
Each community has its own unique problems which only it can
solve.

Prison is not the answer. Self-respect and respect for others has
never been instilled by the penal (prison) system. In fact, the
penal system breeds predators. If you are not one going in,
chances are you'll be one coming out. And calling the police
only adds to the already disproportionate number of citizens
incarcerated or murdered by officers.

Another move that citizens have made towards breaking the
social welfare trend is the remarkable efforts to clean up after the
exploitation of the 9 ward during hurricane Katrina. Citizens
are continuing to be a part of the cleanup effort, though
unfortunately, their efforts
alone are not enough. As volunteers, community organizations,
and residents scramble to put their lives back together in the
shadows, the government and corporate America have been
focusing on restoring the “more important” parts of New
Orleans such as the French Quarter and Garden District.

According to a report in the Daily Reveille of Louisiana State
University, 185 million dollars was spent on restoring the New
Orleans superdome alone (116 million came from FEMA), 60
million went to restoring the Morial convention center, and 37
‘million into a new parking garage for luxury cruise boats. All
this extravagance going on while many displaced citizens can’t
retum home because that money didn’t go to the restoration of
their communities.

‘Why should we carry on with this trend of relying on the
government when we are only leftat the bottom of their shoe
like bubble gum?

If you are tired of being stepped on, become a trend setter. The
‘power is in the people.

Romeo Hardin Free
Romeo Campeign

#1102753 PO Box.
340611

PO Box 316

Milwaukee, W1 53234

Ft. Madison, IA 52627

Letter to Boston ABC,
Dear Comrades,

At this time I will stll refer t0 you as my comrades, unil you
show me otherwise. My name is Coyote. I have started up the
ABC prison chapter in Nevada with the support of Anthony
Rayson of South Chicago ABC, Burning River ABC and Ryan
of Houston ABC. I am an Anarchist and member of the ABC, |

am your comrade. @

Recently, I was made aware of the § paged letter that Boston
ABC—you guys—drafted up, in regards to the recent ABCN
gathering. I have read your proposal on page 4, that addresses
the desire for prisoners to be involved with ABC, as well as
addressing the need for prisoners’ groups and activism to be
supported

It says that you are not offering network status to prisoners or
prison groups. Who made this decision may I ask? And when
Yyou say “we”, who is “we™? Boston ABC? Or ABCN asa
whole? What is the reason behind your decision to not offer
network status to prisoners?

IfI may, I would like to offer my humble opinion on this
report. You say that you stand in solidarity with those
oppressed by the state. Do you know what solidarity is?
Solidarity is getting involved with the people who struggle
behind enemy lines, getting involved in our lives, getting
involved in our struggles, because we all share the common
struggles of government oppression, regardless of what side of
the fence we are on. We are all up against the same enemy. If
You were to help us get organized in here, if you were to help
us get politicized in here, and if we were able to get organized
wimourwmnduun&=om;thenwemgeflhingsdm.
We would be moving in-the right direction: closer to prison
abolition.

You say that you actively seek to abolish the institutionalized
slavery of the prison industrial complex. How do you actively
seekmdmhm?flypmu‘ngoquwwslenatwofimuayw?
That's far from actively doing anything to abolishing anything.
Take a look at the “A’s” in Spain and they can show you what

“actively” truly means. @

A “twice a year newsletter” in my humble opinion, is a step
backwards, not forwards. Ten years ago, a newsletter would’ve
been a very effective tool in raising awareness. But today, it's
just not enough. Look at all of the newsletters that are out
today. They do play a small role in the cause, but have little
impact on making any difference in the situation that prisoners
face. By putting out this “twice a year newsletter”, and cutting
prisoners off from being able to network and organize
themselves in prison, you are taking this movement ten years
backwards.

‘This is my proposal:

Work harder to politicize prisoners, o that they can become
organized while behind enemy lines. The importance of
prisoners being politicized and organized under these
circumstances is an essential component of resistance. Without
‘comrades on the streets, to truly get involved with our

everyday struggles in here, we are doomed! I propose a
movement where the comrades on the outs become organized,
engaged and actively involved with the comrades behind
encmy lines. Help the comrades in prison build, organize and
start study groups and other effective methods and programs
that will not only help prisoners re-cducate themselves and
politicize themselves while in prison, but that will also
motivate them to engage in essential acts of resistance; that will
inspire them to build themselves up into educated, Anarchist
‘warriors, while fighting against the psychological oppression of
incarceration; that will motivate prisoners to tear the walls
down inside.

‘That's what | propose, but who am I but a motherfucker who
lives this shit, breaths this shit, and cats this shit every day, in
the trenches, behind enemy lines, right? Do you know what it's
like to live in one of these cages day in and day out? The
been in a maximum security prison? Does he know what this
shit is like? To be connected to prisoners in a real way is to be
connected to the struggle in a real way. A newsletter is good,
but it’s not good enough. Your proposal suggests that ABCN
minimizes their involvement with prisoners. If you want a real
‘movement for prisoners, then give us the tools to run it
ourselves. I’m speaking of a movement for prisoners ran by
prisoners, because I don’t believe that you truly share our
concerns. Either that or you just truly don’t understand what
we are going through in these prisons.

I would like to hear from you. I will be here, engaged in every
day activism, even while I sit in a cell, and even from behind
cnemy lines, because the struggle never ends.

Tupac Amaru
Wild Horses
Lynx
Liberation
Mink
Liberators

When kingdom come, they re not coming for me, unless they
come hunting for me, but ill be all the way underground by
then, like a worm trying to bore a hole from one side of the
carth to the other. Campaigns and raids and guerilla tactics, we
survive by putting thery into practice and weke not evil but we
choose to live backwards. Not the opposite of good, but the
opposite of government oppression. Let the kingdom come if it
shall, let the kingdom come if it must, we sing out songs and
sing them loud and if it comes for us, the guns we trust will be
the guns we bust, before we disappear in the dust, far under the
earths crust, living crusty, cuz were down to earth like that.

When kingdom come, you can fight or run, you can shine like
the sun, float like the moon, from midnight to the afternoon,
there ain’t no room for us, nothing but doom for us. Shadows
fall and disappear into the cracks, souls blow away in the
breeze, while we slip away and disappear into the trees.

When kingdom come, thou shall be done, all or none, grab
your guns and look out for number one. They can crucify me if
they can catch me, pound stakes into my wrists until blood
collects into my fist, but when I die I am not coming back, and
until then, T'l snatch that bible out of their hand and beat ¢'m
with it until they're souls are blue and black. Il take the bible
and bum i, paint my face with the ashes, advance, defend,

attack.

When kingdom come, we will steal our daily bread and pass it
out to those who haven’t been fed and I don’t know what
You've read or what the preacher said, but around here we tread
on thin thread, and around here we honor our dead, we
remember the hearts that broke and the flesh that bled, we
reach out to those in need, and to those who ache, and if the
people in power and the people with money want to call us the
wretched of the earth, then that's their mistake.

When the sun comes, all will shine, when the rain falls, all will
be done, when kingdom come you better run, but until then, try
1o do unto others and you'd want to be done.
Boston ABc @
Boston MA 02123

Dear Clara ang everyone:

Our conclusions were in no way influenced by Evil Antony.
His response was a string of colorful profanity, big on
Ioncespeml“dlysintbghnle.“onh\mgqmikc,”of
thnon:hygimm-ikundmyumr_irymusw-smised

the State of Ohio. For my political activities and beliefs, and
investigator told me I was the ‘most dangerous man locked up
in the Ohio prison system. When they sent their thugs to beat
me down with violence (when nothing else deterred me), they
ground my face in the floor, leaving scars, and shipped me tc.
the nuthouse to hide me. 1 had my writings sent to Patrick (then

at Houston) for safe-keeping. @

Please do not attempt to explain +logistical inconveniences” to
‘me. I have experienced them in living color. And I am willing

10 experience,them again and again.

YouwmcthflyouwflenflnmflzalweoeradaABC
Prison Chapter considered ourselves part of the ABCN. You

even signed off, “Nevada ABC Prison Chapter.” Since, we of

the Conditions Factory have submitted 2 rather lengthy and

detailed report-backs as the Conditions Factory; we do not

know if they were included in network newsletters, however,
we never received copics.

Look, Clara. Were not mad. You guys have every right to make
this mistake if you want to. It doesn’t really impact us in any
practical way. Yesterday, we were the Conditions Factory
tomorrow, we'll st be the Conditions Factory. Well still do
the same work. We’ll stillcollaborate on projects like Last Act
of the Circus Animals, which has gone global now with a
review on London of OUR work, Conditions Factory work.
Last Act is spreading to every comer of the prison system.
While others are making coffec, wete making revolution.

You guys have effectively kicked the Conditions Factory out of
the ABCN. That says more about the ABCN than it says about
the Conditions Factory. And we predict that in the not-so-
distant future, the ABCN will look back on this moment as the
point where the ABCN jumped the shark, where you
squandered your relevance and credibility and robbed ‘
yourselves of an opportunity.

We are willing to work with anybody as equals, as sisters and
brothers. Our only requirement is that you must be willing to
pick up a pen, a modem, a detonator or a machine gun. I have a
label taped on my typewriter: “W ARNING: This machine kills
tyrants.” Whether the ABCN recognizes us asa circle, a
square, or a triangle, we are in the business of killing tyrants.
We will work with anyone and will provide our publications to
anyone willing to distribute. We have not changed our
relationship to you. We will still send our materials to Buring
River if they are still talking to us, and to Liberty if Patrick
doesn’t hate us, and to Anthony and Coyote and Kansas
Mutual Aid and on and on. We simply maintain this position:
‘The ABCN is fucking up.

As a final note—and it is really academic at this point—you
contend that Anthony violated internal policy when he sent a
copy of the PAN proposal to Coyote and me. We find this
confusing. As Anthony read the ABCN newsletters and was
validly under the assumption that Nevada ABC and the
Conditions Factory were both PART of the ABCN, why would

he not provide us a copy of the proposal policy for our review
and feedback? Everyone else received a copy, didn't they?

As the proposal supposed to circulate among all ABCN
chapters and collectives except for those about to get the ax? 1
think not. So, if Anthony had not sent those to us, he would
have been—given his belief in our legitimate status—betraying
us, keeping silent while we were purged, so to speak. What is
all the more confusing is how Anthony was wrong for sending
the same thing you sent in your letter. Th:(mlydlflmn‘eu
that Anthony sent it before we were stripped naked and tossed
down the saircase. You delivered a copy aftr gravity
deposited us at the bottom of the stairs. @

Anthony is often stubborn, difficult and obtuse. He often flies
off the handle. He has a tendency to not play well with others.
In this case, what he did was honorable and he sent us the same
thing you sent us. Just something to think about before anyone
decides to run around cyberspace with his head on a spike.

Al the personal and factionalized finger-pointing aside, the
real deal s this: The ABCN has permanently purged prisoners
from membership on an equal basis with everyone else by
implementing this proposal. That's the real deal. Everything.
else is water over the bridge.

We in the Conditions Factory have spent all the time on such a
debate as we can spare. We are now collaborating on our
manifesto, “To Smash the Gods”, which we believe will have a
lasting impact on Anarchist theory and practice and will
surpass Last Act of the Circus Animals as our contribution to a
worldwide revolution to topple the existing order.

How ironic that we take oir name from a quote by George
Jackson (“Where the conditions for revolution are not present,
they must be manufactured...”, who was never purged from
the Black Panthers due to the logistical inconvenience of
consulting him in prison.

Freedom,

Sean Swain A243-205
For The Conditions Factory
Question #14) 1n your writings, coaversations with people and in your
Please claborate on this theory of yours xd tefl me krow are we @

Answer:

Well, atoms are a basic building block of matter. Complex molecules
full of all kinds of atoms are broken down to individual atoms. It also
means taking water and tuming it into a fine mist. But the way I mean itis
mors related to how people comport themselves. We are loners. We keep
10 ourscives. We live alone a lot and ¥ic keep to ourselves, evea in
crowd. Many people wear iPods and shut out al other influences, whether
from otber bumans or whatever.

It means we have broken down the complex relatioaships and every
individualis let to fend for themselves. We see peaple in their own little
worlds all the time. They may be speaking to another person on their cell
phone in the midst of a crowd, oblivious to the other humans around them.

People doa’t gather around a coffee shop o discuss the day’s aews or to
share in each other’s company. They g0 to their computers and get if on a
screea. Evea chikdren sit in frout of a screen and play games, often by
themselves, transfixed by unreal images clashing and “batting” among
themselves. So few g0 out and play together outside much anymore.

The older couch potatoes have cable T.V. whefe huadreds of stations
are available 10 occupy their time and even if others are i the same room,
nobody says word. Evea the “games” children play are completoly
orchesirated and regulated by adults. Pick-up games are a thing of the
past.

Cameras are everywhere and people don’t make conversation with
“strangers” as if other people are a dangeroiis thing. Work spaces bave
listle cubicles, where it is just one worker and his or her computer.
Prisoners are sometimes housed singly, or doubly or in overcrowded
‘dorms, which ruins and distorts what healthy humans relations should be
like, too.

You can sce it n the al the thousands of tiny ltte groups fighting for
social justico — but not with each other, but only in litle groups. We live in
‘eighborhoods and don’t even know our neighbors — and many don't evea
‘wat 1o know them! Out in the saburbs, they don't éven build sidewalks
‘aaymore, so children have nowhere to ride their bikes, play hopscotch,
‘walk or do anything other than in their own yard. They must be driven in
ars — even to their schools.
And, it's psychological, 1o0. So many people are on all kinds of

Iatest borror story is the triple munder of Jeanifer Hudson's family. And
e, whero s the inspiration o deal with it all?” Where s the modern day
Malcolm X or Martin Luther King, Jr.? We're stuck to settle for Jesse
‘We see the whole world in an accelerating mehtdown and those
responsible (industry and the governments who coddle them) are ot
‘willing to do anything of significance about it all, All we sce are more.

1S a sumendering of our future, realy. If more than two people are
s6cn 0n 8 stroct cormer o in store, they are suspected of “gang (criminal)
We're constantly goaded to do (buy) things for ourselves. The specter
of “socialism” s forever shoved into our faces 2s a borrible thing if
benefit us all. Thanks a lot A" for being so horrible and
totalitarian that thisis easy for capitalists to do! Capitalism is extolled as
the best systea, thai wars are unavoidabe, biah, blah, biah. We are afl on
‘our own, except for our immediate familics or maybe, the canned
“community” that a church pretends to offer.

Unioas arca’t what they used 1o be, people are often on their own.
Marringe is a fragile institution, many childrea live in bouses with ane (or
20) parets. A picce of paper and an expensive ceremony don't really help
-mmmdhn—fifihfib-flym, ‘Nobody has
been taught how to fimction in 8 relationship. Many pareuts are
experiences. A lot of peoplo live day to day and paycheck to paycheck.
‘The last moath has seen two trillion dollars vanish from the ledgers of
rtirement fnds! Onos agai, the rug has boca pulled from under many
people. So, everywhere people tufn for help and the susainiag aurburing

of others has been shut in their face. They’ve been bumed by their
attzmpts at working or socializing with other people end groups and foel
‘stranded.

To10p it of, people have a dreadful understnding of their own selves
and fecl vulnerable, scared, anxious and lonely in their own company.
‘They have never leamed to tap into themselves and build a positive:
attached. Too often, when people do outreach to others it is because of
need or weakness or desperation — or they are scheming on them for
something.

The truth will set you free and the truth about this problem of
‘stomization of people is to understand that there are reasons why this stato
of affairs is so. ‘When people are divided and broken down so minutely
that they want 10 just be left alone, a criminal government such as the
Bush-Cheaey cabal can lie, loot and murder with unmitigated gall snd

16 why they pit prisoners against cach other all the time, too. They
don’t want people to realize their strength lics in self-actualization

Again, itis a question of will and determination — a desire to want to
improve our lives and s hope that our efforts will pay off. Our brains are
our biggest friends and they can figure out the solution to any problem —if
‘we give them the g0 abead to work oa them and if we allow ourselves to
trust their better judgment. Al of our negative thoughts about ourselves
can be boxed and sheived and put in the past. They doa’t count — unless
we refuse to transcend them.

Results take time and often seem 1o lag way behind what our efforts, in
our anxiousness, feel they should. It takes a leap of belicving that the
‘concepts of anarchism, really, really do actually work, ouce put into
practice. Mutual aid, voluntary cooperation, the innate bumanism within
us all, solidarity — these are the tools that can bring us contentment,
fulfllmeat and happiness. By trying 1o do the right thing, by trying to help
‘ourselves grow into our potential selves, by trying to help share what we
bave learned and discoverod with others, these things e what bas siways
‘brought peopie the sense of seit and community that the highly social
animal we are (humans) have always thrived amidst.

‘Being bullicd by fear and lies and threats and hopelessaess docsa't even
provide safety. We cocoon ourselves and it just makes us miserable. Even
if we are safe at home by ourselves, we still fear what's “out there.”

‘We can blossom into strong sad productive individuals but the vague
fear drammed into,us since early chikihood needs to be extracted sad .
stomped to desth, completely. True, there are many dangers out there, but
We just live our ives in ignorance and miscry instead of confidence and
‘wonder. Direct action is noeded to deal with this problem, just like all the
others.

| SEE DEAD PEOPLE

1am fike coal, in the sense that | see dead people. Not in
the context of their being inanimato or devoid of Ife, but rather
what is infended by the term "DEAD" is lacking any feslings or

1 see dead people; in a place whero everyday is a virtual
vision of Halloween in prison...a5 almost everyone wears a mask.
‘They tick individuals to believe they were “this” or “that” on the
stroet, 50 they con with no regard for consequences, “Treating”
themsaives 1o the propery of cthers, tasting the sweetness of
biter it

1500 dead people, black, white..red people, in the grips of
racial pride, under the guise of being simply proud of ethnicity!
Zombies, eyes wide but vacart, where the walk 1o the mess hall is
Tike being trapped in some weird documentary by West Craven!
Graves n the form of bunk beds, whers the mentaly sick attempt
10 loop away time, biind o reaity day by day. Spiritual decay and
distress oats at what's lef of fraity.

I see dead people, haunted by their own mistakes! Followed
by the domons of desire and lust, and no such thing as st do
they rust! The saying goes, ‘s just us”, plus who wil awake the
dead? Perhaps the boss, whose carried his own cross...buried
alivo insid, crucifiod 1o these wals.
| see dead people; evl disguised as good...a matrix of

darkness whefa the heartiess roam freely. | wonder, wlltougher

laws and prime poliicians resurrect the dead? WAl programs and
pseudo restorative justice programs resurrect the dead?

Ithink " am dead peoplel now 560 myselfin the mirror image
of chains and pains...socially removed and almost dormant; fike
Some disease, afrad 1o infect others with my B.P. (borderiine
‘pessimism). Awake me from my sieep. Convince me I've dreamt
alll Tell me its some kind of butterly eflect...and that neglect
really isn't real. Release me from my grave (i. prison).

‘Airoady encugh said. | wil leave you now, while | count myset
among the deadil

Wiitien by Ketth Burey EC-0000

SCI Fayete, Box 9999

La Befle, PA 154500999
By Sharon Danann
Cleveland

Four hundredseven prisoners took over
Apoflianuflpfiloninwyohb,
for 11 days in April 1993. When it was
over, one guard and nine prisoners had
been killed, making it the longest prison
uprising with loss of life in recorded US.
history.

It seemed that only Obioans were riv-
eted to the drama s it unfolded. This was
partly because the events in Lucasville
took place atthe same time that 83 Branch
Davidians were being incinerated by
Bureau of Alcobol, Tobaceo and Firearms
agents in Waco, Texas.

What held the Lucastille rebellion
together wis unity betwsen Black and
white prisoners; a5 reporfed by Staughton

Lynd in “Lucasville: The Untold Storybfa *

‘Prison Uprisiiig” and elsewhere.

George Skatzes, at that time a mem-
ber of the racist Aryan Brotherhood, was
approached by a Black prisoner within the
first hours o the takeover because he had
been known to mediate disputes among
‘prisoners. White and Black prisoners were
onoppositesidesof the gym and the atmio-
‘sphere was tense.

Skatzes, who bad never been a public
speaker, put his arm around the Black man

andsaid to the assembled inmates: “Thisis
againstthe administration. Weareallnthis
together. They are against everyone i here
‘who's blue [the color of the prisoners’ uni-
forms].... Ifthey comein bere, they're going
tokillall of us. They're going to kill this:

and me, no matter what clor we are.

Later, when Skatzes was outin the PFis-
onyard as a spokesperson, he announced:
“We are oppressed people; we have come
together a5 one. We are brothers. .. We
are a unit here, they try to make this a
racial issue. It i not a racial isue. Black
and whitealike havejoined handsin SOCF
[Southern Ohio Correctional Facility] and
become one strong unit."

The Ohio State Highway Patro}. offi-
cers who entesed partions of the.prison
‘afer the siege told afterward of signs and
slogaps written on the walls: “Black and.
'White Together,*Black and White Unity,"
“Convict Unity” and “Convict Race.” This
forging of unity across racial barriers
2dds to the reasons why the Ohio system
of (in)justice has been 5o determined to

~malke an example of the Lucasville Five.

‘The jmam of the Sunni Muslims,
dique Abdullah Hasan, negotiated with
prison duthorities during the sege, as did
‘anothermemberofthe Aryan Brothethood,
Jason Robb. Their efforts contributed-to
4 negotiated settlement to ti siege. This

From 1993 to today
Racial solidarity
settlement included a 21-point agreement
that the warden had to sign, after which

the remaining five hostages were released -

and prispners came out in groups of 20,
Their reward for preventing a bloodbath,
ronically, s the death penalty.

Skatzes was also convieted and is on
death row. Together the five prisoners
falsely convicted in connection with the
deaths that took place during the upris-
ing are known as the Lucasville Five. The
other o of the Five are Black, so the Five
eflect the make-up ofthe prison popula-
tionin Ohio: roughly 60 percent Black and
Latin and 40 percent white.

‘Thesolidarity amongthe Lucasville Five
has held strong. As reported by Lynd, they
share legal materials and are actively con-
cerned for each other’s health. They have
gone on bunger strikes together to protest
the conditions of their confinement.

One of the fasts was-accompanied by
list of demands that started with-proper
medical treatment for George Skatzes,
After about another week, only Skatzes
and Hasan were still festing, The prison
approached both individually to state that
the concerns woirld be addressed:

Butncither of them would eat it told
directly by the other that he was ready to
eat again. Hasan said: ° chose to Stay on
the fast to let them kniow tiat 1 was down

vith George's struggle, too, and 1 would
Dot sit quiet and let the system mess over

him. .. (TJhey got the message and know
that we are one.”

The Lucasville Five's convictions are
based entirely on perjured testimony
extracted from other prisoners under
threatthat they would be sent up on capital
charges f they didn'tsculpt the facts to the
prosecution’s liking, A growing number of
supportersare calling fo their convictions
10 be overturned and them to be set free

Messagesofsolidarity alongwithstamps
and envelopes to facilitate responses, can
be sent o S.A. Hasan (R130-559), Keith
Lamar (#317-17), Jason Robb (s308.
919), James Were (#173-245) at the Ohio
StatePenitentiary, 878 Coitswille-Hubbard
Rd., Youngstown, OH 44505-4635 and to
George Skatzes (#173-501), P.0. Box 788,
Mansfield, OH 44901-0788.

Hasan is the co-sponsor of a Web site,
prisanersolidarity.org and also has ¢
Web site at wuww.ohiodeathrow.comy
carlos_sanders.htm. Keith Lamar hoe
written a book, “Condemned, " which can
beobtained fromhis address above. Much
of the material for this article is dertved
from Staughton Lynd's “Lucasville: The
Untold Story of a Prison Uprising, - For
more information, go to wwno workers
019/2006/us/lucastille-fve-1026/

)

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