Our Commitment Is to Our Communi
Mass Incarceration, Political Prisoners,
Community-Based Justice

ISBN 978-1-894946-65-0

ind Building a Movement for

Copyright 2014 David Gilbert
first printing 2014

Kersplebedeb Publishing and Distribution
CP 63560

CCCP Van Horne

Montreal, Quebec

Y-BASED
)
AINATION
Today’s disaster goes back to forces set in motion by then-
President Richard Nixon in 1969. As recounted many years later
when Nixon's chief of staff H.R. Haldeman published his diary,
“Plresident Nixon] emphasized that you have to face the fact that
the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a sys-
tem that recognizes this while not appearing to” (The Haldeman
Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House, entryfor April 28, 1969, em-
phasis in original.) Although the context was welfare policy, this
conversation reveals the strategic thinking that led to the birth of
the terrible twins that continue to take a grim toll today: the ille-

-being locked up at an unprec-
on or jail. Having either parent
ing for the children left behind.
on spread, many poorer white
ay when Nixon complained to
were less than 300,000 human
ay the number is 2,300,000

he damage done by crime is to
the one hand that involves de-
at provides constructive ways

NTERVIEW
\TF
President Clinton presided over a major federal expansion in the
19905, at the same time that he worked to “end welfare as we know
it” So, he continued the Reagan demagogy of turning the frustra-
tions of white working-class people away from the corporate rulers
and toward the despised, racially constructed “others"—pictured
as Black, along with immigrants pictured as Latino—while Clinton
deregulated the banks.

BF: You wrote about the widespread damage from the war on
beings have been killed, an es-
s well as thousands in Central
dbyillegal lucrative drugs. The
e people use drugs than when
imagine a program like Head
inded with a cost/benefit ratio
utback despite—or maybe be-
s.
rildren—a concern my son has
cated me on—because it is 5o

incarcerated today with “prisoners” back then will end up with an
inflated ratio. My figures compared incarcerated then to incarcer-
ated today.

Another possible source of confusion is the distinction be-
tween numbers and rate. Rate is figured relative to overall popula-
tion; that didn’t mushroom quite as much because U.S. popula-
tion also increased (from 203 million to 308 million) over those
decades. The comparison is still stark, from 161:100,000in 1972 to
707:100,000 today—a 4.4-fold increase. The rate is the best way to
compare countries of different sizes, with the US. rate being over

d profits from prison labor play

direct dollars and cents expla-
often policy flows from broad
‘The Prison Industrial Complex
strategic economic position of
ere are now some vested inter-
00 tiny and insignificant when
nin 1970 to be a driving force.

'BF: Right now many mainstream voices are calling for reducing the
number of people in prison. Is this a major turnaround? Why are
we seeing this change now? What are the prospects of significant
reductions?

DG: Two vectors have converged from opposite directions. On the
top, the passion for tax cuts for the rich and resulting fiscal stresses
‘have pushed officials to look for budget savings. Previously prisons.
‘weren't up for such discussion. But the war's very success in beat-
ing back political and social insurgency gives them a little breath-

e

iite supremacist ideology as a
'r people, even while racism is
reir current plight. Conversely,
for prisoners as a class flowed
slack Power Movements.
> only considering minimal re-
clean up a sullied image, in the
repressive, punitive nature of
ve the “tough on crime” dema-
up to us who are or stand with
1 don't think there is a magic formula for avoiding co-opta-
tion. We have to do our best to formulate far-reaching demands, to
always educate about the systemic nature of the problems, and to
work to build movement momentum. People on the outside have
been responding to courageous prisoners’ struggleslike the recent
(suspended for now) extensive hunger strike against indefinite
solitary confinement in California which was followed by similar
actions in a few other states. These actions fit into an international
context of resistance, with hunger strikes at Guantanamo Bay and
by Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
ve need to recognize that the
ving parents, taking potential
my, and promoting the break-
s, generates a lot more violent

bout real harm need to pur-
mity-based approach, which
ety and security. T don't think
fle prisoner out tomorrow. At
utside communities, we need

The mainstream discourse pits women’s safety against re-
leasing prisoners. Radical women of color have challenged that
formulation, not only because they see the damage done to their
communities by mass incarceration, but also because they under-
stand that the state itselfis a major abuser of women of color. Beth
Richie's Arrested Justice goes into it in depth, and INCITE! Women
of Color Against Violence (see page 28) has been a leading orga-
nization in this regard. (See for instance their excellent book Color
of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology, edited by Andrea Smith, Beth
Richie, and Julia Sudbury.)

ce system affect women?

‘rcent of prisoners, that means
nd their numbers have been

1 men. About two-thirds of fe-
torn away from one’s children
of women convicts were pre-

or sexual abuse—and now find
surveillance and frequent pat

les.

educators, initiators of parenting programs, jailhouse lawyers,
AIDS activists. And it goes in both directions. The solidarity many
prisoners showed me made a big difference in my ability to parry
harassment.

Atthe same time, who is in prison and why is very political—
it's all about race and class. Also, some people are in prison for
resisting attacks on women, gays or transgender and gender non-
conforming people. And prison struggles themselves have pro-
duced some outstanding political leaders.

Sothere isa fluid, dynamic interaction between political pris-

> Black Liberation Army’s con-
the police, who functioned as
Revolutionaries have the high-
reventing civilian casualties.
d the term as a slander against
5. The U.S. had Nelson Mandela
ntil 2008. And recently the FBI
hakur on the top of their *
ne of being shot by the police
he air.

lo-
In my view, a political prisoner is anyone who's incarcerated
as a result of her or his political positions or actions, usually as
partof an explicitly political group. There's quite a range, including
people we refer to as “Prisoners of War” because they were cap-
tured as a result of the just struggles for Black, Native American,
Puerto Rican, or Chicanoliberation; ex-Panthers who were framed
(some are still in from the 1970s); anti-imperialists fulfilling our
responsibility under international law to oppose racist and repres-
sive regimes; working-class militants opposing capitalism; more

recent environmental and animal liberation cases; nonviolent

h cases, there’s compelling evi-
der the threat of execution for
death penalty helped mobilize
ia is a superb journalist—the
duces is amazing—and he also
n.

salient example today of the
- of genocide against Native
1d after some 37 years in pris-
s, including diabetes and high
'BF: You spoke of Leonard Peltier's llness. Are other political prison-
ers having serious health problems? Have many died in prison?

DG:Sadly ... sadlymany beautiful comrades have died in prison—
not always, but often because of poor medical care compounded
by the toll prison stress and diet can take. Just in New York State
since I've been in, we've lost Kuwasi Balagoon, Nuh Washington,
Jah Teddy Heath, Bashir Hameed—each one a thoughtful, caring
human being with a lot to contribute.

Marilyn Buck, an inspiring example of a white person who

in New York State, and what is

everal ex-Panthers and Black
ing Herman Bell, Seth Hayes,
Sekou Odinga. My own case
ally of the Black movement.
r have been in since the 19705
ation struggle.

or over 30 years, Seth, Herman,
the continuity of struggles involved. The reality of political pris-
oners is a way—one of many—to give lie to the U.S. government's
claim to being a beacon of human rights. And it's a very impor-
tant and helpful way for today's activists to incorporate how the

struggles against injustice have been going on for decades, and
will have to continue for decades more.

BF: How has the world changed since you were last interviewed by
“The Shadow” in 19917
\ovement was a breath of fresh
ernaut that totally misdefined
eam politics totally dominated
directing people’s frustrations
and immigrants—finally a loud
arce of our problems. Their ef-
ss sectarian than earlier move-
if uneven.

ous and predominantly white
it problems of internalized rac-

People in the Global South are still waging crucial struggles,
butwe have less sense of revolution sweeping the globe. Within the
US. we have an incredible range of organizing going on around a
‘wide gamut of issues—from global warming to electronic surveil-
lance and everything in between. And I must say that the young
activists who write me are a lot less arrogant than I was, than we
were, at that age.

Butwhat's missing is the sense of a strong overall movement
challenging the system as a whole.
from the efforts to build a hu-
rezuela to village-wide mobili-
maging dams in India to wom-
alism and for food sovereignty
reminder that we all live in one
corporate leadership from the
Bolivia) Declaration on global

need to always be looking for
of Color movements. The cen-
gtime anti-racist and
ime active in the Civil
1. In 1965, he started
t Columbia University;
he first Students for a
phlet naming the sys-
he was active in the
He went on to spend a
bund, building a clan-
ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS PAMPHLET

Anarchist Black Cross Federation | that caging and conrolling people males s

www.abetnet info@abeLnet safe We believe that basic necesitissuch
s food, shele,and freedom are what really

make our commanitissecure;as such,
our work s partof lobal struglesagainst
inequalityand powerlessnes.

The ABCFworks 0 support political prison:
ersthrough buildingalliances and aisng.
funds. 1femaiting the address above,include
“prisonspam’ n the subject 0 avoid being.
caugh by the spamfler

Decarcerate PA
PO, Box 40764
California Coalition for
o h— Philadelphia, PA 19107

1540 Market St,, Suite 490 1l 267-217-3372
{ED IN THIS PAMPHLET

ew York State Prisoner Justice
etwork (NYSPIN)

3 Central Avenue

Ibany, NY 12210

1:518-434-4037
ysprisonerjustice@gmail.com
whvnysprisonerjustice.org

e New York State risoner Justice Network
agrassroots group providing ool for
mmunication, coordination, and. col-
oration among organizations and.
e
AVAILABLE FROM KERSPLEBEDEB & PM PRESS

No Surrender:
Writings from an
Anti-imperialist
Political Prisoner

by David Gilbert
Published in 2004 by AG Press

1SBN: 978-189492-526-6 + 283 pages
§15.00

This first collection of David Ay Gilbert

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Amazon Nation or Aryan Nation:
White Women and the
Coming of Black Genocide

by Bottomfish Blues
1SBN: 9781894946551 168 pages * $12.95

The two main essays in this book come from the
radical women’s newspaper Bottomfish Blues, which
was published in the late 1980s and early 90s; while
historical appendix on “The Ideas of Black Genocide

in the Amerikkkan Mind” was written more recently, but only circulated
KERSPLEBEDEB

Since 1998 Kersplebedeb has been
an important source of radical
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clusive

The project has a non-e
focus on anti-patriarchal and
anti-imperialist politics, framed
within an anticapitalist perspective.
A special priority is given the

continuing struggles of political
prisoners and prisoners of war.
ce 1998 Kersplebedeb has been
important source of radical
rature and agit prop materials.

e project has a non-exclusive
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i-imperialist politics, framed
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tinuing struggles of political
soners and prisoners of war.
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w more recently, but only circulated
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The Struggle Within:
Prisons, Political Prisoners,
and Mass Movements in the
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by Dan Berger
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ISBN: 978-1-60486-955-2 + 128 pages

§12.95

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piecaipons

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David
Ay Gilbert

ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS PAMPHLET

Incite! Women of Color
Against Violence

PO. Box226

Redmond, WA 98073
tel:484-932-3166.
wiwincite-national.org

INCITE! Women of Color Against Vielence
st nationalactvistorganization of adical
feminiss ofcolor advancing a movement

o end viotence against womer o color and
our commanities through dirctaction, cit-
B

New York State Prisoner Justice
Network (NYSPIN)

33 Central Avenue

Albany, NY 12210

teL:518-434-4037
nysprisonerjustice@gmail.com
wwnysprisonerjustice.org

e Neuw York State Prsoner ustce Network
isagrassroors group providing ool for
communicaton, coordination, and col-
laboration among organizations and.
e
IONED IN THIS PAMPHLET

thatcaging and controling people makes us
safe We believe that basic necesitissuch
s food, shele,and freedom are what really
make our commanitissecure;as such,

our work s partof lobal struglesagainst
inequalityand powerlessnes.

Decarcerate PA
PO, Box 40764
Philadelphia, PA 19107

tel:267.217-3372
David Gilbert, a longtime anti-racist and
anti-imperialist, first became active in the Civil
Rights movement in 1961. In 1965, he started
the Vietnam Committee at Columbia University;
in 1967 he co-authored the first Students for a
Democratic Society pamphlet naming the sys-
tem “imperialism”; and he was active in the
Columbia strike of 1968. He went on to spend a
total of 10 years underground, building a clan-
There are all kinds of lessons, from the efforts to build a hu-
mane, democratic socialism in Venezuela to village-wide mobili-
zations against environmentally damaging dams in India to wom-
en-led struggles against neocolonialism and for food sovereignty
in Kenya. Climate change is a stark reminder that we alllive in one
world, and we could do more to incorporate leadership from the
South, such as the Cochabamba (Bolivia) Declaration on global
warming.

For white activists today, we need to always be looking for
‘ways to build solidarity with People of Color movements. The cen-

h are still waging crucial struggles,
tion sweeping the globe. Within the
ze of organizing going on around a
sbal warming to electronic surveil-
en. And I must say that the young
tless arrogant than I was, than we

ense of a strong overall movement
ole.
DG: Well, first of all, the Occupy movement was a breath of fresh
air. It broke through a media juggernaut that totally misdefined
the issues. After 30 years of mainstream politics totally dominated
by racially coded scapegoating—directing people’s frustrations
against criminals, welfare mothers and immigrants—finally a loud
public voice pointed to the real source of our problems. Their ef-
forts to be more democratic and less sectarian than earlier move-
ment generations were important,if uneven.

At the same time, a spontaneous and predominantly white
movement will inevitably have giant problems of internalized rac-

olved. The reality of political pris-
to give lie to the U.S. government's
man rights. And it's a very impor-
s activists to incorporate how the
e been going on for decades, and
es more.

1 since you were last interviewed by
BF: Who are the political prisoners in New York State, and what is
their current status?

DG: New York State is holding several ex-Panthers and Black
Liberation Army members, including Herman Bell, Seth Hayes,
Jalil Muntagim, Abdullah Majid, Sekou Odinga. My own case
results from being an anti-racist ally of the Black movement.
Mohamman Koti and Maliki Shakur have been in since the 19705
with cases related to the Black liberation struggle.

All of us have been in prison for over 30 years, Seth, Herman,
r’s illness. Are other political prison-
ms? Have many died in prison?

ful comrades have died in prison—
»f poor medical care compounded
et can take. Just in New York State
uwasi Balagoon, Nuh Washington,
ed—each one a thoughtful, caring
ibute.

g example of a white person who
DG: There are a few reasons. In both cases, there's compelling evi-
dence of innocence. Mumia was under the threat of execution for
decades, and the barbarism of the death penalty helped mobilize
international protests. Also, Mumia is a superb journalist—the
volume and quality of what he produces is amazing—and he also
has a top-flight support organization.

Leonard stands as the most salient example today of the
US!s long and brutal campaign of genocide against Native
Americans. Also, just turned 70 and after some 37 years in pris-
on, he has serious health problems, including diabetes and high
oner is anyone who's incarcerated
al positions or actions, usually as
up. There's quite a range, including
's of War” because they were cap-
iggles for Black, Native American,
tion; ex-Panthers who were framed
0s); anti-imperialists fulfilling our
ral law to oppose racist and repres-
litants opposing capitalism; more
imal liberation cases; nonviolent
rate and government property. The Black Liberation Army’s con-
flict was with armed professionals, the police, who functioned as
an occupying army in the ghettos. Revolutionaries have the high-
eststandards about avoiding and preventing civilian casualties.

The establishment has inverted the term as a slander against
anyone who fights the ruling classes. The U.S. had Nelson Mandela
on their official “terrorism” list up until 2008 . And recently the FBI
put Black freedom fighter Assata Shakur on the top of their *
mestic terrorism” list—for her crime of being shot by the police
while she had her hands raised in the air.

lo-

ting programs, jailhouse lawyers,
oth directions. The solidarity many
ig difference in my ability to parry

1 prison and why is very political —
o, some people are in prison for
ys or transgender and gender non-
n struggles themselves have pro-
-al leaders.

interaction between political pris-

BF: How else does the criminal justice system affect women?

DG: While women are about 11 percent of prisoners, that means
there are 250,000 behind bars, and their numbers have been
growing at a much faster rate than men. About two-thirds of fe-
male prisoners are mothers; being torn away from one’s children
is wrenching. A very large percent of women convicts were pre-
viously subjected to physical and/or sexual abuse—and now find
themselves subjected to constant surveillance and frequent pat
down searches by officers, often males.

e pits women's safety against re-
nen of color have challenged that
they see the damage done to their
ation, but also because they under-
jor abuser of women of color. Beth
toitin depth, and INCITE! Women
page 28) has been a leading orga-
instance their excellent book Color
logy, edited by Andrea Smith, Beth

vulnerable than themselves. But we need to recognize that the
criminal justice system, by removing parents, taking potential
‘wage-earners out of the local economy, and promoting the break-
down of family and community ties, generates a lot more violent
crime than it prevents.

Those sincerely concerned about real harm need to pur-
sue a more holistic and community-based approach, which
will do a lot more to promote safety and security. T don't think
abolition means letting every single prisoner out tomorrow. At
the same time as we build the outside communities, we need

agic formula for avoiding co-opta-
ormulate far-reaching demands, to
mic nature of the problems, and to
entum. People on the outside have
prisoners’ struggles like the recent
e hunger strike against indefinite
nia which was followed by similar
ese actions fit into an international
rer strikes at Guantanamo Bay and
s.
many white prisoners buy into white supremacist ideology as a
way to feel they're better than other people, even while racism is
in fact the underlying reason for their current plight. Conversely,
the only period of positive reforms for prisoners as a class flowed
directly out of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
Naturally, those on the top are only considering minimal re-
forms, to save a little money and to clean up a sullied image, in the
interest of maintaining the overall repressive, punitive nature of
the system. They'll be ready to revive the “tough on crime” dema-
gogy if they feel they need it. So it's up to us who are or stand with
m voices are calling for reducing the
this a major turnaround? Why are
hat are the prospects of significant

:d from opposite directions. On the
he rich and resulting fiscal stresses
‘budget savings. Previously prisons.

But the war's very success in beat-
urgency gives them alittle breath-

o

BF: What role do private prisons and profits from prison labor play
in this expansion?

DG: We on the left tend to look for a direct dollars and cents expla-
nation for every development, but often policy flows from broad
strategies to maintain class control. The Prison Industrial Complex
has nowhere near the size nor the strategic economic position of
the Military Industrial Complex. There are now some vested inter-
ests that play a role, but they were too tiny and insignificant when
the hyperexpansion of prisons began in 1970 to be a driving force.

rers” back then will end up with an
ared incarcerated then to incarcer-

of confusion is the distinction be-
sfigured relative to overall popula-
ite as much because U.S. popula-
million to 308 million) over those
Itark, from 161:100,000in 1972 to
ncrease. The rate is the best way to
sizes, with the U.S. rate being over
Globally, thousands of human beings have been killed, an es-
timated 70,000 in Mexico alone, as well as thousands in Central
America, from the violence spawned by llegal lucrative drugs. The
result of all this carnage: today more people use drugs than when
the war was launched. Could you imagine a program like Head
Start or Food Stamps still getting funded with a cost/benefit ratio
like that? Actually, they are getting cut back despite—or maybe be-
cause of—their proven effectiveness.

Let's talk for a minute about children—a concern my son has
studied, advocated about, and educated me on—because it is so

r a major federal expansion in the
worked to “end welfare as we know
n demagogy of tuming the frustra-
»ple away from the corporate rulers
lly constructed “others”—pictured
s pictured as Latino—while Clinton

espread damage from the war on

ASHADOW

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH NY STATFE
communities. And now women are being locked up at an unprec-
edented rate, with 250,000 in prison or jail. Having either parent
absent can be traumatic and damaging for the children left behind.
As the mania for mass incarceration spread, many poorer white
people got swept in too. On that day when Nixon complained to
Haldeman about “the blacks’ there were less than 300,000 human
beings incarcerated in the U.S; today the number is 2,300,000
‘The only way to turn around the damage done by crime is to
have community-based justice. On the one hand that involves de-
veloping an economic vibrancy that provides constructive ways

k to forces set in motion by then-
69. As recounted many years later
R. Haldeman published his diary,
| that you have to face the fact that
- blacks. The key is to devise a sys-
not appearing to” (The Haldeman
House, entryfor April 28, 1969, em-
e context was welfare policy, this
gic thinking that led to the birth of
o take a grim toll today: the ille-

COMMUNITY-BASED

JUSTICE AND
SFIF-DEFTERMINATION
ind Building a Movement for

and Distribution