The Incarcerated Worker 6 and older
Web PDF • Imposed PDF• Raw TXT (OCR)
![It’s Winter! cont. Your cellis designed solely toisolate you from your cell block forces, your cell block from your complex forces, your complex forces from you insti- tutional forces, and your prisoners’ population from the prison in the next town. Look around you, every area of your environment has gates and doors just waiting to slam shut in lttle isolat- ing segments. In essence this means we cannot assemble or reasonably communicate across our own forces. Any sign of doing so gates slam shut, we are isolated so that word or deed cannot spread and we are thoroughly dealt with by and overpowering violent superior force. Numbers C and D are used in con- junction with one another to shape our material conditions. We respond to have these through reactionary means explained in general category #1. Itis all one elaborate dialectical structure designed specifically for the self-per- petuating suppression of our own disor- ganized apathetic population. Now enter our IWOC Campaign On my particular complex of about 800 people, only two of us are educated revolutionaries who have a fucking clue as to what we are talking about. | imagine our comrades in other places can relate to some extent. Our main hurdles come from categories Aand 8. The apathetic are apathetic. The elitist see us as a threat trying to introduce an elaborate organizational structure called for by the IWW is an extremely tall order. Then even if we do manage to get one in the works some- thing as simple as a single participant getting rolled up along and moved can crumble the whole thing, which goes back to categories C and D. Now that we have revealed and de- fined some of the problems, let’s try and find out some solutions. First of all apathy usually goes hand in hand with ignorance the more a fucked up situa- 6| Thelncarcerated Worker tion s revealed to someone especially in the context of how itis harmful and dangerous to that person the more in- clined we are to do something about it s for the racists and gang folks and other elitists at least we can say that they have some type of fire under their ass. They at least have some type of motivation to do something; itis just what that something which is the problem. This goes backto the igno- rance factor, as our total environment has been propagandized to reinforce our own apathy and self-destruction We must counter those elements with our own large scale propaganda cam- paigns geared mostly on introductory concepts in education from our own perspective and also campaigns which encourage participation. To some ex- tent we already do this but not enough. I challenge all of us to think of ways we can maximize our effectivity in reaching the minds of our person a wider scale with limited resources. The more we begin to overcome cat- egories A and B (psychological social reactionism) the more potential we have with categories C and D (dialecti- cal material solutions) but until then we must come up with strategic ways of organizing in spite of these things. Against all odds, some of us actually are determined to build a sustainable IWOC branch. We understand that an IWOC branch is theoretically designed to func- tion as cadre for the greater movement butin my analysis it is too complex for its own intents and purposes. Most of our energies are spent just trying to put abranch together and keep it that way, especially given the fact that most if not all participants are inexperienced, uneducated and largely intimidated by several different types of potential fall- out for taking action. Here is our institution we are working onthe two point strategy to overcome some of these problems. | ind that the simpler a thingis, the less likely it is to malfunction. This is also true with organizing, the least amount of mov- ing parts in a thing the less things have potential to break. In addressing basic organizational praxis, we’ve created an ABC Oregon Prison Chapter with out- side ABC chapters. For assistance and quidance, one of these outside chapters also functions as an IWOC liaison. ABC OPC functions on three basic points: prisoner rights] prison abolishment, sociological education of selves and others, and organization Our organizational structure is sim- plified as much as possible while conscious of effectivity; our structure largely emphasizes goal orientation ad punctuality. Once our cadre is stable and sufficient, we will then make it our primary task to develop IWOC. Our ABCOPC organizational structure also accounts for “dialectical/material situa- tions* as defined in letters C and D. In regard to numbers A and B, one way we are trying to combat the psycho social reactions to our propagandized realities s by creating our own micro cosmic newsletter. We do this with the help of our advocates at ABC Portland Asthe Incarcerated Worker is a nation- ally distributed newsletter, we feel it is equally important to have our more targeted regional and local media that can address the particulars of our own unique situations and mentalities. Any questions, info requests, quidance etc. can be sent directly to myself or PDXABC.org (Portland ABC on Face- book) and will get a response by either myself or one of our other dedicated rads. Till then, up the punk! Never give up see ya round. In raised fist solidarity, Zero the Bully Slayer, Joshsua Cartrette 12225965, 2500 Westgate, Pendleton, OR g7801 This article s titled: On Form- ing Inside Branches, by FW Zero ®](the-incarcerated-worker-6-and-older 6.png)
![Mindfulness Can Influence Memory, cont. this money to purchase gym shoes (even though the DOC will not supply me any); | cannot use these funds to purchase educational materials or legal books and dictionaries, nor to purchase gifts for my kids or grand- kids. That s not only draconian, but the whole imple- mentation violates Article 1; Section 12 of the Wiscon- sin Constitution-(Ex Post Facto). When | was a camival game operator, we called what the DOC s doing, “Theft by Deception”. Maybe my sta- tus as a prison inmate has me a ltle biased in my opin- ions, but facts do not lie. So please do your research and see for yourself, that | have given you the Gospel Truth in this matter. The DOC will take 65% of an in- mate’s funds even if they come from friends and family trying to help him or her et through the rough times, until all debts are paid or the inmate has no funds left (release or otherwise). This article i titled: Rehabilitation by Stagnation: Really? by Reo L. Covington ® Nutrition and Your Heart The following is a summary written by me (Mike Lucas) for the Industrial Worker, the outside newspa- per for the IWW. The reports were too numerous and epic to be put into our usual timeline format. Thus, I’share this with honor, but all the praise is yours my fellow workers on the inside. Ya’ll have made our hearts swell with pride here on the outside. ‘The 15t Month of the National Prison Strike By FW Mike L., The Incarcerated Worker outside editor “Prisoners are now realizing that by withholding their labor they have the power to shut down prisons and get the authorities, at the very least, to reevalu- ate the prison slave labor system. In essence, they are realizing that striking is a necessary stepping stone in changing the prison system and the dynam- ics of prison slave labor.” — Phillip Ruiz, former incarcerated worker and member of the IWW Incar- cerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), in “Why Prison Strikes Are Necessary: An Ex-Prisoner’s Experience.” On the night before Sept. g, 2016—the 4s5th anniversary of the Attica Prison uprising and the date set for a national prisoner labor strike—a riot erupted at Holmes Correctional Institution in Florida. More than 400 incarcerated workers rose up in rebellion, barricades were built, cameras were broken, fires were set, and all hell broke loose. Rapid continued on page 10 Researcher Studies Prarie Dog Communities, cont. Negro insistence to be allowed into white America is Henry “shivering in the rage he tied around his feet.. Robbins told his slave shoemaker ‘make the boy something good for his feet. He [Robbins] told the servants who ran his mansion that Henry was to eat in the kitchen with them and forever be clothed right. Today Henry still waits outside his master’s mansion inthe finest vines in belief that theyll be clothed, and fed by the system. This s the reason why they watched calmly as Black/ Latino criminals, undocumented immigrants, welfare queens, crack heads, and super-predators were created and imprisoned, with racial rhetoric, laws and policies and marched for equality in preservation of this oppressive defunct system. Time has made African American Negroes’ sup- positions correct, though. Our story is now white washed and cleansed and does not reflect race laden criminal policies that were used to provide a place in Candyland for African American Negroes and cells for those who fought against the class-biased system of oppression. Fifty years after, the Black Panther Party was infiltrated, compromised, and decimated, I wondered, Celebrate? What? Why? Dol reminisce on those rats that now tell their story with pride? Should | celebrate all the dirty cops that planted evidence, beat and lied on the stand who are now firmly in place inside the super structure that uses broken glass laws to harass black lives? It’s African American Negroes who can look forward, with greasy chickenlip grins, without looking back to pull up our broth- ers. Brothers, who were sold outand now rot n filthy sterile hermetically sealed cages, as | sit too, political conscious, with neo-prison Bob Marley dreads parted; stoned faced like my facial expression was chiseled in granite by Emory Douglas, and allthat’s needed to complete the picture s a gun, and a fist, raised with bruised white knuckles and clenched in solitary. Though desperately missing reality being that | cannot celebrate the abstract liberty of living in prison like educated, color-blind African American Negroes, with programmed neo-leftist wives, in split level homes, student loans, Obama Care, and IRS gamishments, experiencing all the abstract liberties, but devoid of basic human satisfactions. They do not despise the system that caused mass incarceration, but helped fund it and watched as it seized upon powerless black men and hacked them to death, remov- ing their genitals, their bloodies body chained yet beyond the sight of ocular sameness; how- ever within accepted deprivation of freedom and equality. The ‘African American Negro expe- rience post-Panther revolution enjoyed, and necessary to earn a position in overpopulated civi- lized society. Let them celebrate; Icant, the bell just rung, and | gotlocked in. What?! Living Survivor of Chronic Sys- tem Incarceration Maurice Ward Founding Member of the De- cember 11th Movement This Article is Titled: Revolution will not be televised: Fifty Years after the Black Panthers, Now What? Monday, une 13th, 2026 ® Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 o](the-incarcerated-worker-6-and-older 9.png)
![Scientists Study Distant Stars, cont. US sometime. The police indiscriminately killing black people, the school to prison pipeline, and slavery in prison, perpetuate white supremacy in the US. MR: Corporations run the prison industrial complex. There are more businessmen involved i politics than ever. Prisons represent savings in operating costs for companies because normal expenses such as taxes, social security .. there is no overtime when the work s done by inmates Companies finance PACS (Political Action Committees created toraise funds to support candidates in political elections), and then pressure politicians to their advantage to pass laws that allow them to access prison labor. Sometimes there are even companies that buy or build prisons directly. But for this in- vestment to work, the company must guarantee that the work is available in the long term. Therefore, politicians tend to pass laws such as *mandatory minimums", “three strikes" and all kinds of sentences for drug possession. The result s that there is a mass imprisonment in the US, with deplorable conditions and abuses ... and profits remain very high. RB: Why speak of modern slavery? CD: Slavery never ended in this country. This is one of the key messages we want to give the average citizen through our movement. Itis written in our constitution. The thirteenth amendment “abolished” slavery “except as a punishment for acrime. MR: From my point of view the term *modern slavery” is wrong, because slavery never ended. There is nowhere in the US Constitution that says it’s done. I fact, many prisons such as Angola in Louisiana were built on old plantations. The plantation became a prison. The slave became convict. The owner became jailer. | imply followed the money circulating at the expense of black people. In our article *Let the Crops RotIn The Field," I cite research showing that in the mid-2870s Alabama received around 70% of its state budget from convict slave labor. Most state governments stil balance their bud- gets with labor decisions, fines, and legal exploitation through phones, commissary, incentives ... even charging a medical co-payment. But keep in mind that allthese costs are borne by people working for free. This s how slavery has always worked RB: What are the objectives of the strike? What effect do you thinkit will have? MR: The main objective is to raise awareness about the de- ception and what s happening, and show that thereis a real and viable solution to the problem of mass incarceration. | demonstrated the ability to solve this problem i in our hands, literally, through the work we do as prisoners. Not lawyers, o politicians, o the President; an organization that is not only us who we are inside. All you have to do s et the crops rot in the ground. Let the factories remain idle. Let the products of the cafeteria rot. 18] The Incarcerated Worker CD:When you remove the economic motivation and improve the conditions of workers in the prison system, all the judicial and police structures for control and capture of prisoners must change and treat us like human beings, rather than as slaves. Initially, | think the state repression will be very hard against the prisoners on strike. | have no doubt they will be placed in isolation or segregation, and their belongings will be confis- cated and their few rights will be restricted indefinitely. So we thinkit’s important to create a strong network of support from outside, so that we can mobilize and help them against re- pression. But the long-term hope is to open a national discus- sion about the fact that slavery must end. The companies and the state are making a lot of money putting people n prison, and mass imprisonment has been used as a means of social control and to perpetuate white supremacy. | see our efforts inside and outside prison leading to a mass-movement to end slavery and white supremacy.... And a general strike to end the capitalist system that sustains it RB: What organizations are supporting the strike? CD: The prisoners are those who call the strike. IWOC is fully](the-incarcerated-worker-6-and-older 18.png)
![ATTENTION MAIL ROOM!! ’he First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects frec specch. Regulations tha permit the government or its employees to discriminate on the basis of the content of the message cannor be toler- ated under the First Amendment (i). Further, prisoners retain free speech rights. Thought control, by means of prohibiting beliefs, would not only be undesirable but impossible (i). Fact of confinement and needs of the penal insticution impose rational limitations on prisoner fice specch vights (i), but those resticcions must have a"valid, ational connection’ to “legi mate penological interests” no related to the content of ideas (iv). Regulations and practices can only be justified when the practice “furthers an important or substan- tial government interest unrelaced o the suppression of expression” (v). “This means you cannot legally suppress the expression of ideas. Prison walls do not serve to form a barrier separating prisoners from the protections of the constitution (4. Core political speech is most-zealously guarded and chere is a public interest “in having free and unhindered debate on mat- ters of public importance-the core value of the Free Specch Clause of the First Amend- ment” (vii). IT’S WINTERI! PO BOX 414304 KANSAS CITY, MO 64141 _____________________________________ I 20| The Incarcerated Worker Thus, exclusion of printed material on the basis ofis poltical perspective amounts o free speech retaliation and discrimination, which is illegal (vii). 1fyou exclude printed material for an unlawful basis, or if you simply conjure up a false pretext for its exclusion, you have broken the law. The prisoner recipient of this mail has cause for bringing a civil rights action against you and has cause for gaining punitive damages--which means money: You and everyone who permits this action, from your supervisor to the director of the prison system, may be named in those civil actions, and you may also be subject to ter- ‘mination from your employment. Because this primer is included in this mailing, you will not be able to claim you did not know your actions were illgal. For these reasons, we ask that you conform to federal law and refrain from unlawful discrimination against the enclosed materi- als, permitting mail service of this literature thac objectively meers alllegitimate criteria set forch in prison regulations. i, Reagan v. Time, Inc., 468 U.S. 641, 648-49, 104 SCr 3262 (1984). “[T]he facethat socicty may find specch offensive is no sufficient reason for suppressi Indeed, ifit i the speakers’ opi gives offense, tha consequence for according it consciwutional Husder Magazine, Inc v. Falwe 45,46, 108 SCt 876, 882. The ‘may nor prohibit the expression simply because society finds thi offensive or disagreeable, U.S. + 496 US 310, 319, 110 SCe 2404 (1990) “[ATbove all else, the First Amendmenc means thar government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, it ideas, it subject macter, or its content.” Police Dep. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 US 92, 95,92 SCt 2286, 2290 (1972) i, Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners Labor Union, 433 US 119,97 SCt 2532 (1977) , Pell v. Procunier, 417 US 817, 822, 94 Set 2800, 2804 (1974) i, Turner v. Safely, 482 US 78, 107 SCt 2245 (1987) v Turner, supra vi, Tarner, supra i, Pickering v. Board of Educaion, 391 US 563,573, 88 SCt 1731 (1968). ii, Abu-Jamal v. Price, 154 F3d 128 (3rd Cir,, 1998); X v. Blatcer, 175 F3d 378 (6th Cir. 1999) @ YOEYTY X08 Od TYTY9 O ‘ALID SYSNVH](the-incarcerated-worker-6-and-older 20.png)
% IT'SWINTER!
Regarding the formation of an IWOC
branch there are some issues we're fac-
ing here in Oregon that some folks in
other regions may recognize, Organiza-
tional roadblocks that can generally be
categorized in two parts; each having
sub categories.
Also, given the superfluous structur-
ing called for to achieve IWOC branch
status, collectively these things add up
toa very difficult climb to successful
branch development and an almost
impossibility as far as sustainability.
Here | will lay out some of our main
problems and our theoretical solutions.
From least to most problematic:
« A general complacency, apathy, lazi-
ness, class stagnation. A collective psy-
chological dormancy among our pop-
Ulation. Usually this takes the shape of
psychological escapism; what comrade
Patrick Morris calls *Kardashianism",
living vicariously through superficial tv
personalities or fantasy land games or
books.
« Gangs, racism,
heterosexism and
other forms of
egotistical bull-
shit. These forms
of divisiveness are
simply psychological
manifestations of
egotism combined
with low self-esteem
generated by our
oppressive envi-
ronment, true but
existent and prob-
lematic nonetheless.
Numbers Aand B
are two blades of
the same sword, yet
can be addressed
with a single stroke.
Both are psycho
social reactions to
a single hostile, violent, authoritative
environment which propagates and
reinforces self.destructive, violent and
escapist behavioral patterns,
In essence, we are immersed in a
propagandized environment. As anar-
chists, we have what we call *propa-
ganda of the deed”. While our adver-
saries use the offensive counterpoint to
this: propagandized social realities. For
example when a pig (cop) makes you
stop and spread your legs so he can put
his hands on your body. That is a propa-
gandized action which reinforces your
sense of helplessness and inferiority.
In the context of this dialectical reali-
ty, numbers A) and B) are our general
psycho social reactions. The B category
seeks to reassert control over their
perception of these realities through
reactionary means. The only way they
see evidence of having control over
anything is by lashing out at the only
thing they perceive as weaker than
Issue 6:
Winter
2016/17
themselves, that is to say, the other
people n their own situation. Ultimate-
Iy this is completely anti-thetical to our
own interests as it serves to divide our
own class forces so that our adversaries
can better control us.
The A category has simply accepted
their lot and even often defends their
enemies positions rhetorically because
it excuses them from having to address
their own inertia. Personally | take
offense to category A. Sub categories A
and B fallinto a single general category
il call “the psycho social reactive cate-
gory’, category #1.
Category # 2 Il call our “dialectical/
material situation”. These consist of
the material realities that ultimately
resultin our psycho social reactions as
defined in category #1.
« An oppressor force with superior
methodological practices, strategic
application, tactical execution, records
and research data, protocol, special
task teams, com-
municative chan-
nels and on and on
are all geared solely
toward our oppres-
sion and further
suppression of our
greater force of
disorganized , uned-
ucated, unmotivat-
ed, lazy , hopeless
mass.
+The architectural
components of our
physical location.
The name of the
game here is the
number one rule
of war. Divide and
control. In order to
keep you enemies
divided you must
isolate those forces
from each other.
Continued on page 6.
IWOC
Statement of Purpose
July 31,2014
1. To further the revolutionary goals of
incarcerated peopleand the IW W through
mutal organizing of a worldwide union
for emancipation from the prison system.
2. To build classsolidarity amongst members
of the working class by connecting the
struggle of people in prison, jails, and
immigrant and juvenile decention centers
o workers struggles locally and worldwide.
3.To strategically and tactically support
prisonerslocally and worldwide,
incorporating an analysis of white
supremacy, patriarchy, prison culture,
and capitalism.
4.To acivly sruggle 0 end the
criminalizacion, exploitation,
enslavement of working class people,
which disproportionately targets people
of color, immigrants, people with low
income, LGBTQ people, young people,
dissidents, and those with mental llness.
5.To amplify the voices of working
class people in prison, especially those
engaging in collective action or who
put their own lives at risk to improve
the conditions of all.
and
FELLOW WORKERS:
2| Thelncarcerated Worker
JOIN US
The Incarcerated Worker is a publication of the Incarcerated Worker Organizing Committee.
of the Industral Workers of the World. Join the rank-and-fle union thars organizing
prisoners internationally! Send name, 1D #, and address to:
CONTRIBUTE
IWW IWOC
PO Box 414304
Kansas City, MO 64141-4304
The Incarcerated Worker features writings of prisoners, welcoming contributions of writ-
ing and art particularly from a revolutionary labor perspective, all subject to editing for
space and for content. Contributions should be sent to;
Kent Books to Prisoners
CSIBox X
KSU Student Center
Kent, OH 44242
Editorial Policy
Collectively, we may not know exact-
ly what we're looking for, but we'll know
it when we see it. And we may not know
‘what were ot looking for, but we'll defi-
nitely get plenty of i
We have to decide: Do we want to produce
qualicy that wil inspire and move people
and contribute to 2 goal, or do we want to
bea forum for terrible material no one else
will pring?
Topt for the first. So, T suggest our editorial
policy should be fluid and evolving and or-
ganic, case by case, issue to issue. In other
words, no real policy at all
~Editor FW Sean Swain
However, this fluid policy is subject to
change at the democratic will of incarcer-
ated workers like YOU! Fellow workers in
Missouri prisons suggested 2 rotation of
contributing authors. Authors shall be set
in rocation each issue, so each gets a wrn
share cheir voice.
“The more articles you send the more we can
put in roration. The articles should reach
and morivate cach other. The papers goal is
solidasity through communal knowledge;
each one teach one!
~Outside Editor, Mike L
Due to limited printing capacity, content should be kept shorter than 5 pages.
Send your self-addressed stamped envelopes with requests for
back ssues, so we can save on postage.
Remember to share and spread things around so we can all grow!
Kent Books to Prisoners provides
prisoners with books and other reading
material on request.
Kent Books to Prisoners
CSIBoxX
KSU Student Center
Kent, OH 44242
Prison Books Collective provides a
caalog of political pamphlets, and any
of the pamphlets contained within, free
o prisoners. Prisoners in MS, AL and
NC are eigible o request and recieve
books. heep://swww prisonbooks.info
Prison Books Collective
Publishing & Distribution
PO Box 625
Carrboro, NC 27510
Kent Books to Prisoners and Prison
Books Collective are not affiliated with
the IWW,
IWOC PO Boxes:
IN THIS ISSUE:
1 ... Its Winter/On Forming Inside Branches, by FW Zero - Artwork by White Bear
2 ... Artwork by Ralph "Bingo” Chaplin
4 ...Researcher Studies Communication in Prarie Dog Communities/Revolution
Will Not Be Televised by Maurice Ward - Artwork: Standing Rock Standing
Strong by FW Marius Mason
5 . Timeline: Recent Events
7 ...Mindfullness Can Influence Memory/Rehabilitation by Stagnation, by Reo L.
Covington
8 ... Artwork by White Bear
9 _..Nutrition and Your Heart/Editor's Notes, by Mike Lucas
10... Artwork: Solidarity is Taught
11... New Study Finds Horses Look To Humans For Help/JLS Lawyers Speak
Poen: Lost Souls by Anthony Heidenrieck
12... Conservation of Wildlife Populations/A Day In the Life of Time by Eric » Art
by White Bear
13... Election Results - Member Verification Form
15... Scientists Study Distant Stars/Interview with Melvin Ray & Cole Dorsey
17... Artwork by Kevin "Rashid” Johnson
A note from your delegate: Hello everyonel IWOC is growing by leaps and bounds over the past few months. For faster and beter
responses to your letters, please write to the PO Box in your state and country. If you do not see your state listed here, write to the
Kansas City PO Box
NWA IWOC,
PO Box 4062
Fayeteville AR 72702
Phoenix INOC
PO Box 36574
Phoenix AZ 85067
Oakland IWOC
PO Box 6305
Oakland CA 94621
Connecticut IWOC
PO Box 204107
New Haven CT 06520
DCIWOC
PO Box 1303
Washingion DC 20013
CMC clo IWOC
4335, Main St
Gainesville FL 32601
Orlando IWOC Rochester INOC
3206 PMB #9 S Hopkins Ave
Titusville FL - 32780
Adanta IWOC
PO Box 5390
Atania GA 31107
Indiana IWOC
PO Box 2321
Terre Haue IN 47802
TCIWOC
PO Box 581561
Minneapolis MN 55458
IWOC
PO Box 414304
Kansas City MO 64141
NYIWOC
PO Box 721, 1132
Southern Boulcvard
Bronyx NY 10459
PO Box 30914
Rochester NY 14603
Ohio IWOC
PO Box 6042
Cincinnai OH 45206
Portland IWOC
109 SE Alder St, Unit #0717
Portdand OR 97214
IWOC PVD
PO Box 28541
Providence R 02908
Milwaukee IWOC
PO Box 342294
Milwaukee W1 53234
WoC
PO Box 7593
Glasgow G422EX UK
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 |3
Researcher Studies Communication in Prarie Dog Communities
There have never been a free people, a
free country, or a real democracy on the
face of this earth. Yet, the vast majority
of Americans believe in its ideals. In the
hopes of conveying a belief, the Oval Of-
fice is occupied by a vanilla wafer, not of
slave blood, but a freeman of color who
does the bidding of his handlers. This is
America's exemplification of democra-
cy; however, the United States enslaves
a quarter of the world's prisoners, and
places those who are outside the walls
into indentured servitude. Insanity is
when ashout of *Let's Make America
Great Again” is followed by bodies
being strapped to student loan debts,
medical bills, and IRS garnishments in
exchanged forlife sentences in concrete
prison cells
Fifty years after the Black Panther
Party, an armed revolutionary party
that fought for black self-determina-
tion, was infitrated, compromised, and
decimated, pathetic African American
leaders faced with blatant racist policies,
though despite praise of achievement
toward equality, and feigned igno-
rance of the fact that sister and brother
4| Thelncarcerated Worker
Panthers were jailed and imprisoned on
trumped-up charges, and should receive
pardons, march nonviolently against the
disproportionate political and economic
system in practice within the United
States. As oxymoronic as placing in
context a black Trotskyite, and going
towar, it would be clear even to them
if after seventy-five years of marching,
and equality had not been achieved, an
armed struggle would be the solution.
Its these African American Negroes
which, while our Sister and Brother Pan-
thers were sold out and fed to corporate
America’s rapacious economic growth,
sold positions in the United States- as
house servants in Candyland.
Does the average African American
think he or she is beyond America's
despotic disproportionate distribution
of equality? How long has it been since
slaves needed a pass to leave plan-
tations, blacks were segregated and
Jim Crowed or Negroes were redlined
into urban deserts? It happened to me
yesterday, as | walked from my cell to
a privatized state phone, watched by a
million cameras, as contents of my re-
corded phone calls can be used against
me ina court of their laws to stage
aconspiracy. The parallels from my
experience of armed guards posted at
checkpoints, licensed by the state, ready
tokill non-whites based on a subjective
threat, are drawn between Afghans
and Palestinians detained and being
bombed by drones. It was necessary for
the United States’ agencies of count-
er-revolutionto kill the Black Panther
Movement, so the linchpin for mass
incarceration, zero tolerance anti-crime
fascist policing, and the proliferation of
the killing of unarmed black men could
be setand prevent any uprising for free-
dom and liberty.
In efforts to protect the ruling class's
imperialist system of economics, the
political system of the United States,
with every uprising they used criminal
justice policies as a way to sever the
head from the body and have gone as
far as removal of genitals as a message
tothose would be leaders. Case in point:
NatTurner's uprising that forced the Na-
tional Guard to rescue slave owners; the
Panthers armed usurpation of the Cali-
fornia's Capitol while legisla-
tors were in session; D-Yard
Nation uprising after the
death of Comrade George
Jackson that took over the
yard; the riots in 60's that
threaten to bur down the
United States’ cities. These
events sparked the political
consciousness of convicts,
although every battle ended
in death of its leaders
However, the consequence
of an armed struggle for the
self-assertion of freedom
that results in defeat is an
elevated fear level, based
onthe ruling class' socially
constructed link to criminal
violence. This allows for an
increase in the funding for
policing and increase restric-
tion through control. This is
Continued on page 5
Researcher Studies Communication in Prarie Dog Communities, cont.
why politicians’ create a climate of fear and was the explanation
to why Johnson's redistribution of wealth failed, yet produced
adangerous black militant class that rioted in return of whites'
generosity. It can be argued that the public was deceived into
believing that the Fugitive Slave Law, Mann Act, Harrison Act,
Hale Bogg’s Mandatory Minimurn, Wickersham Commission,
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, Comprehensive
Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, Law Enforce-
ment Assistance Administration, Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986
Act that produced the dubious *100 to 1* ratio that copies the
Pig and Chicken laws that disproportionately gave black males
longer sentences than whites), Clinton’s Community Orient-
ed Policing Service (COPS), 1994 and 1996 Omnibus Crime
Bills, Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA)
would allow them to sleep comfortably at night. | cannot argue
‘whether or not Americans comfortably sleep after trillions and
trillions of dollars are spent on control and surveillance of boo-
gie men, but rather it is systemic repression delivered in an opi-
oid delusion on a beauty rest, which s scarier. However, | know
itis beyond the realm of reality to believe that the containment
of black and brown bodies willfree white Americans; moreover,
I can argue that the United States understood that the Pan-
thers and all the organizations that presumably followed would
have challenged freedom. This crisis was the reason for state
and federal funding of military style policing that produced the
carceral state, mass incarceration and has allowed the murder
of unarmed black males to be justifiable deaths.
In order to preserve the United States’ oppressive defunct
political and economic system, African American Negroes have
accepted a commercialized version of our story. The governing
narrative of past, present and future events controlled by us
is our story. Our story: heroic struggles that allows us to make
sense of the world, woven into ethnic richness, which allows
self-determination and pride to radiate from a culture of being
perverted by a commercialized presiding fiction, which has
allowed us to behold ourselves and our place in the world as
satirical entertainment for others
For example, African American Negroes thought that Beyoncé's
commercialization of the Black Panther's brand was repre-
sentation of equality. Elaine Brown, former member of the
Black Panther Party, pointed out that “Beyoncé's performance
celebrated wormen of the Panther Party." Elaine Brown's state-
mentistrue, yet it's a whitewash of the facts and a fictional tale
of our story that does not allow Panthers to be honored like
revolutionaries are in Cuba, but appear as women in costumed
during America's reenactment of its past battles and genocides.
When 'l read her comments, | could only think back to Edward
P. Jones great novel, The Known World, a story about Henry
Townsend, a black plantation owner in south that grows up as a
slave purchased out of slavery by his father. The story dealt with
the complication of the institution of slavery and the role freed
blacks played in the participation and preservation of slave cul-
ture. The methods African American Negroes have and contin-
Ue to use to advance in status made vivid by the part in the nov-
el where Henry as child stood outside Master Robbins' mansion
and waited to groom his master's horse. The African American
continued on page 9
October
Santa Clara, CA jail had over 300 incarcerated workers
1. on hunger strike. Mass participation continued for hu-
mafrights
FAM rebels at Holman released this statement to
1.9 the Anarchist Black Cross: Clinched fist salute! This is
(X down here at Holman Prison in Alabama. | don‘t want to
take up too much time, but we rebel prisoners in C-Dorm want
to express our thanks for your support and solidarity during the
strikes, and for Holman in particular. At this time, Holman is be-
ing occupied by the riot squad to restore order to a space that
we created based on self-management. There are daily con-
frontations between us and them. We will continue to resist.
We ask that you all keep an eye on Holman. They are trying to
break the resistance, smash F.A M., and continue business as it
was before the resistance. We ask that y‘all continue to attack
the state and all of its institutions. We call on all freedom-lov-
ing, oppression-hating hackers to attack the judicial and crim-
inal justice system. Let's continue to make shit ungovernable.
We end this by sending strength and solidarity.-C-Dorm Un.
Hunger striking Mexican Anarchists end strike, but
« continue fasting in solidarity with the National Prison
2
strie.
Kinetik Justice, a lead organizer of FAM, goes on hun-
2 9 « gerstrike as he is threatened with transfer to the *bully
carip” called Kilby prison.
November
The day after neo-fascist candidate Trump's election
1O victory, private prison stocks rose in record numbers
With deportation centers being largely under private prison
corporation control, the win of the staunch anti-immigration
candidate was a sure fire plus for them. Yet, the “progressive”
Obama administration has broken records in mass deporta-
tions. Mass anti-Trump protests swarmed across the U.S. and
more actions are sure to burst, especially on inauguration day
(January 20th)
More updates on the ongoing struggles will be posted in the
next issue. It is also very important to note that solidarity ac-
controllables s with the strike continued all over the world! fi
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 Is
It's Winter! cont.
Your cellis designed solely toisolate
you from your cell block forces, your
cell block from your complex forces,
your complex forces from you insti-
tutional forces, and your prisoners’
population from the prison in the next
town. Look around you, every area of
your environment has gates and doors
just waiting to slam shut in lttle isolat-
ing segments. In essence this means
we cannot assemble or reasonably
communicate across our own forces.
Any sign of doing so gates slam shut,
we are isolated so that word or deed
cannot spread and we are thoroughly
dealt with by and overpowering violent
superior force.
Numbers C and D are used in con-
junction with one another to shape our
material conditions. We respond to
have these through reactionary means
explained in general category #1. Itis
all one elaborate dialectical structure
designed specifically for the self-per-
petuating suppression of our own disor-
ganized apathetic population.
Now enter our IWOC Campaign
On my particular complex of
about 800 people, only two of us are
educated revolutionaries who have a
fucking clue as to what we are talking
about. | imagine our comrades in other
places can relate to some extent. Our
main hurdles come from categories
Aand 8. The apathetic are apathetic.
The elitist see us as a threat trying to
introduce an elaborate organizational
structure called for by the IWW is an
extremely tall order. Then even if we do
manage to get one in the works some-
thing as simple as a single participant
getting rolled up along and moved can
crumble the whole thing, which goes
back to categories C and D.
Now that we have revealed and de-
fined some of the problems, let's try
and find out some solutions. First of all
apathy usually goes hand in hand with
ignorance the more a fucked up situa-
6| Thelncarcerated Worker
tion s revealed to someone especially
in the context of how itis harmful and
dangerous to that person the more in-
clined we are to do something about it
s for the racists and gang folks and
other elitists at least we can say that
they have some type of fire under
their ass. They at least have some type
of motivation to do something; itis
just what that something which is the
problem. This goes backto the igno-
rance factor, as our total environment
has been propagandized to reinforce
our own apathy and self-destruction
We must counter those elements with
our own large scale propaganda cam-
paigns geared mostly on introductory
concepts in education from our own
perspective and also campaigns which
encourage participation. To some ex-
tent we already do this but not enough.
I challenge all of us to think of ways we
can maximize our effectivity in reaching
the minds of our person a wider scale
with limited resources.
The more we begin to overcome cat-
egories A and B (psychological social
reactionism) the more potential we
have with categories C and D (dialecti-
cal material solutions) but until then we
must come up with strategic ways of
organizing in spite of these things.
Against all odds, some of us actually are
determined to build a sustainable IWOC
branch. We understand that an IWOC
branch is theoretically designed to func-
tion as cadre for the greater movement
butin my analysis it is too complex for
its own intents and purposes. Most of
our energies are spent just trying to put
abranch together and keep it that way,
especially given the fact that most if
not all participants are inexperienced,
uneducated and largely intimidated by
several different types of potential fall-
out for taking action.
Here is our institution we are working
onthe two point strategy to overcome
some of these problems. | ind that
the simpler a thingis, the less likely it
is to malfunction. This is also true with
organizing, the least amount of mov-
ing parts in a thing the less things have
potential to break. In addressing basic
organizational praxis, we've created an
ABC Oregon Prison Chapter with out-
side ABC chapters. For assistance and
quidance, one of these outside chapters
also functions as an IWOC liaison. ABC
OPC functions on three basic points:
prisoner rights] prison abolishment,
sociological education of selves and
others, and organization
Our organizational structure is sim-
plified as much as possible while
conscious of effectivity; our structure
largely emphasizes goal orientation ad
punctuality. Once our cadre is stable
and sufficient, we will then make it our
primary task to develop IWOC. Our
ABCOPC organizational structure also
accounts for “dialectical/material situa-
tions* as defined in letters C and D.
In regard to numbers A and B, one way
we are trying to combat the psycho
social reactions to our propagandized
realities s by creating our own micro
cosmic newsletter. We do this with the
help of our advocates at ABC Portland
Asthe Incarcerated Worker is a nation-
ally distributed newsletter, we feel it
is equally important to have our more
targeted regional and local media that
can address the particulars of our own
unique situations and mentalities.
Any questions, info requests, quidance
etc. can be sent directly to myself or
PDXABC.org (Portland ABC on Face-
book) and will get a response by either
myself or one of our other dedicated
rads.
Till then, up the punk! Never give up
see ya round. In raised fist solidarity,
Zero the Bully Slayer, Joshsua Cartrette
12225965, 2500 Westgate, Pendleton,
OR g7801 This article s titled: On Form-
ing Inside Branches, by FW Zero
®
Mindfulness Can Influence Memory
Toall of my fellow inmates, to all
supporters, and friends/family of the
FF.U.P. (Friends For Understanding
Prisoners). Please be aware that the
Wisconsin Department of Corrections
are now engaging in the blatant sabo-
tage and whole-sale stagnation of our
rehabilitative efforts and our successful
re-entry into society as productive and
changed citizens. Now, some of you
are asking the questions. How andfor
why would or could | make such bold
statement?
On April 11, 2016, the Wisconsin leg-
islature enacted, 2015 Wisconsin ALS
ACT 355, which became effective July
1, 2016. This implementation requires
that al restitution owed by an inmate
be paid in full, prior to paying any
Victim/Witness or DNA surcharges
or other court related costs. Inside
this legislation the Wisconsin Dept. of
Corrections is given the authority to
change the court-ordered 25% deduc-
tion from an inmate's prison wages to
50% (violating the Doctrine of Sepa-
ration of Powers). This is done under
language changes made to DAI Policy
309.45.02-Inmate Trust System De-
ductions. These changes have caused
amendments to sections of 973 of
Wisconsin Sentencing statutes, which
now give the Wis. Dept. of Corrections
explicit authority to do the following:
a) the authority to combine all inmate
trust accounts (i.e. hisfher release
account + regularfaccessible account,
work release, etc.), and using this type
of computation then deduct 0% of
the previous month's total, claiming it
is for restitution owed victims for loss
of property or damage done to their
goods. This draconian act punishes the
inmates more severely than the sen-
tencing courts. At the same time this
farce by the DOC punishes any person
or group of persons who might try to
assist an inmate (family, friends, and
non-profits). Because if an inmate, who
receives $20in a money order, owes
any restitution, under this scheme $13
will automatically be deducted from
the senders’ money (gift, gratuity) and
making it nearly impossible for an i
mate to buy his own hygiene (deodor-
ant, effective soap, lotion, shampoo,
antifungal cream) writing materials;(
tablets, pencils, pens, envelopes) and
postage-so.65/per embossed envelope.
These items are not given to inmates
in the WDOC prison system, regardless
of what their publicists say in press
releases.
b) theunilateral authority to mod-
ify the order of the circuit court that
sentenced the inmate, to pay 26% of
the inmate’s prison wages for restitu-
tion, surcharges and other related court
costs, to now state in the language to
deduct these obligations of the in-
mate’s from all monies no matter what
the source or nature of the monies.
(gifts, gratuities, etc).
1do not lack empathy for victims who
have suffered losses due to crime, and
Ibelieve they should get the equity in
law through reimbursement or res-
titution. And in theory that is a great
plan. The sad truth, the gospel truth is
that Act 355, guised under DAI Policy
309.45.02, Is sabotaging the rehabilita-
tive efforts of the inmates in Wisconsin,
taking the ability to establish a sound
release account, taking the inmate's
ability to purchase his or her hygiene
items, writing materials and postage
Taking the thief who decided to work
while in prison to train his or herself
for employment in the community and
saying to that person you can work
butwe are going to strip you of every
piece of moral fiber to pay the restitu-
tion you owe. The armed robber, who
owes thousands and thousands, has no
hope of saving his prison wages for the
purchase of a type-writer or gym shoes
due to the implementation of ACT 355,
quised in DAI Policy 309.45.02. The
statistics show that most inmates will
re-offend within 2-3 years. The new
changes forces him or her to remain in
the same thinking patterns and behay-
iors (criminal thinking/behaviors) that
brought them to prison just to survive
from one day to the next in prison.
Most of this leads to criminal activity
even-in prison. Just to obtain basic
hygiene needs or some extra food
Once an inmate is released from prison
he or she will have next to nothing
and very lttle, if any, money at allin
the mandatorily deducted release
account. The whole legislative intent
of the release account was to give the
inmates a leg up once released so they
did not have to go back to the commu-
nity starving or destitute, to assist him
in the first days and weeks of re-entry
with food, clothing and shelter, through
his or her own means (i.e. release ac-
count). Not any longer.
Atthe current rate of deductions, | per-
sonally wil be penniless in 28 months,
upon my release, due to the fact, that,
evenif 1 did not have any institutional
wages, these new changes allow the
DOC to deduct funds from my release
account (which is combined with my
regular account) until | am destitute.
This is sabotage and stagnation of my
rehabilitation and re-entry efforts.
The average inmate (one who owes no
federal court fees, or obligations) but
still owes restitution, victim/witness
andjor DNA surcharges and other court
costs, is n dire straits under this draco-
nian enactment (guised in DAI Policy
309.45.02).
Admittedly some inmates do not owe
restitution and some may have man-
aged o pay it off over the course of
their lengthy incarcerations. | hope
they are thankful. I, on the other hand,
since my revocation on a 2002 case still
owe restitution to First Federal bank
(who by the way has not received one
penny of the money deducted from me
over the last 8 years), 3 separate filing
fees i federal court and a mandatorily
deducted 10% for a release account
(that the Doc has already started to
drain). | was recently placed into a work
assignment that has a pay range of
50.35/hr @ 8o hrs/2-wks= 5 28.00/2-
‘continued on page 8
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 17
Mindfulness Can Influence Memory, cont.
wks and my deductions look ike this at
the end of 2 weeks:
528,00 - institutional wages
- 5.60 - 20% federal iling fee
22.40- 4.48 - 20% federal filing fee
=17.92 - 3.58- 20% federal appeal filing
fee
=14.34,-7.27 - 50% restitution (First
Federal bank-my victim)
=77 - 72-20% mandatory deduction
(release account)
=s6.45
$6.45 is whatis left for me after 2
weeks of labor at the Oshkosh Cor-
rectional Institution, under the new
scheme and policy changes enacted
under ACT 355, Of course it was my
own choice to file civil actions in the
federal courts and | can only hope
that you may remember that Brown v.
Board of Education was a civil action
under Section 1983 and it was cases like
8 Thelncarcerated Worker
these that gave us minorities the right-
tovote if we are not disenfranchised by
the system. It also gave us the right to
fair and equal housing and employment
aswell as the right to not be discrim-
inated against for our ethnic or racial
origins. My purpose in this revelation
of information is to put a face on the
real enemy-the ones that are filling the
prisons to overflowing, leaving thou-
sands of families broken and tor often
inirreparable conditions. The ones that
you (John and Jane Citizen) never hear
about, the Jon Litscher's of the DCC,
the William Pollards of the DCC, the
Judy Smiths and Paul Kempers of the
DCC. These people all have the ears of
ourlegislature who passed ACT 355,
and they knew that the act itself was
notimportant to you in the public and
in response to all inquiries they have
said itis to pay back the victims who
suffered losses
due to criminal
activity. They,
have lied to us
all. Malcolm
Xonce said
something
tothe effect
of "l have no
respect nor
can lever have
respectfora
society that
places a crush-
ing weight on
aman, but
then punish-
es him for
cracking under
that weight”.
Prisons are for
punishment
and rehabil-
itation. But
we (society)
cannot effec-
tively combat
the war on vi-
olence, crime
and drugs
by contributing to the problem. Our
criminal thinking patterns were learned
over years and embedded into our lfe-
styles. Now how can we get away from
those thinking patterns and behaviors
ifthe DOC is using mob-styled tactics
to force us into recidivism? That's what
these new changes are going to do
to many inmates, some long before
release will already be in prime crime
thinking mode due to the actions of the
DOC, under guise of ACT 355,
The real enemy in Wisconsin that
is halting the reform of the criminal jus-
tice system are people who are making
a living (making a killing) off of prison
Iabor, prison industries and other prison
programs that were intended to help
the inmates and their communities
uponthe release of the inmates. They
are, well most are, now nothing more
than ways to scam the federal gov-
ernment and tax-payers out of more
money to siphon offto Cousin Ed who
owns the electrical outlet down the
r0ad or to Aunt Betsy who owns all of
those vending machines (the ones that
dispense heroin) yeah, itis all a sham.
Yet, as an inmate | have endured the
price hikes of commissary every single
year for the past 5 years and there have
been no-increases to the inmate wages
innearly 15 yrs. And that was not an
increase but it was a decrease, and the
last effective change with any benefits
toinmates. Now the combining of all
inmate trust accounts, only to deduct
the funds for restitution is a farce, a
sham. Most victims of a crime in this
state never see a dime of restitution.
Please pray to open your eyes and
mouth to combat the inequalities that
are being waged against the prisoners
inthe criminal justice system. Because
if we do not say and do something
now, the next crime a non-rehabilitated
offender commits may be against you
or someone you love. Your voice and
vote does matter. The DOC can take
my release funds to pay restitution and
court costs. But | am not allowed to use
= continued on page 8
Mindfulness Can Influence Memory, cont.
this money to purchase gym shoes (even though the
DOC will not supply me any); | cannot use these funds
to purchase educational materials or legal books and
dictionaries, nor to purchase gifts for my kids or grand-
kids. That s not only draconian, but the whole imple-
mentation violates Article 1; Section 12 of the Wiscon-
sin Constitution-(Ex Post
Facto).
When | was a camival game operator, we called what
the DOC s doing, “Theft by Deception”. Maybe my sta-
tus as a prison inmate has me a ltle biased in my opin-
ions, but facts do not lie. So please do your research
and see for yourself, that | have given you the Gospel
Truth in this matter. The DOC will take 65% of an in-
mate's funds even if they come from friends and family
trying to help him or her et through the rough times,
until all debts are paid or the inmate has no funds left
(release or otherwise). This article i titled: Rehabilitation
by Stagnation: Really? by Reo L. Covington
®
Nutrition and Your Heart
The following is a summary written by me (Mike
Lucas) for the Industrial Worker, the outside newspa-
per for the IWW. The reports were too numerous and
epic to be put into our usual timeline format. Thus,
I'share this with honor, but all the praise is yours my
fellow workers on the inside. Ya'll have made our
hearts swell with pride here on the outside.
‘The 15t Month of the National Prison Strike By FW
Mike L., The Incarcerated Worker outside editor
“Prisoners are now realizing that by withholding
their labor they have the power to shut down prisons
and get the authorities, at the very least, to reevalu-
ate the prison slave labor system. In essence, they
are realizing that striking is a necessary stepping
stone in changing the prison system and the dynam-
ics of prison slave labor.” — Phillip Ruiz, former
incarcerated worker and member of the IWW Incar-
cerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), in
“Why Prison Strikes Are Necessary: An Ex-Prisoner’s
Experience.” On the night before Sept. g, 2016—the
4s5th anniversary of the Attica Prison uprising and the
date set for a national prisoner labor strike—a riot
erupted at Holmes Correctional Institution in Florida.
More than 400 incarcerated workers rose up in
rebellion, barricades were built, cameras were
broken, fires were set, and all hell broke loose. Rapid
continued on page 10
Researcher Studies Prarie Dog Communities, cont.
Negro insistence to be allowed
into white America is Henry
“shivering in the rage he tied
around his feet.. Robbins told
his slave shoemaker ‘make the
boy something good for his feet.
He [Robbins] told the servants
who ran his mansion that Henry
was to eat in the kitchen with
them and forever be clothed
right. Today Henry still waits
outside his master’s mansion
inthe finest vines in belief that
theyll be clothed, and fed by the
system. This s the reason why
they watched calmly as Black/
Latino criminals, undocumented
immigrants, welfare queens,
crack heads, and super-predators
were created and imprisoned,
with racial rhetoric, laws and
policies and marched for equality
in preservation of this oppressive
defunct system. Time has made
African American Negroes' sup-
positions correct, though. Our
story is now white washed and
cleansed and does not reflect
race laden criminal policies that
were used to provide a place in
Candyland for African American
Negroes and cells for those who
fought against the class-biased
system of oppression.
Fifty years after, the Black
Panther Party was infiltrated,
compromised, and decimated,
I wondered, Celebrate? What?
Why? Dol reminisce on those
rats that now tell their story with
pride? Should | celebrate all the
dirty cops that planted evidence,
beat and lied on the stand who
are now firmly in place inside the
super structure that uses broken
glass laws to harass black lives?
It's African American Negroes
who can look forward, with
greasy chickenlip grins, without
looking back to pull up our broth-
ers. Brothers, who were sold
outand now rot n filthy sterile
hermetically sealed cages, as |
sit too, political conscious, with
neo-prison Bob Marley dreads
parted; stoned faced like my
facial expression was chiseled in
granite by Emory Douglas, and
allthat's needed to complete the
picture s a gun, and a fist, raised
with bruised white knuckles and
clenched in solitary.
Though desperately missing
reality being that | cannot
celebrate the abstract liberty
of living in prison like educated,
color-blind African American
Negroes, with programmed
neo-leftist wives, in split level
homes, student loans, Obama
Care, and IRS gamishments,
experiencing all the abstract
liberties, but devoid of basic
human satisfactions. They do not
despise the system that caused
mass incarceration, but helped
fund it and watched as it seized
upon powerless black men and
hacked them to death, remov-
ing their genitals, their bloodies
body chained yet beyond the
sight of ocular sameness; how-
ever within accepted deprivation
of freedom and equality. The
‘African American Negro expe-
rience post-Panther revolution
enjoyed, and necessary to earn
a position in overpopulated civi-
lized society. Let them celebrate;
Icant, the bell just rung, and |
gotlocked in. What?!
Living Survivor of Chronic Sys-
tem Incarceration
Maurice Ward
Founding Member of the De-
cember 11th Movement
This Article is Titled: Revolution
will not be televised: Fifty Years
after the Black Panthers, Now
What?
Monday, une 13th, 2026
®
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 o
Nutrition and Your Heart, cont.
response teams were called in from five
different county prisons to put down
the rebellion. No matter what, the seal
had been broken at that point and the
spirit of Attica was now in the air! The
flames from this rebellion in Florida
wouldlight the torch for what would
become the largest prisoner strike in
USS. history. By the next morning, Free
Alabama Movement (FAM), one of the
main organizing groups for the strike
and a building force for IWOC, sent out
animmediate press release for the
national strike. FAM also reported a full
shut-down of Holman Correctional
Institution, one of the most infamous
prisons in Alabama and 2 key organizing
site of FAM. A FAM committee from
Holman reported: “Sept. g, all prisoners
at Holman Prison refused to report to
their prison jobs without incident. With
Q>
the rising of the sun came an eerie
silence as the men at Holman laid on
their racks reading or sleeping, Officers
are performing all tasks. The Carolinas
flamed up with strike activity. North
Carolina reported people refusing to go
towork, but no major lockdown. South
Carolina strikers released a list of
demands drafted by Jailhouse Lawyers
Speak, an allied group of IWOC. “End of
prison slavery” was one of the core
demands of the lst released. South
Carolina continues to grow as a major
powerhouse of the strike. The Virginia
branch of IWOC reported that the
Fluvanna Correctional Center for
Wormen joined the strike, and a wom-
en's prison in California went on hunger
strike in solidarity. The infamous
Merced County Jailin California also
joined in the national strike via mass
hunger strike. Political
prisoner Chelsea Man-
ning was on strike for her
rights to gender reas-
signment surgery and
inmates at Guantanamo
Bay were also on strike,
but both of these strikes
may not be directly
related to the national
strike. However, Man-
ning did win her rights to
surgery. Meanwhile,
demonstrations all over
the United States erupt-
ed. Nearly every major
city had a noise demo
outside of a jail or
another site related to
the prison industrial
complex. One of the
most charismatic
demonstrations came
from Oakland, Calif
Oakland had a demon-
stration with more than
300 people, and as the
tension escalated, major
damages were hit
against prison profiteers
such as Bank of America,
which was torched.
Comrades throughout the globe came
outin support of the strike. Supporters
in Spain, the United Kingdom, Germa-
ny, Australia, Serbia and other locales
held banner drops and demonstrations
outside of U.S. embassies. Greek
comrades had a demonstration outside
of a women's penitentiary, and cell
blocks of radical Greek incarcerated
workers from Korydallos sent a salute to
the strike. On Oct. 1, the same blocks
joined in the strike in solidarity by
refusing work and kicking all the guards
out of the blocks. Back in the United
States on Sept. 11, the strike expanded
to other states, including alarge
uprising at one of the major detention
centers in Michigan called the Kinross
Correctional Facility. Approximately 400
incarcerated workers refused to work
and started a protest march. The
situation escalated into fires being set,
barricades built, and several rapid
response teams being brought in from
other prisons throughout the state to
end the rebellion. According to media
sources, 3,200 incarcerated workers
participated i the rebellion, and 150 of
them were transferred as targeted
agitators of the strike. As the strike
continued throughout the first month,
several states such as Washington,
Nebraska, Texas and others were
reported to have strike activity. IWOC
members on the outside called prisons
tofind out which ones were on lock-
down and conducted other extensive
research to accumulate the actual
impact of the strike. Our initial research
estimated approximately 27 different
prisons with more than 27,000 prisoners
affected by the strike, but this number
later increased to be an estimate near
47,000 prisoners and 4 different
facilities affected. Wobblies and sup-
porters march through Oakland,
protesting against prison industrial
complex profiteers. Photo: tsgoing-
down.org Graphic: IWOC Incarcerated
workers strike across the United States
on September gth: Report from the
prison strikes first month 7 Industrial
Worker « Fall 2016 The strike at Holman
10| The Incarcerated Worker
@
New Study Finds Horses Look to Humans for Help
With Problem Solving
JLS is a national organization started by Jailhouse lawyers.
Our primary focus i to challenge laws that are dehumanizing
to prisoners and educating prisoners about these laws. We are
also focused on educating and engaging the public at large
about prisoners’ human rights violations. We are abolition-
ist, and believe that the current model of how we deal with
those that have fallen short must be dismantled. This can only
be done by prisoners speaking out. Prisoners must use their
own voice and organizing skills to connect with the world for
change. The current project of JLS is the Millions for Prisoners
Human Rights March on Washington, to abolish (in part or
whole) the #13th amendment. Here's aittle about the orga-
nizing body for this historic event
Millions for Prisoners Human Rights
s the momentum of the National Prison strike continues to
unfold, so are the next stages of prison resistance. Jailhouse
Lawyers Speak, has announced plans to have a mass Demon-
stration on the Washington DC Mall, August 19, 2017. With the
imprisonment numbers being at 2.4 million, and climbing, we
believe amillion plus of this Nations citizens will participate
We are not even calculating in the citizens with loved ones
in county jails, youth halls, or on probation and parole. The
numbers are shocking. When viewed as a whole, we see that
the Nation has indeed created another class (the prison class);
made up of mostly the poor and people of color. It is this pris-
on class and all those connected to them that will shake this
country toits foundation
Since the inception of the le that slavery was abolished,
Amerika year after year has ignored prisoners’ complaints of
the 13th amendment's punishment exception clause. Instead
states and the government monopolized the slave trade, and
contracted out humans convicted of crimes to private enter-
prises. Today, the Prison Industrial Complex is estimated by
some to be a trillion dollar Industry. The Prison Industrial Com-
plexis sointerwoven in the basic functioning of the Amerikan
economy, that many believe to end free prison labor, or profit-
ing off crime could cause an economic collapse.
Itis not our goal to cause an economic collapse, but to shift
the economics from the human exploitation of prisoners. We
o this by abolishing/amending the 13th amendment excep-
tion clause;
A prisoners "time is solely based on economics, as corporate
lobbyst persuaded lawmakers to push bill to keep prison
beds filled. Filled prison beds equal easy pickings for corpo-
rations of taxpayers' dollars, and cheap labor where needed.
With no incentive through a 33th amendment clause, the
course on how the Nation regards those that have fallen short
and the releasing of those in the prisons will change complete-
ly.
Join us as we move forward into another chapter of prison
resistance. Spread the word in your cell block, through your
collect phone calls, on visit, letters, have people to be on the
Washington Mall. n one voice we can change the Constitu-
tion, forcing cell doors open in every state. Let's demand an
end to these economic driven prison sentences and pointless
parole hearings. Its time to dismantle the Prison Industrial
Complex!
~The MPOC (Millions for Prisoners Human Rights Organizing
Committee) i the voice of the prisoners outside the walls
“The MPOC s not an arganization, but a Coalition tile to rec-
ognize a Collective committee function
This mission has been in the works for over a year now. Actual
work started a few months ago when iamWE Prison Advocacy
Network took on the leading organizing efforts outside the
wall
~The Demonstration will be used to expose the 13th world-
wide, expose exploiting companies, re educate the people,
promote abolition and organize stronger prison resistance
outside the prisons to dismantle the Prison Industrial Com-
plex.
s
If you want to become a JLS member or join the movement,
write to;
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak
P.0. Box 58201
Raleigh NC 27658
®
Stacked in a cage behind a wall or inside a fence, how did I get here? It makes lttle sense. Another child born into abuse, just anoth-
er soulfor the system to use.
Socially disadvantaged, there is not much chance of success. Institutionalized, now my life is a mess!
Each trip to this place steals more and more of my soul. My identity lost 1 live in a dark empty hole.
Loved ones lost, no lover, no home. They all claimed they loved you but now ' left all alone. That's such a nightmare you say,
surely that all can't be true. But, believe me there is no doubt, you're now just a dollar sign they won't let you out.
This s all 5o idiculous you tell me confused, surely this all can't be real!
Just make sure it's not your whole your life the system next steals!
This poemistitled: Lost Souls, by Anthony Heidenreich and was written in Solitary confinement
@
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 m
Conservation of Wildlife Populations: A Complex Conversation
My name is Eric. | was born and raised
in St. Louis, but for the past 34 years |
have beenin prison in Missouri. | have
been in the South Correctional Center
at Charleston, Missouri for seven years
now. When | was 21, | was sentenced
to 50 years without the possibility of
people for killing a young man who was
trying to rob my younger brother.
Very few people have any idea what it
is ke to be incarcerated for decades.
Here is what doing time is like over the
course of a day. Doing time is ot easy.
One would imagine that as the years
goby it would get easier. Itis really the
‘opposite. With time and preparation
‘comes maturity. With the maturity of
finding yourself and understanding
some of our purpose of being on Earth
the opportunities to fulfil this purpose
can not be realized here. My daily life
is spent in perpetual constraint. | have
been in a maximum security setting this
entire time. After 33 years | am being
treated the same as a freshly sentenced
19 year old that has no respect for self,
12| The Incarcerated Worker
others or the rules of society. No matter
the strides | have made in making
changes inside myself, | am still vilfied,
antagonized and sensory deprived daily,
all under the pretense of safety and
security of the institution. The Govern-
ment actually pays the state to keep
Usin a maximum security setting no
matter our age or time served.
1do not desire to make this piece a neg-
ative, whining set of thoughts that leave
you happy knowing that some of the
worse of Missouri's criminals are being
sufficiently made aware of where we are
daily. The truth of the matter is this sys-
temis doomed for failure at the cost of
many lives and hundreds of millions of
dollars. Let's look at the results of this
1am 55 years of age. I've successfully
completed all the restorative justice
classes, educational courses, and
vocational training the DOC offers.
Ive utilized family funding to take and
earn my paralegal certificate from
Blackstone Career Institute. Funds may
s00n be available from my family for
me to take an advanced course. |
maintain daily contact with family
and friends. This is what gives me
strength to preserver. | have very
innovative ways in which | can run
and operate a business from here
inwhich | could care for myself
and loved ones, as well as save
tax payer money by providing my
own room and board. While my
doing this only need approval,
Missouri would rather keep me
desolate and stigmatized as a
tumor on the body of the State
instead of promoting me as a
shining example of rehabilitation.
The truth about the justice system
in Missouri may shock you. Under
the watchful eyes of Warden lan
Wallace, his leadership has turned
this place into a powder keg of an-
ger, instability, inconsistency and
confusion. Because of this | have
no daily routine. There s a daily
Standard Operational Procedure
that supposed to be followed and
itlooks good on paper. Nothing
is run efficiently on purpose. They slow
the meals down to a crawl so that the
programs and recreation (which only
starts after) never run timely and the
volunteers in corrections (VIC's) that
come in are purposely delayed, prohib-
ited admittance and inconvenienced to
the point where they just stop coming.
Itis the same for me in trying to main-
tain a daily routine. Time delegated for
one activity is cancelled, delayed or cut
into so often a routine is not established
and purposely done to keep us imbal-
anced. Even the correctional officers
that volunteer are told to not become
passionate about furthering the rehabil-
itation of the Offenders.
'm a member of the NAACP here.
The Warden has successfully shut us
down. He reassigned ourVIC, who
was a correctional officer because he
pushed too hard in our behalf for the
basics, assigned another who was then
delegated job responsibilities during
the days our meetings were held. When
he quit out of frustration, the Warden
took that meeting period since we had
noVIC. We are being set up for failure,
deemed monsters, are stigmatized
and then you are told they need more
money to deal with us. All the organiza-
tions are allowed two yearly fund raisers
and are ongoing fund raisers. We all can
individually retain s5,000 dollars in our
organizational accounts. Our by-laws
tell us to donate a certain percentage of
funds to non-for-profit organizations in
the community. The warden sees these
funds as his own. He has the president
and treasurer of each group sign off on
51,000 checks and he distributes them
to causes he supports, like his brothers
church and other self-interested causes
he is affiliated with. This would not be
anissue with us, only the greed of the
warden caused him to post rules which
donot allow us to fund events within
the prison which educates and ultimate-
Iy generates new members. Further, our
requests to donate to causes from the
neighborhoods our crimes were com-
Continued on page 14
2016 IWW Referendum: Election Results
We meant to get out this edition of The Incarcerated Worker much earlier, but due to many inconveniences we are a tad late.
However, this means we can now include the election results of our union!
GsT
ArellaVargas 386
Write-in: Randall Jamrok 1
Write-in: Brianna Peril 1
Write-in: Brandon Sowers 1
Write-in: Joe Hill 1
GEB
Diana Krauthamar 323
shugE Mississippi 302
Marianna LaNabat 298
Michael Moondog Garcia 289
Brandon Sowers 263
Adam Jonas 242
Jimi Del Duca 211
Anthony Khaled 207
Nicholas Posey 155
Write-in: Briana Peril 3
Writs-in: Matthias Calisse 1
Write-in: Shai Alkebu-lan 2
Writs-in: Mike Hargis 1
Write-in: Colin Bossen 1
Write-in: lan Chinich 1
Write-in: Mia Sopapilla 1
Write-in: Danielle Longchamps 1
Wiite-in: Warren Conatser Echevarria 2
Write-in: Selena Bayle-Philips 1
Greetings Fellow Worker,
Write-in: Max Bary 1
Write-in: Jaelle Vian 1
Write-in: Marc-Andre Viau 1
Write-in: Morgana Pouliot 1
Write-in: Vanessa Gauthier-Vela 1
Industrial Worker Editor
Roberta McNair 148
MattZito 89
Blaise Farina 59
Brendan Dunn 47
Rick Vodicka 15
Write-in: Diane Krauthamer 2
Write-in: Max Baru 1
Write-in: Lou Grant 1
Solldarldad Editor
Graeme Meyers 341
Write-in: Brendan Dunn 1
International Sol idarity Commission
Florian Hansch 322
FW Sparrow 295
Joey van der Naald 264
Write-in: Abraha Chakur 4
Write-in: ShugE Mississippi 2
Write-in: Jefferson Pierce 1
Write-in: Niko Garcia 1
Writs-in: Shai Alkebu-lan 1
in: Katie Warman 1
in: Roberta McNair 1
in: Mathieu Stakhanov 1
in: Alain Duguan
Write-in: Selena Boyle-Phillips
CST of the GDC
Jacob Brent 364
Write-in: Erik Davis 2
Write-in: Shai Alkebu-lan 1
Write-in: Florian Hanschman 1
Press Officer
Jim Bjerke 340
Write-in: Cole Dosey 1
Write-in: Travis Erickson 2
Wite-in: Warren Conatser-Echevarria 1
Write-in: Anthony Washington 1
IWOC Member Contact/Inreach (2)
Brianna Peril 285
BenTurk 175
Tyler Bristow 57
Colin Meinrath 42
T hope this message finds you in good spirits and in good health! We would like to hear from everyone at least twice twice a year o
Verify your membership so that you may vote in the annual referendum and continue recciving the newsletter. You may include this
along with a letter to us and multiple people are welcome to sen
ear off this portion of this page and ma
newsletter intact, you can just write the information on a separate sheet of paper.
In Solidarity!
WoC
Your Name
Your IWW Membership Number
Date
DOC#
1s¢ Emergency Contact Name (fiiend or family on the outside)
Emergency Contact Phone
and Email
2nd Emergency Contace Name (friend or family on the outside)
Emergency Contact Phone
and Email
these slips in together in a single envelope o save on postage. Please
back to us at IWOC, PO Box 414304, KC, MO, 64141 or if you want to keep your
May we contact your emergency person regarding local prisoner support cfforts?
Yes No
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17 113
2016 IWW Referendum cont.
Conservation of Wildlife Pop. cont.
IWOC Outreach (2) mitted in are outright denied. Organizations like Women's Voices
Travis Erickson 258 IWOC Newsletter (1) Lifted for Social Justice, The Resurrection Temple, Missouri
Adam Carpinelli 138 e Lucas 343 CURE and The Youth Enlighten Program (YEP) never receives.
Jeremy Wooley 113 Write-in: John Wolfert 1 anything from us at this Branch NAACP because the Warden
Write-in: Cole Dorsey 1 Write-in: Diane Krauthamer 1 | will not approve it. He will not approve basic supplies for us to
Write-in: Oliver Lister 1 make contributions to the prison community. Since we can't
Write-in: Brianna Peril 1 IWOC Fundraising (1) have our interests funded, we refused to sign his thousand dollar
Write-in: Colin Bossen 1. Katie Warman 357 requests, even after he threatened to take our meeting and shut
Write-in: Matt Zito 1 us down. The warden has, under the pretense of a bogus inves-
2016 Convent ion Host Site | tigation locked (in the hole) our last three Presidents, then had
IWOC Media (1) Montreal GMB, Canada 304 | them transferred. This has extended over a six year period. So,
Azzura Crispino 176 Write-in: Chicago 3 we don't function. Our efforts are spent steadily trying to get
John Wolfert 101 Write-in: Twin Cities 2 pass the red tape. His last tactic was to lock down the new pres-
Doug Gilbert 48 Write-in: London, UK 2 ident. This has caused the NAACP branch here not to function.
Write-in: Marianne LeNabat1 Write-in: Taskent, Uzbekistan1 | The Warden refused to allow us to reorder the frozen veggies we
Write-in: Cuba 1 use as our ongoing fund raiser. If we're not going to delegate our
AMENDMENTS funds to his whim there won't be any funds generated and our
1. Frequency of Committee Yes: 378 No: 50 dietary needs met.
2.Charters Yes: 393 No: 40 Absolute Power breeds absolute corruption. There can be no jus-
3.Eiectronic balloting Yes: 369 No: 62 tice if every law and its procedures are absolute. The public is not
4 Publications Yes: 385 No:34 aware of the many forms of corruption taking place with their
5.1WWShops Yes: 381 No: 40 hard earned taxes. On the one hand these prisons were built to
6. Literature Department Yes: 370 No: 28 bring much needed finances to poor rural communities. On the
7. Exclude Law Enforcement ~ Yes: 378 No: g2 other hand, nepotism concerning the contracts, over inflated
8. Intn'l Structural Reform Yes: 421 No: 30 invoices for substandard goods and services is the norm. Tracing
9. Resolution: just who get the lion share of these monies will reveal a clique of
Special rules for Convention Yes: 332 No: 47 afew who have created an exact science and long term goal of
converting your tax dollar to privatized funds. The best way to do
® 1S 1 e B LS
Continued on page 16
Would you like to remain a member of the TWW? Yes No T need more information
Have you received a new member packet? (You should have received the Constitution and One Big Union)
Y
. No____Idontknow send me one if I am a member
1 you have an organization that you would like to have lsted on our web sie as a supporter of INW/IWOC,
please state the name of the organization and your
posicion in it and we willlist it on our supporers page.
W would like to speak with you. Please write to us let us know what talk radio staions and programs you get and enjoy listening to
wherever you are at.
‘Comments:
14| The Incarcerated Worker
Thisis the English translation of an
interview of Melvin Ray of Free Alabama
Movement and Cole Dorsey of Oakland
IWOC. It was originally printed before
the strike began, in Solidaridad Obrera,
a publication of the CNT, an anarchist
Spanish trade union. Founded in 1910,
the CNT participated in the Spanish Civil
War against the fascists from 1936-39.
Bennu Hannibal Sun-Ra (Melvin Ray),
from Holman prison in Alabama, is a
co-founder and representative of the
Free Alabama Movement. Cole Dorsey
spent three years n prison in Michigan,
and joined the IWW a month after his
release in 2004. He is currently part of
Oakland IWOC and the Bay Area IWW.
Roca Beltran: What can you tell us about
the background to this strike?
Cole Dorsey: From my experience in
prison, collective action s usually taken
fora variety of reasons: the quality of
food, access to recreation, accessto
commissary... Itis nothing new that
prisoners have organized and try to
change things from within. What's
Scientists Study Distant Stars
newis that now
weare building a
solid network of
people outside to
support, publicize,
and amplify these
collective actions
that prisoners are
doing.
There has been
aresurgence of
activity in recent
years. From the
prison strike
Georgia in 2010 to
the hunger strikes
of prisoners in Cal-
ifornia, prisoners
are taking more
and more actions
to deal with their
conditions.
The Free Alabama
Movement (FAM)
started in 2014.
That year there was an uprising at Hol-
man Prison in Alabama. In this struggle,
members of the Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW) began working with
Melvin Ray and FAM to support them.
At this time the IWW also contacted
Texas prisoners who claimed they
wanted to organize. All this culminated
in the creation of Incarcerated Workers
Organizing Committee (IWOC) by IWW
members.
September gis a significant date be-
cause this year marks the sth anni-
versary of that day’s Attica riot. The
prisoners have called for action on g
September to end slavery in prison,
“refusing to be slaves anymore.”
Melvin Ray: For us in the Free Alabama
Movement these protests are following
three years of existence and participa-
tion in protests and awareness about
slavery and mass incarceration. Our
first protest in January 2014 at Holman
Prison was the starting point of the
movement. In 2015 after a successful
new round of protests, we began to
develop the concept and to call ana-
tional protestin a document called the
Six Step Plan of Action 2015, After that,
we began the process of organization
Today that day has arrived.
RB: Can you explain how corporations
are connected with the management of
prisons and the criminal justice system
of the United States?
CD: Companies have learned they can
get huge profits from slavery in prison.
Before, outsourcing the work to Chi-
na, India, and Mexico gave them the
benefit of paying low wages in these
countries. These same companies are
now “outsourcing” these jobs within
the country through the prisons. Since
prisoners are considered “custody” of
the state, companies do not have to pay
insurance or taxes, or worry if a work-
er has an accident. Alllabor issues are
managed by the prison administration.
Refusing to work may result ina longer
sentence, solitary confinement and
other restrictions. Companies have a
skilled workforce which they only have
to pay pennies per hour within their own
country.
The prison industrial complex generates
billions of dollars. Itis a lucrative busi-
ness that has grown with private pris-
ons. Although the Department of Justice
recently announced it closing private
prisons, this will only affect about 10
federal prisons. There are stil private
prisons at state level, plus all these in-
mates will simply be transferred to other
centers.
With the industrialization of this coun-
try, the response of states to control
people has been the mass imprisonment
which disproportionately affects people
of color. Having a huge mass of workers
that are barely paid, there s the threat
that the bulk of American workers could
lose if they are not compliant, with their
employment outsourced to the prison
population.
Although statistically crime rates have
declined over the years, the number of
prisoners has skyrocketed. 80% of black
men have been in the system of "justice”
= contnuedonpage 10
Issue 6 Winter 2016/17
Ins
Conservation of Wildlife Pop. cont.
atmosphere of violence and hostility it
will serve their purpose and justify their
actions. Crime pays, keeps jobs secure
and lay the foundation for their children
and their offspring. An investigation into
these practices should promote much
needed prison reform. This can not be
done by the Missouri Attorney General's
Office, because they are the Department
of Correction's personal Attorney. This
corruption is done with the AG's protec-
tion and watchful eye.
The psychological effects of standard
operational procedure has long had a
trend of instilling what the public would
perceive as a criminal mindset of the
prisoners. However, itis basic human
behavior. Practices of true education in
the public school system and in prison
‘would stop crime and recidivism, but
this would eventually shut prisons down
as there would not be a need to incar-
cerate so many for so long. Those who
make criminal justice a family business
go out of their way to insure that this
does not happen at the expense of your
taxes and my life. Minor infractions are
inflated into seemingly terrible atroci-
ties. We are being poked, prodded and
provoked into physical altercations and
psychological despair. In the free world
the Willie Lynch syndrome is the norm, is
glorified with the end result being addic-
tion, prison or death. Here and there, we
are being assaulted and then charged
with assault. One of the guys here
jokingly said *Man, they beat my ass,
then gave me five years and said | made
them do it." Here, hope is merely a joke
tomake you think something is going to
happen. Guards are being trained to be
utterly disrespectful, unknowingly being
used as pawns tofurther the cause of
those sucking millions of your tax dollars
out of the Department's budget. De-
spite little or no major acts of violence
occurring, those in control justify their
purpose by creating chaos. The effects
of this on us that have to live here until
freed or is slated to die here makes us
‘wonder. How can we have respect for
those who do not respect us? Do we
have a right to fight an abusive fos-
ter-parent whois killing
us? The daily routine
of making it through a day is so full of
abuses of authority it rises to a level of
physical abuse because it s battering
oursenses,
Why should we continue tolive under
these circumstances when the end result
is death anyway? There are many forms
of abuse taking place here. The most
subtle that have the biggest effects is
the daily running of the prison which
does not allow you to maintain a set
positive routine. Delays and cancella-
tions are the norm. It effects our mental
and physical health. The mattresses are
merely mats and fatally flawed in their
design. Given to us because it makes
their job easier to search, they are
causing physical injuries to our necks,
hips, shoulders and other areas. Com-
pressed discs, stress fractures and aches
and pains that turn into arthritis plague
our bodies with constant pain being the
results from merely attempting to sleep.
Complaints of the long term affects are
ignored. The monthly committees with
offcials are merely a force that accom-
plishes little or nothing. Speak your
mind on the truth and you'll be punished
and transferred.
You would expect to be able to be left
alone after serving 30 0dd years with no
major altercations. You would aspect to
be in a lesser secure environment and
have hope of working to a goal of free-
dorm, or for many, to die at peace. This
isn't the case. Being an ole head in the
joint used to garner respect. Now we are
called out and targeted as trouble mak-
ers, because we understand the results
of being micromanaged for the purpose
of keeping us unorganized, uneducated
and imbalanced physically and mentally.
The DOC is trying to create a volatile en-
vironment in order to justify our contin-
ved incarceration and their existence in
serving the purpose of keeping us away
from society. There have been fifteen
cases of prostate cancer diagnosed over
the past three years here. My prostate
is also at risk of cancer. | am scheduled
fora 2nd biopsy in a few months. While
our deaths are deemed natural causes,
there s nothing natural about it. There is
something in the food served or pur-
chased causing this. We are being killed
in here by many daily subtle means and
you are paying the medical costs for
it. Inferior quality of the food and daily
super high stress, pain and anxiety is
deliberate indifference of physical injury
thatis resulting in wrongful death.
Just as pitbulls are trained tokill, the
DOC's policies have purposely attributed
to the mind state of those released. A
day in the life and time of my lfe is very
stressful and very unfulfilling. The most
minimal accomplishments are hard
fought for and seldom achieved if going
thru the powers that be have anything
todowithit. I have to be consciously
aware at alltimes. When youlet it be
known through your actions that you
know your place and are not looking
for trouble but they want to demean
you further, history shows that this will
eventually cause a iot. They will tell you,
“Itold you so, they are monsters need to
be kept locked up.” 'm telling now, do
notlet them get away with continuing
toinstill the negative behavior traits of
those being released, and killing those
of us which are stuckin here. They are
spending hundreds of millions of your
tax dollars for their own gain, not fulfil-
ing the purpose of bettering the condi-
tions of mankind. They are creating the
chaos and violence and then popping
their collars in the public's eye asking for
more funds and justifying why they are
suppressing our lfe’s fires. Fire them and
setup a system that is not as corrupt as
this one. Itis all on the Director of the
DOC, George Lombardi. He has squir-
reled away millions of your tax money to
sustain his desires. Make him resign and
be wary to ensure that the Governor's
next choice be a person that i progres-
sively favorable toward true rehabilita-
tion. | may not live to see it, but hope-
fully someone willlook at this and look
into the madness of a n the life and time
of Eric. What's happening needs to stop.
This article s titled: A Day in the Life of
Time, by Eric
16/ The Incarcerated Worker
Nutrition and Your Heart, cont.
in Alabama escalated when the prison guards went on strike.
By the first week of October, no guards were on duty. The
‘warden was left with the task of pulling out the food cart to
the striking incarcerated workers. This is the first time in
‘Alabamars history that prison quards have gone on strike,
according to news site “It's Going Down,” and it's even more
stunning under the pretense of a national prisoner strike.
South Carolina incarcerated workers continued their strike,
earning their place as one of the longest work stoppages
held by prisoners i the national strike, according to IWOC.
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak members of the strike began
sending out live Tweets from South Carolina prisons, giving
Updates on the strike. One of the most inspiring Tweets was
arepost of incarcerated workers fighting back against
quards who tried to break the strike with violence, as seen
here: On that note, itis of grave importance to shed light on
the repression that these brave incarcerated workers faced
These brave souls risked life and death to bring this struggle
tothe ends of the Earth! One of the first instances of repres-
sion was when political prisoner, Lucasville Uprising veteran,
and IWW incarcerated worker
organizer Imam Hasan was sent
tothe hole and faced interroga-
tion by both Ohio state authori-
ties and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) in regards to
the strike. He faced Islamopho-
bic accusations by the Ohio
State Penitentiary that he
encouraged a suicide bomb
attack on Sept. g. Imam Hasan
and his Muslim brothers went on
hunger strike when the prison
authorities threatened to cut off
their rights. He was later faced
with more threats by the prison
authorities for his communica-
tion with media outlets such as
National Public Radio (NPR), in
promotion of the prisoners'
strike. Outside support of IWOC
did play an important role in
minimizing the repression.
Prisoners from South Carolina to
Alabama and beyond gave
thanks for the phone zaps and
call-ins. These efforts made sure
prisoners could eat and shower,
and they even got some incar-
cerated worker organizers such
as Michael Kimble, a gay anar-
chist supporter of FAM, released
from solitary confinement. Though these may feel like liberal
tactics, they are of utmost importance; they are like laying
down covering fire for our incarcerated comrades in the
trenches. We must keep in mind that inWaupun Correctional
Institution in Wisconsin, an ongoing hunger strike called the
“Dying to Live” strike, which was led by brave incarcerated
workers like Caesar DeLeon, has been going on since June.
These prisoners are facing intensive retaliation, including
forced feedings. So finally, it looks like the One Big Union is
making a comeback by organizing not just wage slaves, but
workers who are literally slaves by the U.S. Constitution. This
strike has made history and its revolutionary momentum is
still burning, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be
done. We may not have dismantled the prison industrial
complexor abolished prison slavery entirely, but the striking
incarcerated workers along with the help of our union have
accelerated us past a point of no return in the fight for
abolition!
®
7
Scientists Study Distant Stars, cont.
US sometime. The police indiscriminately killing black people,
the school to prison pipeline, and slavery in prison, perpetuate
white supremacy in the US.
MR: Corporations run the prison industrial complex. There
are more businessmen involved i politics than ever. Prisons
represent savings in operating costs for companies because
normal expenses such as taxes, social security .. there is no
overtime when the work s done by inmates
Companies finance PACS (Political Action Committees created
toraise funds to support candidates in political elections), and
then pressure politicians to their advantage to pass laws that
allow them to access prison labor. Sometimes there are even
companies that buy or build prisons directly. But for this in-
vestment to work, the company must guarantee that the work
is available in the long term. Therefore, politicians tend to pass
laws such as *mandatory minimums", “three strikes" and all
kinds of sentences for drug possession. The result s that there
is a mass imprisonment in the US, with deplorable conditions
and abuses ... and profits remain very high.
RB: Why speak of modern slavery?
CD: Slavery never ended in this country. This is one of the key
messages we want to give the average citizen through our
movement. Itis written in our constitution. The thirteenth
amendment “abolished” slavery “except as a punishment for
acrime.
MR: From my point of view the term *modern slavery” is
wrong, because slavery never ended. There is nowhere in
the US Constitution that says it's done. I fact, many prisons
such as Angola in Louisiana were built on old plantations. The
plantation became a prison. The slave became convict. The
owner became jailer. | imply followed the money circulating
at the expense of black people. In our article *Let the Crops
RotIn The Field," I cite research showing that in the mid-2870s
Alabama received around 70% of its state budget from convict
slave labor. Most state governments stil balance their bud-
gets with labor decisions, fines, and legal exploitation through
phones, commissary, incentives ... even charging a medical
co-payment. But keep in mind that allthese costs are borne
by people working for free. This s how slavery has always
worked
RB: What are the objectives of the strike? What effect do you
thinkit will have?
MR: The main objective is to raise awareness about the de-
ception and what s happening, and show that thereis a real
and viable solution to the problem of mass incarceration. |
demonstrated the ability to solve this problem i in our hands,
literally, through the work we do as prisoners. Not lawyers, o
politicians, o the President; an organization that is not only us
who we are inside. All you have to do s et the crops rot in the
ground. Let the factories remain idle. Let the products of the
cafeteria rot.
18] The Incarcerated Worker
CD:When you remove the economic motivation and improve
the conditions of workers in the prison system, all the judicial
and police structures for control and capture of prisoners must
change and treat us like human beings, rather than as slaves.
Initially, | think the state repression will be very hard against
the prisoners on strike. | have no doubt they will be placed in
isolation or segregation, and their belongings will be confis-
cated and their few rights will be restricted indefinitely. So we
thinkit's important to create a strong network of support from
outside, so that we can mobilize and help them against re-
pression. But the long-term hope is to open a national discus-
sion about the fact that slavery must end. The companies and
the state are making a lot of money putting people n prison,
and mass imprisonment has been used as a means of social
control and to perpetuate white supremacy. | see our efforts
inside and outside prison leading to a mass-movement to end
slavery and white supremacy.... And a general strike to end
the capitalist system that sustains it
RB: What organizations are supporting the strike?
CD: The prisoners are those who call the strike. IWOC is fully
Scientists Study Distant Stars, cont.
in support, informing its imprisoned members and trying to
promote the strike all possible ways. The National Lawyers
Guild has decided to support each prisoner who suffers repri-
sals for participating in the strike.
IWOC has created a hotline which prisoners can call 24 hours:
816-866-3808.
This link lsts groups that have supported the strike: https: /
supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.orgfendorsements/
RB: What i the relationship between the IWW and IWOC?
How many members does IWOC have?
CD: IWOC was created by members of the IWW. IWOC is a
link for prisoners organizing themselves to build solid bridges
among themselves and with outside workers. There is a na-
tional IWOC committee and a dozen local groups. There are
about 80o prisoners and IWW members who are also part of
IWOC throughout the country.
MR: IWOC was created to work with FAM because we had
many differences with purely union organizations that focus
exclusively on wages and working conditions. We in the FAM
could not even ask how prisoners are treated like slaves to
organize employees. A slave on a plantation cannot pay
union dues. For us, especially for the Black masses, this is
partof our 460 years of struggle for freedom from slavery in
America.
RB: What is the attitude towards prisoners on strike? Is there
alot of tension i the prisons? How have the authorities
responded so far?
MR: No one has seen or experienced anything like this, so
there is a wide range of feelings. There is tension, but there
is always tension in the prison. Authorities are responding
as their owners say to respond to a threat to a multimillion
dollar business: repression without worrying about the con-
sequences. Remember, judges and prosecutors are allin the
same boat.
CD: For example, Sidique Hasan of Lucasville and member of
the Free Ohio Movement has been visited by the FBl and has
been putin solitary confinement for being spokesman of the
movement.
RB: What actions are called for September g7
CD: There are planned actions in prisons and against compa-
nies that benefit from slave labor in about 5o cities.
! Many cities are planning to view of films and hold
public debates on that date and afterwards. Other
actions willinclude noise demonstrations outside
prisons throughout the country, to let the prisoners
know they are not alone in their struggle.
RB: How can we support this fight from abroad?
MR: Continue posting and reporting. Ask people
to support the protests in the prisons. Investigate
and identify companies that use inmate labor,
such as McDonalds, protest their establishments
and to boycott them. And, most importantly, help
us inside. Help increase the movement. You can
make donations to the Free Movement PayPal at
famfamalabama@gmail.com
CD: The statements of solidarity help. These have
been received from prisoners in Greece, Bulgaria
and Mexico. We ask people not to buy products
from companies that profit from prison slavery.
We would like to see prisoners organized globally
as part of "one big union” that uses the strike as a
‘weapon to fight against austerity and white su-
premacy. IWOC has representation in England and
hopefully more unions, prisoners, and other people
involved in supporting prisoners and their collective
actions worldwide.
An injury to one s an injury to all
®
119
ATTENTION MAIL ROOM!!
'he First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution protects frec specch.
Regulations tha permit the government or
its employees to discriminate on the basis of
the content of the message cannor be toler-
ated under the First Amendment (i).
Further, prisoners retain free speech rights.
Thought control, by means of prohibiting
beliefs, would not only be undesirable
but impossible (i). Fact of confinement
and needs of the penal insticution impose
rational limitations on prisoner fice specch
vights (i), but those resticcions must have
a"valid, ational connection’ to “legi
mate penological interests” no related to
the content of ideas (iv). Regulations and
practices can only be justified when the
practice “furthers an important or substan-
tial government interest unrelaced o the
suppression of expression” (v).
“This means you cannot legally suppress
the expression of ideas. Prison walls do not
serve to form a barrier separating prisoners
from the protections of the constitution
(4. Core political speech is most-zealously
guarded and chere is a public interest “in
having free and unhindered debate on mat-
ters of public importance-the core value of
the Free Specch Clause of the First Amend-
ment” (vii).
IT'S WINTERI!
PO BOX 414304
KANSAS CITY, MO 64141
_____________________________________ I
20| The Incarcerated Worker
Thus, exclusion of printed material on the
basis ofis poltical perspective amounts o
free speech retaliation and discrimination,
which is illegal (vii).
1fyou exclude printed material for an
unlawful basis, or if you simply conjure up
a false pretext for its exclusion, you have
broken the law. The prisoner recipient of
this mail has cause for bringing a civil rights
action against you and has cause for gaining
punitive damages--which means money:
You and everyone who permits this action,
from your supervisor to the director of the
prison system, may be named in those civil
actions, and you may also be subject to ter-
‘mination from your employment. Because
this primer is included in this mailing, you
will not be able to claim you did not know
your actions were illgal.
For these reasons, we ask that you conform
to federal law and refrain from unlawful
discrimination against the enclosed materi-
als, permitting mail service of this literature
thac objectively meers alllegitimate criteria
set forch in prison regulations.
i, Reagan v. Time, Inc., 468 U.S. 641,
648-49, 104 SCr 3262 (1984). “[T]he
facethat socicty may find specch offensive
is no sufficient reason for suppressi
Indeed, ifit i the speakers’ opi
gives offense, tha consequence
for according it consciwutional
Husder Magazine, Inc v. Falwe
45,46, 108 SCt 876, 882. The
‘may nor prohibit the expression
simply because society finds thi
offensive or disagreeable, U.S. +
496 US 310, 319, 110 SCe 2404 (1990)
“[ATbove all else, the First Amendmenc
means thar government has no power to
restrict expression because of its message,
it ideas, it subject macter, or its content.”
Police Dep. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 US
92, 95,92 SCt 2286, 2290 (1972)
i, Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners Labor
Union, 433 US 119,97 SCt 2532 (1977)
, Pell v. Procunier, 417 US 817, 822, 94
Set 2800, 2804 (1974)
i, Turner v. Safely, 482 US 78, 107 SCt
2245 (1987)
v Turner, supra
vi, Tarner, supra
i, Pickering v. Board of Educaion, 391
US 563,573, 88 SCt 1731 (1968).
ii, Abu-Jamal v. Price, 154 F3d 128 (3rd
Cir,, 1998); X v. Blatcer, 175 F3d 378 (6th
Cir. 1999)
@
YOEYTY X08 Od
TYTY9 O ‘ALID SYSNVH