UNITED

compiled and edited by Coalition to Free the Vaughn 17
and Philly Anti-Repression, 2021
vaughn17.com

phibailfund@riseup.net
CONTENTS

PREFACE.

“WAR ON PRISONERS & THE BIRTH OF THE VAUGHN 17,” BY ROMAN SHANKARAS

“UNITED WE STOOD,” BY LAWRENCE MICHAELS

“NOTHING CHANGES BUT THE FACES,” BY DWAYNE STAATS .

“SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE,” BY JOHN BRAMBLE

“FORTHE ACTIVISTS,” BY ABEDNEGO BAYNES

“QUESTIONS FOR ABOLITIONISTS,” BY KEVIN BERRY

“SACRIFICE,” BY ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ-ORTIZ

“RAISING REVOLUTIONARIES,” BY J ARREAU AYERS ..

“MESSAGE FROM AN OUTSIDE SUPPORTER,” BY FARIHA

“THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE IN THE STRUGGLE,” BY LUIS SIERRA

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PREFACE

nal Center in

On February 1, 2017, prisoners in C-building at James T. Vaughn Corre:
Delaware took control of the building and held guards hostage in an uprising that lasted
over 18 hours. That morning, several prisoners had put on masks and rushed the guards
who were letting them back into the building from yard, while another prisoner ensured
that the counselor on duty was kept safe and held off a CERT team that sought to retake
the building.

The prisoners leading the uprising called the media and released a list of demands; the
prison eventually retook the building by breaching one of its walls with a backhoe. One

prison guard, Steven Floyd, was killed by prisoners during the uprising.

The Vaughn 17 are seventeen of the eighteen prisoners who were subsequently indicted
on charges including multiple counts of murder, kidnapping, assaulting an officer, and
conspiracy, by the state of Delaware. The eighteenth person charged, Royal *Diamond”
Downs, a notorious Black Guerrilla Family leader, turned state’s witness and provided

much of the State’s case against the prisoners.

Despite that, the indicted prisoners, most of whom did not know or deal with each other
prior to the uprising, organized their own defense and almost completely beat the State’s

case at trial. Dwayne Staats and Jarreau “Ruk” Ayers represented themselves at court and

took responsibility for their part in planning the uprising and with assisting with keeping

everyone safe during the takeover itself, respectively. Both were already serving life

sentences.

The other prisoners in the first two trials — Deric Forney, Kevin Berry, Abednego Baynes,
John Bramble, and Obadiah Miller — were acquitted in court of all charges (the last two
had a hung jury on charges of assaulting an officer, which were later dropped). Roman
Shankaras, who had helped organize nonviolent protests prior to the uprising and whom

the State hoped to frame as the “mastermind” behind the prison takeover, was tried

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separately and acquitted on all charges. The State was forced to drop the remaining

charges against the rest of the defendants.

The shared mission of the Vaughn 17 is to disrupt, dismantle and destroy the prison
industrial complex. Many of the V17 are revolutionaries or insurrectionaries taking up
the incendiary and blood-soaked tradition of figures like Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey,
and George Jackson. The rest stuck together when indicted and made enormous sacrifices

in the process.

Prisoners were physically tortured following the uprising and experienced extreme
pressure from the state to cooperate. After Delaware failed to beat the collective in court,
most of the Vaughn 17 were shipped to Pennsylvania, where the state could continue to
keep them in solitary indefinitely with no way out. They have now all been in solitary for

at least four consecutive years (most for much longer).

We support the Vaughn 17 because as aspiring insurrectionaries, we are inspired by their

physical struggle against prison and systemic oppression and by their unflinching refusal

to cooperate with the State. The writings in this zine come from captive revolutionaries

whose analysis, experience, and abilities extend far beyond what most radicals on the
outside have dared to explore. Struggles out here against authority have a lot to learn from
prisoners’ experiences on the inside. Bringing these two very different insurrectionary
currents together has the potential to enrich s all in unimaginable ways, open up our

vision, threaten the State, and bring us closer to collective liberation.

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‘WAR ON PRISONERS AND THE
BIRTH OF THE VAUGHN 17

BY ROMAN SHANKARAS, IN CONVERSATION WITH THE EDITOR

From the youth center on up, the detention centers when I was a juvenile, to me it was
natural to stand up against these prison staff and guards for the things that they was
doing. The type of control they had, the power they had, I never believed in it since I was
young. I never believed in it, I never fell for it, their level of authority; it never meant

nothing to me at all,

Other people in jail wasn’t thinking about it like that, but they still expressed anger. At
first I never really organized nothing, I just expressed it — so it was just all over the place
but at the end of the day, how I looked at this shit was you upset, I'm upset, let’s do
something about it. And thats how this shit was, from the inception of my anger towards
this system, that's how it was always projected. Just a physical thing mostly, just lashing
out; we're pretty much emulating what they're doing to us. They're hitting us, they're
physically abusive to children, we get them back the same way. And you know it develops

as you go on and become an adult and now you're in the penitentiary.

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It was people in prison that shared that state of mind, but it didn’t manifest physically.
So I used to hear that, then compared that to people that was actually doing it, and they
wasn't saying anything about it. They didn’t know anything about it, they just knew how

toarticulate it physically. So I pretty much found a balance between the two.

When [ started to read other peoples’ stories and shit — that person went through the
same thing as I did, damn I can relate, I'm doing the same shit this person did in the ‘70
or the '60s. At that point I began to really get into this shit, really study it, understand it,
and get what the fuck I was actually against. Before, I had a surface-level education
against my enemy, and now I'm studying this shit, I'm studying what the fuck is going on
— the prison industrial complex; I'm running the parallels to how it's affecting
community and how it’s going back, and now I'm getting more motivated — to say what's

the solution, how will I make an impact?

George Jackson, Franz Fanon, James Yaki Sayles — Yaki Sayles did about 33 years before
he was released and died a couple years later of cancer. He wrote a book on his
meditations on Franz Fanon. And that changed a lot. That motivated a lot of my
observations, as well as George Jackson. We called it the blueprint because it was a
compilation of writings and analysis of both the communities and the prisons and their

core relations. That was essential for me.

What was it about C-building that made the conditions right for what happened there?
My personal opinion is — a lot. The compound was transitioning, so they took another
whole building that was medium/max security (as C-building was) and turned it into a
compound (minimum security status). Everybody who had the points to be freshly
released from the maximum security housing unit, these guys were now together. Just by

happenstance, that's what went on

It started off with surface-level issues: this amount of people allowed in the showers, so
they only have a certain amount of showers; it was pretty much impossible for everyone
who needed a shower to get one. The other thing was they was taking the recreation time

and we was losing 45 minutes to an hour at a time because the guards took their time to

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open up the doors and let people out for recreation. The stuff I believed we was entitled

to was recreation, visitati

n (the people who transport you there wasn't showing up on
time, so you'd show up to your visit 10 minutes late and they're not giving you no extra
time. Sometimes families drive hours..) so there was a bunch of little things that was

going on and compiled to a point where they began to get addressed.

The nonviolent protests — there was a sit-in in the chow hall (21 of us the first time); what
that did was shut down the prison. There was a couple of big names in the chow hall, with
a reputation of getting physically violent, so when they saw these particular people —
whose track record shows that these situations end violently — their response was over
18 men suited up (what they call the goon squad, CERT), dogs, guns, to respond to a
peaceful protest. They come to the door, they ask what's going on, at lot of people hesitate
— Iwent up to the door, I spoke to them. They was putting up false memos about you
can’t use the bathroom while you're at school — weak shit. The deputy warden came and

he said he never signed off on any of those memos. The whole time this staff lieutenant

was writing up these memos, fabricating these signatures. We would never have known

this shit if these steps weren't taken. And of course naturally everyone thought it was

wrong. But this shit wouldn’t have came out the way it did.

The non-violent thing, if you get the right numbers and you fracture them economically
in prison — what I mean is, nobody works, nobody cleans, nobody serves the chow, you
begin to fuck the whole structure up. You don’t physically need to shed anybody’s blood,
but if you have enough, and it's organized, and the people have the discipline to hold out,
that shit can be just as effective — in some cases more — than you being an isolated

incident doing something physically to the cops.

But the people (inmates, prisoners) don’t begin to believe — they begin to lose confidence.
So now in order to compensate for that lack of confidence, you have to have a
concentrated, but not too many, people — ten people can make a deeper impact than a
thousand peaceful protesters. Just a small amount of people that was willing to make the

sacrifice can make a deeper impact than half the population doing a peaceful strike.

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They fixed the problems — rec is on time, more time to eat; it worked for the minutia.
The most serious problems, where there was no programming, you're barred from
education because of your status, these things are not addressed. In a peaceful protest,
you don’t have enough people to consistently address these problems. So a deeper action

has to take place.

If you had a chart of the prison population, you got the majority, the minority, and the

exception. At this point the exception took action.

You had other people who tried to run interference, people who encouraged; at the end
of the day, it was sad. You gotta figure, if this never happened since the inception of when
this prison was created, how come nobody ever felt this way and took action on it before?
And they say the generation before my generation was more aggressive and more
militant. There was more isolated incidents — but there’s a difference between the
collective and doing it on your own. An isolated incident can easily be hushed away and
forgotten about, and it’s extremely limited. They can suffocate the measures you take real

fast, cause you're by yourself.

What I believe happened at C-Building is a particular group of people got fed up. They
was willing to make the sacrifice, to take that action, and attack the source. All the other

shit was shallow. It meant something, but it was like a shallow gratification.

Ibelieve the Vaughn 17 is symbolic for a nuance of freedom, for a nuance of revolution, a
nuance of sacrifice. It was symbolic for a degree of strength. I believe it represented a

beginning. Even if nothing happens for the next 30 years, when the right time comes

again, when the conditions are ripe for it to happen again. Which is going to happen,
because this machine constantly sophisticates, and if the people don’t match that
sophistication, they get left behind. But if you wanna continue to match it, that means

You gotta continue to address it. Not just with words.

Ibelieve it's a birth of a movement in a sense, that even if left dormant for a half a century

can still reoccur. Better, and capitalize off the mistakes that the first group made. It

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depends on the people that’s involved and how serious they wanna go about it. But I think

it's encouraging at the end of the day. At the minimum, it's encouraging, for the next

group of people that can see.

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UNITED WE STOOD

Sometimes in life we have to unite with individuals or groups that we don't get along with
just to achieve our goals of building upon what's ahead. The Vaughn 17 set a baseline
goal to unify. A goal to build unity behind these walls. We had to remember what's
important and define our principles and understand who we are fighting against and who

weare truly fighting for. Not just for ourselves, but for the oppressed people in this world.

The call for change drew substance from the realities we were living with. It all emerged
with a thought from a comrade and ended with actions from people who were hungry.
Hungry for liberation. Here were men who were not just sacrificing their freedom, but
their lives, just to bring awareness where it had been declined for so long. It is necessary
to fight for human dignity even if suffering or maltreatment is ahead. We do it for a
worthy cause. And because of that, I now have a feeling of self-respect that, no matter

what, will always be there despite any of my life struggles.

One of the most beautiful things that ever happened in my life was when I witnessed 17
men (the Vaughn 17) stand firmly together against a system that attempted to bring the
death penalty back to a state (Delaware) that had abolished it years prior to February 1,

2017, and to no avail; the system lost as the 17 men stood as one.

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Prisoners are exploited, suppressed, and oppressed. We are subjected to a system that
maintains the reality of psychological and physical terror to keep us afraid and in check
while they maintain their power. Demoralization is their top priority. Whenever they see
some kind of unity within us, we become a threat to them. Power is frightening, so they
try to destroy any possibility of resistance. They use certain tactics to try to prevent it,
such as using people to infiltrate the ranks, which is their best tactic dating back to the
Black Panther Party, even back to slavery. We have to work hard to fight this unjust

system. Integrating the people is a “must”.

We have to show our willpower and sometimes our physical strength when need be.
Malcolm X once said, “Historically, revolutions are bloody. They never had a bloodless
revolution or a nonviolent revolution. It don’t even happen in Hollywood. Revolutions
overturn systems. Revolutions destroy systems. Revolutions are bloody.” This is not just

a struggle for freedom, but a struggle for life. And we have to realize that.

Having the privilege of being a part of something so powerful with my comrades was
beauty in itself. And it's only because of the committed work of rebellious prisoners and
the outside supporters who stand with us that this world knows what transpires inside
these prisons. Knowing that we have a line of communication with people who will fight

with us, and for us, prisons tend to be cautious at times

February 1, 2021 marked the four-year anniversary of the James T. Vaughn Uprising.
When I sit here today and think back to February 1,2017, it wasn't the outcome of the act,
but the moment of action itself that spoke the loudest for me. A time when a brotherhood
was bound for a cause. That brotherhood went beyond the 19 hours inside of C-Building.
We moved in solidarity throughout it all, even after all the false charges which were
brought upon us. Unity is important. Especially at this time, with so much going on in

the world. Despite any dislikes of any kind, we have to come together to achieve our goal.

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Without it we can't win. I want to thank the men who stood up and fought when the time
came. And not forgotten, I have to thank the women who were at the sides of me and my

comrades throughout this whole battle. I sincerely appreciate you all.

- Smoke

Smart Communications /| PA DOC

Lawrence Michaels - NW2894
SCI Greene

PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

13 // UNITED WESTOOD
NOTHING CHANGES BUT THE FACES

A few years ago while reading the Delaware News Journal, an article highlighting the
commemoration of a park named in Joe Biden’s honor caught my attention. For me, the
picture attached provided more insight into the occasion than the article itself. The park,
formally known as "Price's,” is located in the inner city of Wilmington, Delaware. A jovial
Biden was surrounded by a crowd of black youth and their guardians (predominantly

women). All in attendance seemed to be enjoying the celebration.

While slowly shaking my head, a smirk crept across my face as I thought about the irony
of this visual. As my eyes scanned the photo, I couldn't help but wonder how many of
their grandfathers, fathers, uncles, brothers, and sons I've encountered throughout my
incarceration, who were "institutionally exiled” by the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (aka the Tough on Crime bill). According to Michelle Alexander,
author of The New Jim Crow; "Once elected, President Clinton endorsed the idea of a
federal 'three strikes and you're out’ law...The $30 billion crime bill sent to Clinton in
August 1994 was hailed as a victory for the Democrats, who ‘were able to wrest the crime
issue from the Republicans and make it their own.’ The bill created dozens of new federal
capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized
more than $16 billion for state prison grants and expansion of state and local police forces.

Far from resisting the emergence of the new caste system, Clinton escalated the drug war

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beyond what conservatives imagined possible a decade earlier. As the Justice Policy

Institution has observed, ‘The Clinton administration’s “Tough on Crime” policies

resulted in the highest increase in federal and state inmates of any president in American

history.” Back then, Senator Joe Biden was one of the bill’s biggest advocates.

How would those kids feel after one day discovering they embraced a figure who was a
catalyst in rupturing their families and communities? Would their perceptions shift if
they knew he's now the premier representation of a system whose evolution is predicated
onits resistance to their existence? During one of Biden’s presidential debates, he offered

an apology and acknowledged that supporting the bill was a mistake. Being though his

“apology” can't be objectively measured or quantified, it holds no weight! Biden’s

atonement must be translated through decarceration, and " Get Tough”

nitiatives against
law enforcement, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and others who're granted a "privileged
immunity” when found in violation of constitutional laws. Hundreds of thousands of

cases get appealed, overturned, or dismissed for blatant miscarriages of these

constitutional amendments:

4th Amendment = The right of the people to be sure in their persons, houses,

papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath

or affirmation, and the persons or things to be seized.

6th Amendment = In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the
crime shalll have been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations;

To be confronted

h the witness against him; To have compulsory process for

obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have assistance of counsel for his defence.

8th Amendment = Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,

nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

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14th Amendment = (section 1) All persons born or naturalized in the United States,

zens of the United States and of the

and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are cil
state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any

state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;

nor deny to any person within its jurisdict

n the equal protection of the law.

Their qualified and privileged immunities are safeguarded within the 11th
Amendment = The Judicial Power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the

United States by Ci
State.

zens of another state, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign

This is one of the rudimentary factors buttressing "systemic racism.” As it stands, there’s
nothing deterring these Judicial Powers from using their occupations to express bigotry,
ignorance, supremacism and racism. Until they as "individuals” instead of "entities” are
held liable for their transgressions against the people, we'll forever remain subjects in a
system decaying from a deprivation of integrity, which directly contributes to the

desecration of humanity.

Sharing these thoughts has compelled me to reflect upon my own youth. I don't really
recall politicians stepping inside the recreation center, but I remember groups of us being
transported to their charity events, fundraisers, PR stunts. In hindsight, I believe our
presence (exploitation) was for the sole purpose of being a backdrop for their photo ops,
and subsequently becoming an image that perpetuates the "illusion.” 30 years ago there
probably was a prisoner reading the newspaper and seen my then 9-year-old self in one

of those pictures. I imagine him slowly shaking his head as a smirk crept across his face.
Power is the People!
- BIM

Smart Communications /| PA DOC

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Dwayne Staats - NT0000
SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

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SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE

As I write this it's the 2020 election year, and it’s been by far the most hectic I've ever
witnessed. Whether it's Trump tweeting or inciting an insurrection, covid-19, or a cop
killing another unarmed Black person, 2020 has continued to highlight the double
standards of this system and showed us the many reasons why it has to go. You've literally
got people from every walk of life marching together through the streets begging for

change.

Like everyone else out there taking a stand, I too want change. I just don't understand
what voting has to do with getting that change. How is a different president going to stop
cops from murdering people or give true equality to all? I mean we live in a capitalist state
that literally needs an oppressed community in order to flourish. Now that question may
sound as if I was content with Trump being in office and that couldn't be further from
the truth. I'm just trying to point out that regardless of who's in office, the system is going

to do exactly what it was designed to do.

Sce, that's one of the harsh realities people refuse to accept. Whether we like it or not,
this system we live in isn't broken. No, it's actually perfect in the eyes of its creators. The

same ones who are almost always idolized by the people we're expected to vote for.

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Although certain things have changed over time on paper, we have to understand that

those so-called changes are done just to save face. For every one law or bill passed in the

right direction, there's ten others passed to rectify and undermine that one positive
change. Ask yourself, why are people still fighting for the same things they were 60-70

years ago? The same things that were supposed to have changed then.

Whether it's voting, education, desegregation, or everything else that people have fought
and died for, those changes only happened on paper. You see, even though everyone has
the right o vote, there are laws that were designed specifically to target a certain kind of
US citizen that once convicted would prevent those citizens from voting and nothing

really changes

Then there’s racial segregation. Even though they say this is illegal, is it? Think about it,
whether it's geographically, economically, or institutionally, the oppressors have made
the lines abundantly clear. But why? | mean the lines are undeniable, we can't honestly
believe it’s a coincidence. No, it's intentional and our prison system actually breeds it and
the department of justice is actually structured around it. They literally house and
prosecute people according to race. Everything about the DOJ and DOC is based off of it.
Finally white America is starting to acknowledge that this is a fact and that systemic
racism is real. It's been all over the place about police reform due to all the videos that
have surfaced of police brutality and cops murdering people. You know I find it extremely
funny that all the "important people” act shocked at what the videos show, as if they were
unaware of what's been happening, considering they've been working side by side
together with these people for years. But only due to the footage do they acknowledge

wrongdoing.

1 bring this up because I'd like to use it as an example of what happens in our prison

systems. You see it’s only because of the video footage that surfaced that the pigs’ actions
are brought into question. Right? Cause let's be honest, without it all these beatings and
murders are completely “justified” because no one’s going to challenge the cops.

Whatever they say happened is what happened.

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I¢'s the same but ten times worse in prison. The pigs do what they want when they want

without any form of consequences or repercussions for their actions. There isn't anyone

in here to video or question their actions, and even if there were, the "important people”
at the top were once at the bottom, so the odds are they've cither done it themselves or
are OK with whatever action is in question. Prisons were designed in order not only to

isolate us, but also to hide what happens to us in here. The lack of public oversigh

not
anaccident that can be corrected, but an intentional part of what prisons are for. Basically
they've got a pass to do whatever they want. They justify their sadistic torture tactics with
the above reality. Simply because they know they can get away with it. But it's us, the

prisoners, that are labeled monsters and savages.

1¢'s because of this that these institutions have to be destroyed. What I'm trying to say is
that the system that governs us was designed not to fail. It has a way of correcting itself
when something is altered that is counterproductive to its survival. With that said, we are
fighting against something that has absolutely no desire to lose, and expected to use the
weapons it allows us to use. Something has to give, because the real monsters aren't going
to provide us with the necessary tools to destroy them. But until the collective figures out

away, continue to stand strong and educate yourselves. Until next time!
- Johnny

Smart Communications /| PA DOC

John Bramble - NT0282
SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

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FOR THE ACTIVISTS

I am not here to talk about my struggles as a person incarcerated; just know this, if you
are not struggling you are not fighting. I am here to talk about a more pressing issue that
is hard to watch and even harder to understand. Why are symbolic activists feeling so
damn self-righteous and entitled? We are not fighting for the same thing. They are
fighting to fit in and people like us who take the risk and make the sacrifices are fighting
to put an end to all these oppressive institutions. Our leader isn't a person, it's the desire
for meaningful, longstanding change. Who gave them the authority to tell us how we
should or shouldn't go about getting results! We have been at war and they are and forever
will remain in peroration. This isn't a codependent relationship, we don't need symbolic
support nor lip service because we are not looking for an off-ramp or compromise. We
seek nothing less than complete liberation of self and the demise of these institutions and
those who uphold them. If you oppose us, our efforts or the way we come about results,
you are a part of the opposition. I often question if they understand who built and gave
them their platform; well if they don't, it's the same people who they condemn in order
to suck up to their oppressors every time a camera flashes or a mic is stuck in their face.

‘Without us there is no them, but without them there will always be an us. We are not on

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mics because we are done talking, there is no compromise, it's all or nothing and it means

nothing if we don't get it all
- Beans

Smart Communications / PA DOC
Abednego Baynes - NT0594

SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

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QUESTIONS FOR ABOLITIONISTS

I hear people say they would want a world without the government. I'm one of those
people that would like to see a world without the government and the police. But the
majority of these people aren’t being honest with themselves and aren’t looking at the

whole picture.

Just ask yourself: could an ordinary citizen survive in a world without them? I believe that
people who have experienced hardship in their lives, grew up in the streets with nothing,
could survive in a world without them, because they already lived and survived in a world
with them. But people that have never experienced any form of hardship would be victims
in this type of world. What is the solution for the individuals who rape and molest women
and children, how would they be handled in this world? Are people prepared to personally

deal with these individuals through physical violence?

As for doing away with the government, my solution to that is, we as people should create
a whole new set of agreements. One that represents this day and age. We are currently

living by a constit

ion that was created on 7-4-1776 by a bunch of slave-holding
curopeans. So this constitution wasn't created with people of color in mind, it was a

constitution that was created to protect white people, it is a constitution that only

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considers people of color a fraction of a person. So why are black and brown people living

by a constitution that doesn't even consider them a whole person?

Now everyone is trying to figure out why the world is the way it is for people of color
today. What if we do away with the government as a whole, how would you survive in this
world? Would your family and loved ones survive in this world? If you are reading this
and thinking that I am tripping, just sit back and think about ordinary citizens such as
your family and friends, could they survive in this world? I know me and mine could

survive without a doubt, could yours?

I hate all forms of authority, so please don't confuse or take what I am saying as me
defending the government, cause I'm not. What are you willing to do, and what skills

would you need to do it? I'm just being honest.
- Kev

Smart Communications /| PA DOC

Kevin Berry - NT0583
SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

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SACRIFICE

As long as the people fighting fascism are anti-violent as a whole, fascism will always
win. I'm a firm believer that revolution is born in bloodshed. You can't have a
Renaissance, a rebirth, without a death. The current standard of our civilization as we
know it must die before it changes. As long as we allow the puppets of the legislators to
kill us with impunity we can't win. For every person that the pigs take, we must take two

of theirs. A civil war s scary. But no real, long term change will happen without it.

People speak as if incarcerating these murderous pigs brings justice to the fallen. These
victims are still dead. Their families still have to endure the pain of losing someone that
they love. They will keep dying until the murderers have a real consequence to their
actions. You think Chauvin has it rough? At least he's alive. I know a cop will be far more
hesitant to pull the trigger if it could mean cheir life rather than the person they are

gunning down.

A lot of people try to make this nation “evolve” into something greater. I feel that this

mindset is faulty. When weeds appear in gardens, they aren't merely pulled out. They are

dug out by the roots. In this case, the roots of this nation are the con:

tion. Any school
of thought that breaks a person down into a fraction of a whole is broken. Nothing pure

will ever develop while it's being replanted into this garden. We have to rewrite the

25 // UNITED WESTOOD
constitution so that it unifies & brings equality to all of us. We need a new garden. We

must take away their choice in the matter.

Sacrifice. One word that can have the weight of the world in it. Until we're ready to
sacrifice everything, including our lives to bring a change, better world for our children,
nothing will change in permanence. Advocacy, protesting, & demonstrating brings an
elucidation to something that is purposely kept in the shadows. But they are just a STEP
towards change. We must dig out the weeds. What will it take for you to be ready to

sacrifice for the future?
- Capo

Smart Communications /| PA DOC
Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz - NW2883
SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

26 // UNITED WESTOOD
RAISING REVOLUTIONARIES
| @+

SALUTES COMRADES,

My hope is that this platform offers an opportunity for me to present this communique
on what I believe to be an internal oppressive disease. A disease inflicted upon our people
through the psychological trauma suffered through generational systematic racism and
oppression, a disease that causes our people to suffer as it relates to the disconnect

between us and our youth!

My belief is that the core function or effect of this disease was to cripple our future

leadership by infecting us with this internally oppressive, diseased mindframe that causes
us to suppress the rebellious revolutionary spirit of our children from birth! Whether

consciously or subconsciously causing us to perpetuate the wrapping of chains around

the minds, emotional growth and rebellious spirit of our youth!

To be clear my position s not to question anyone’s ability to parent, nor the leadership
in their household! I simply want to provoke thought that ignites action that may
ultimately cause some form of impactful generational change upon the self-esteem of our

people — people of oppression! So while I empathize and understand the feeling as a

27 // UNITED WE STOOD
parent and those in a position of leadership to attempt to protect the optimistic ideal
mind of our youth, I ask you to look around! Truthfully & honestly, and acknowledge that

our children are being treated like adults regardless if we want them to be or not!!!!

Shackled by invi

upon by a system whose sole intent is to hunt down our future leaders at birth! Hold them

le slave chains of probation as early as the age of 10 years old! Preyed

captive in modern day plantations as youth, until mentally & emotionally their growth has
stagnated to the point where before they reach puberty they've been psychologically
programmed to be fed into this capitalist, racist conveyor belt known as recidivism!

Ultimately sentenced to death by incarceration!

This is where I believe that internally oppressive discase affects the disconnect between
leadership & our youth! We have to be willing to acknowledge a truth! We're losing the
hearts, minds, respect and trust of our revolutionary & rebellious youth, as it relates to
being leaders & revolutionary examples they are willing to follow! While intellectualism
will always be respected, our youth, like the youth of the past, will not follow passive
reformist intellectuals while they sit and watch people their age systematically,
psychologically and physically attacked by this enemy you want to sit at the table and

politic with!

One thing that has always been a foundational pillar for the youth of generations past, to
use as a catalyst during stagnant moments in secking changes and liberation, was their
ability to look back with acknowledgment and humbling awe upon the vanguard parties
of the past! Whether it's the maroon slave liberation of the 1800's that led to the founding
of Haiti, Comrade Nat Turner who led an unforgiving vanguard from plantation to

plantation encouraging in the minds of enslaved people the strength to be willing to risk

their lives for their individual freedom and the freedom of others through physical
liberation! Allowing for that strength to become an intrinsic characteristic of

generational youth to follow, a

was followed proactively by comrades George and

Johnathan Jackson, who chose to seck reparations & liberat

n for those held captive,

oppressed and dehumanized within the confines of a modern day plantation.

28 // UNITED WE STOOD
Our youth crave and seek to follow leadership in the likeness of the rebellious

revolutionary spirit delivered by Chairman Fred Hampton and Malcolm X, who both

spoke directly to the rebellious spirit of the youth; while other leaders spoke with
passivity and reformism that a generation of youthful revolutionary thinkers couldn’t

relate to!

What I would say to those parents & leaders: In your attempt to protect the optimistic
ideal mind of our youth, have you ever stopped to ask yourself why & when? Did we stop

bel

ving as a people that we could raise and encourage the resistance of warrior kings /
warrior queens? Youthful leaders raised completely conscious of the reality our people

ives with.

face, their enemy and the cause and purpose they should live thei

If I recall correctly, this is the same conscious reality that produced comrades such as

Ha

iet Tubman and Frederick Douglas along with thousands of other intellectual

warriors who led us forward in the past! We can’t continue to allow this internally

oppressive disease to suppress the great youthful leadership of the next generation and

generations to follow!

Comrades, the need for us to willingly and continually produce strong Black intellectual
rebellious youth to lead us, now and always, will be our greatest responsibility! Not only

to guarantee our future, but to guarantee the existence of our core principles within our

movements, to not simply seck reform, but the burning down and complete change of a

iculate

system that's killing people of oppression in more ways than I can a

We have to begin by sharpening their natural weapons at birth. Preparing them for the
moment when they will be called upon to unleash those weapons on our enemylll I'm not
talking simply guns or rage! I'm talking about their hearts, their minds! Rebellious

youthful revolutionary courage, combined with intellectualism!

To the youth: I'm speaking directly to you when I say... 'm speaking to you from the mind

& heart of what could have been and should have been a leader for our people. Had I been

molded in the likeness of our comrades of the past, completely conscious of our people’s

29 // UNITED WE STOOD
fight and my purpose in life. There’s no limit to what I could have achieved for the

collectivelll!

Never forget, the enormity of the obstacles you will face in your lifetime will be deemed
minute, when measured in comparison to your inmer strength, greatness and
determination to achieve your objective in life of standing firmly on the right side of the
oppressed! This is an intrinsic part of your character! Stand in that truth, your truth, and
don’t allow weak leadership or moments of difficulty to cause you to bend, break or

deviate from your path! Stay strong! Stay focused! Stay you!

And to our parents, please stop disrespecting our children’s mental and emotional

strength to lead or understand their purpose...t's costing them their lives and our

people their futurell!

Always remember
if

s right
Then it's legal cause the power

Is the people’s!
- Ruk

Smart Communications /| PA DOC

Jarreau Ayers - NS94
SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

30 // UNITED WESTOOD
A MESSAGE FROM AN OUTSIDE SUPPORTER

Pick your side: If liberation is not your goal, then what is? I was asked to engage with my

personal thoughts on a Zine. We get picky with picking a topic, who is the audience. So
picked mine! Which side are you on, my people, which side are you on? The lyrical notes
of this liberating song wandered in my memory. Usually, the response is we're on the
freedom side. We sang these words collectively as we as outside supportersfactivists
represented the #Vaughn17 #FAM and all other prison liberators from behind the cold
stone walls, as we participated in direct action for #Black August. Our Comrades Dwayne

Staats, Jarreau Ayers inspired us to manifest the idea. We loudly spoke into our mics

wi

en by them as orange jumpsuits covered our bodies. In particular, I realized that
outside supporters fall into the trap of liberal agendas throughout these past years,
romanticize over what prison support looks like, and arguing over agendas and finally

losing track of what should be our ultimate goal. Here is a question I thought out into the

universe: If you are not here to unlock those gates, then why are you here? I understand
that some of you engage and indulge in philosophical discussions of what abolition or
liberation looks like, and those are all valid and needed. But I am tired. I am sitting here
thinking, damn, how long have people used the words change does not come overnight. I

look at my comrades on the outside; I can count them on my fingers.

I sometimes wonder about white kids complaining about capacity. I want to introduce
them to my comrades. Do they know about the dope prison organizer who went on a 7
day hunger strike to fight forfalongside his comrades inside the belly of PA’s cages? The
question of capacity was an easy one for some of my comrades, better known as the
#Vaughn17. They all accused of prison uprising in Delaware’s James T. Vaughn Prison.
Throughout the trial, we lost Kelly Gibbs to alleged suicide. Most of them are stranding
all over PA, one is now in VA, and one is in the state of Illinois. To this day, they remained

strong and united and have the most respect for all of them. I witnessed the trial first

hand, and honestly, they brought me back from almost retiring from activism. After the

Baltimore uprising, I was done with the so-called social Justice agenda. Still, these guys

showed me that there is something more important out there, which is when I picked

31 // UNITED WE STOOD
aside. Prison liberation is not easy, but I am proud to say: I am on the freedom side - until

these gates fall and each wall is demolished and abolition. Power to the People.

~Fariha

32 // UNITED WESTOOD
THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE IN THE STRUGGLE

“We need to love each other on purpose.” - Assata Shakur
DEAR COMRADES,

For those who don’t know, the above quote is the words of the great revolutionary and
former Black Panther Assata Shakur. My reason for sharing this quote s to put emphasis
on the importance that we need to learn to love rather than hate each other. Not only do
we need to learn how to love each other like Assata said, but we also need to learn how to
love each other for the sake of creating permanent change. If you think about it, who even

taught us to hate each other in the first place?

ime

In my opinion, I believe that hatred is learned in the household and it intensifies i
through ignorance and practice. As a people, if we want change, then we have to replace
the hatred with love and the misunderstanding of one another for communication. The

more we communicate with one another, the better we understand one another.

The more we understand one another, the better the chances are of us growing to love
one another. The more we grow to love one another, the better the chances are of us
unifying with one another. The more we unify with one another, the better the chances

are of us getting something effective done with one another. The more we get done with

33 // UNITED WESTOOD
one another, the better the progression will be that we made with one another. Last but
not least, the better the progression we make with one another, the faster and stronger

the change will be. Despite our ethnic backgrounds and the frivolous differences of us all,

there is no ingredient stronger than love. With that said, as a people, I ask that we come

together, turn in the hate for love, and challenge our oppressors with numbers that they
never seen before! At the end of the day, we all share a purpose and common goal which
is equality, freedom, and justice for all. And what's a better strategy to accomplish our

goals than by coming together? Exactly, there is none.

Malcolm X said: “There’s strength in numbers.” The time is now my fellow comrades.
Remain militant! Stay motivated! Be inspired! Love more! And most importantly, stay

woke! All power to the people!
- Luis

Luis Sierra, 2101197

Nottoway Correctional Center

P.O. Box 488
Burkeville, VA 23922

34 // UNITED WESTOOD
PEDRO CHAIREZ - Y35814
Pontiac Correctional Center
P.0.Box 99

Pontiac, IL 61764

Smart Communications/PA DOC
JANIIS MATHIS - NU0423

SCI Greene

PO Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

35 // UNITED WESTOOD

OBADIAH MILLER #00605360
James T. Vaughn CC

1181 Paddock Road

Smyrna, DE 19977

N

Smart Communications/PA DOC
DERIC FORNEY - N§2698

SCI Coal Township

PO Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Smart Communications | PA DOC COREY SMITH
JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ - NU043 Wilmington, DE
SCI Phoenix

PO Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

ROBERT HERNANDEZ
Las Cruces, NM

RLP.KELLY GIBBS,
'WHO CHOSE DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR

36 // UNITED WESTOOD