13.-soledad-brother-part-1.pdf

13.-soledad-brother-part-1.pdf
Web PDF • Imposed PDF • Raw TXT (OCR)

Selste

ra Sa
ye SE roy

Layout by Chicago Anarchist Black Cross, 2018.
‘To request a catalog, write us at
Chieago ABC
1321 N. Milwaukee Ave.

PMB 460
Chicago, IL. 60622

‘To download electronic copies of our zin:

visit us at
chiabe.tumblr.com

[ chicagoanarchistblackcross@riseup.net ]

SOLEDAD
BROTHER
Part One

GEORGE JACKSON

To THE MAN-CHILD, TALL, EVIL, GRACEFUL, BRIGHT-
EYED, BLACK MAN-CHILD — JONATHAN PETER JACKSON
— WHO DIED ON AUGUST 7, 1970, COURAGE IN ONE
HAND, ASSAULT RIFLE IN THE OTHER; MY BROTHER,
COMRADE, FRIEND — THE TRUE REVOLUTIONARY, THE
BLACK COMMUNIST GUERRILLA IN THE HIGHEST STATE
OF DEVELOPMENT, HE DIED ON THE TRIGGER, SCOURGE
OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS, SOLDIER OF THE PEOPLE: TO
THIS TERRIBLE MAN-CHILD AND HIS WONDERFUL
MOTHER GEORGIA BEA, TO ANGELA Y. Davis, my
‘TENDER EXPERIENCE, I DEDICATE THIS COLLECTION
OF LETTERS; TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR ENEMIES
I DEDICATE MY LIFE,

Contents
September 23, 1941-August 21, 1971
George Jackson

Foreword
Jonathan Jackson, Jr

Recent Letters and an Autobiography
George Jackson

Lecters: (1964 ~ 1968)

20

44

September 23, 1941 — August 21, 1971
George L. Jackson

In 1960, a the age of eighteen, George Jackson was accused of stealing
$70 from a gas station in Los Angeles. Though there was evidence of
his innocence, his court-appointed lawyer maintained that because
Jackson had a record (two previous instances of petty crime), he should
plead guilty in exchange fora light sentence in the county jal. He did,
and received an indeterminate sentence of one year to life. Jackson
spent the next ten years in Soledad Prison, seven and a half of them in
solicary confinement. Instead of succumbing to the dehumanization of
prison existence, he transformed himself into the leading theoretician
‘of the prison movement and a brilliant writer. Soledad Brother, which
contains the letcers that he wrote from 1964 to 1970, is his testament.

Inhistwenty-cighth year, Jackson and two other lack inmates —Fleeta
Drumgo and John Cluchette — were falsely accused of murdering
a white prison guard. The guard was beaten to death on January 16,
1969, a few days after another white guard shot and killed three black
inmates by firing from a tower into the courtyard. The accused men
‘were brought in chains and shackles to two secret hearings in Salinas
County. A third hearing was about to take place when John Clucherte
managed to smuggle a note to his mother: “Help, I'm in trouble.”
With the aid of a state senator, his mother contacted a lawyer, and so
commenced one of the most extensive legal defenses in US. history.
According to their attorneys, Jackson, Drumgo, and Clutcheete were
charged with murder not because there was any substantial evidence
of their guilt, but because they had been previously identified as black
militants by the prison authorities. If convicted, they would face a
mandatory death penalty under the California penal code. Within
weeks, the case of the Soledad Brothers emerged as a political cause
célébre forall sorts of people demanding change ata time when every
American institution was shaken by Black rebellions in more than one
hhundred cities and the mass movement against the Vietnam War.

‘August 7, 1970, just a few days after George Jackson was transferred to
San Quentin, the case was catapulted to the Forefront of national news
when his brother, Jonathan, a seventeen-year-old high school student
in Pasadena, staged a raid on the Marin County courthouse with a
satchelful of handguns, an assault rifle, and a shorgun hidden under

6 SOLEDAD BROTHER

his coat. Educated into a political revolutionary by George, Jonathan
invaded the court during a hearing for three black San Quentin
inmates, not including his brother, and handed them weapons. As he
lefe with the inmates and five hostages, including the judge, Jonathan
demanded that the Soledad Brothers be released within thirty minutes,
In the shootout that ensued, Jonathan was gunned down. Of Jonathan,
George wrote, “He was free for a while. I guess that’s more than most
of sean expect.”

Soledad Brother, which is dedicated to Jonathan Jackson, was released
to critical acclaim in Franceand the United States. with an introduction
by the renowned French dramatise Jean Genet, in the fall of 1970.
Less than a year later and just ewo days before the opening of his trial,
‘George Jackson was shor to death by a tower guard inside San Quentin
Prison in a purported escape attempt, “No Black person.” wrote James
Baldwin, “will ever believe that George Jackson died the way they tell
us he did”

Soledad Brother went on to become a classic of Black literature and
political philosophy, selling more than 400,000 copies before it went
‘out of print ewenty years ago. Lawrence Hill Books is pleased to reissue
this book and to add to ita Foreword by the author’s nephew, Jonathan
Jackson, Je, who isa writer living in California

PART ONE.

Foreword
Jonathan Jackson, Jr

Iwas born eight and a half months after my father, Jonathan Jackson,
‘was shot down on August 7, 1970, at the Marin County Courthouse,
when he tried co gain the release of the Soledad Brothers by taking
hostages. Before and especially after chat day, Uncle George kept
in constant contact with my mother by writing from his cell in San
Quentin, (The Department of Corrections wouldn’e put her on the
visitors’ list.) During George’s numerous trial appearances for the
Soledad Brothers case, Mom would lift me above the crowd so he could
see me. Consistently, we would receive a letcer a few days later. For a
single mother with son, alone and in the middle of both controversy
and not a little unwarranted trouble with the authorities, those
messages of strength were no doubr instrumental in helping her earry
‘on, No matter how oppressive his situation became, George always had
time to lend his spirit to the people he cared for.

Ayearand two weeks after the revolutionary takeover in Marin, George
‘was ruthlessly murdered by prison guards at San Quentin, Both he and
my father left me a great deal: pride, history, an unmistakable name,
My experience has been at once wonderful and incredibly difficult. My
life is not consumed by the Jackson legacy, but my charge isan accepted
and cherished piece of my existence. Ie is out of my responsibility to
my legacy that I have come to write this Foreword to my uncle’s prison
writings.

‘Today I read my inherited letters often — those written from George
to my mother with a dull pencil on prison stationery. They are things
of beauty, my most valuable possessions, passionate pieces of writing
that have few rivals in the modern era. They will remain unpublished.
However, the letters of Soledad Brother demonstrate the same
insight and eloquence — the way George's writings make his personal
‘experience universal isthe mainstay of his brilliance.

‘When this collection of letcers was first released in 1969, it brought
1 young revolutionary co the forefront of a cempest, a tempest
characterized by the Black Power, free speech, and antiwar movements,
accompanied by a dissatisfaction with the status quo throughout the
United States. With unflinching directness, George Jackson conveyed

8 SOLEDAD BROTHER

an intelligent yet accessible message with his trademark style, rational
rage. He illuminated previously hidden viewpoints and feelings that
disenfranchised segments of the population were unable to articulate:
the poor, the victimized, the imprisoned, the disillusioned. George
spoke in a revolutionary voice that they had no idea existed. He was
the prominent figure of true radical thought and practice during the
period, and when he was assassinated, much of the movement died
along with him. But George Jackson cannot and will not ever leave.
His life and choughts serve as the message — George himself is the
revolution,

‘The reissue of Soledad Brother at this point in time is essential. It
appears that the nineties are going to be a telling decade in US. history.
‘The signposts of systemic breakdown are as glaringly obvious as they
were in the sixties: unrest manifesting itself in inner-city turmoil,
‘widespread rise of violence in the culture, and international oppression
to legitimize a state in erisis. The fact that imprisonment in California
hhave more than tripled over the last decade, supported by the public,
is merely one sign of societal decomposition, That systemic change
‘occurred during the sixties isa myth. The United States in the nineties
faces strikingly analogous problems. George spoke to the issues of his
day, but conditions now are so similar that this work could have been
written last month. It is imperative that George be heard, whether
by the angry but un-channeled young or by the cynical and worldly
mature, The message must be carried farther than where he bravely left
iin August of 1971

Over the past ewenty-five years, why has George Jackson not been
an integral part of mainstream consciousness? He has been and
still is underexposed, reduced to simplistic terms, and ultimately
misunderstood. Racial and conspiracy theory aside, there are rational
reasons for his exclusion, They stem not only from the hard-line
revolutionary aspects of George’ philosophy. but more importancly
from the nature of the political system that he existed in and under.

Howard Zinn has pointed out in A People’s History of the United
States that “the history of any country, presented as the history of a
family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most
‘often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and
slaves, capitalists and workers, dominatorsand dominated.” US. history
is essentially chat type of hidden history. Without denying important
mitigating factors, the United States of today is strongly linked to the

PART ONE. °

values and premises on which it was founded. That is, it isa settler
colony founded primarily on two basic pillars, upheld by che Judeo-
Christian tradition: genocide of indigenous peoples and slave labor in
support of a capitalist infrastructure. Although the Bible repeatedly
cexalts mass slaughter and oppression, Judeo-Christian morality is
publicly held to be inconsistent with them. This dissonance, evident
‘within che nation’s structure from the beginning, informs the states
first function: to oversimplify and minimize immoral events in order
to legitimize history and the state's very existence simultaneously.

Ironically, tradicional Judeo-Christian morality is a perfect vehicle for
genocide, slavery, and territorial expansion. As a logical progression
from biblical example, expansion and imperialism culminated in the
United Sates with the concept of Manifest Destiny, which held that
i was the colonists’ inherent right to expand and conquer. Further it
‘was a duty, the “white man’s burden.’ to save the “natives” to attempt
to convert all heathens encountered. Protestant Calvinism provided a
set of ethics that it perfectly with the colonists’ conquests. Max Weber,
in his definitive study on religion, The Sociology of Religion, wrote,
“Calvinism held chat the unsearchable God possessed good reasons
for having distributed the gifts of forcune unevenly”: it “represented as
God's will [the Calvinists)] domination over the sinful world. Clearly
this and other features of Protestantism, such as its rationalization of
the existence ofa lower class," were not only the bases for the formation
of the United States, but still prominently exist roday. “One must go to
the ethics of ascetic Protestantism,” Weber asserts, “to find any ethical
sanction for economic rationalism and for the entrepreneur” When a
nation can't admit to the process through which i builds hegemony,
how can anything but delusion be a reality? “The monopoly of truth,
including historical ruth,’ stated Daniel Singer inalecture at Evergreen
State College (Washingcon) in 1987, “is implied in che monopoly of
power:

Clearly, objective history is an impossibility. This understood, the
significant problem lies in how the general population defines the
term; history implies chat cruch is being told. Ie is an unfortunate fact
that history is unfailingly written by the victors, which in the case of

1 Called bootstrap ideology this tenet holds tha all the poor need to do is “pull
themselves up by their bootstraps tobe materially succesful Accordingly, those
who do nor do so deserve tobe i their situation and are considered unworch.

10 SOLEDAD BROTHER

the United States are not only the original imperialists, bur the majority
of the “founding fathers. dedicated to uniting and strengthening the
existing mercantile class among disjointed colonies. There can be no
doube that from the creation of this young nation, history as a created
and perceived entity moved further and further away from the objective
ideal. Genocide, necessary for “the development of the modern
capitalist economy.” according to Howard Zinn, was rationalized as a
reaction to the feat of Indian savages, Slavery was similarly construed.

‘The personalization of history, the process by which we construct
heroes and pariahs, is a consequence ofits dialectical nature. Without
fail, an odd paradox is created around someone who, by virtue of his
‘rer actions, becomes prominent enough to warrant the designation
“historical figure.” There is a leap on the part of the general public,
sparked by the media, to another mindset. Sensational deeds are
glorified, horrible acts reviled. A few points are selected as defining
characteristics. The media, conforming to their restrictions of
concision (which make accuracy nearly impossible to attain), reiterate
these points over and over. Schools and textbooks not only teach these
points but drill chem into young minds, Howard Zinn comments that
“this learned sense of moral proportion, coming from the apparent
objectivity of the scholar, is accepted more easily than when it comes
from politicians at press conferences. I is therefore more deadly”

‘A few tidbits, factual or not, incomplete and selective, are used to
describe the entirety of a person’s existence. They become part of
mainstream consciousness. We therefore know that Lincoln freed the
slaves, Malcolm X wasa blackextremist,and Hitler wassolely responsible
for World War II and the Holocaust. All half-truths go unexplained,
all fallacies go unchallenged, as they appear to make perfect sense to
the everyday, non-critically thinking American, The paradox has been
created: The more famous a person becomes, the more misunderstood
he or she is. This accepted occurrence is incredibly counterintuitive:
the public should know more, not less, about a noteworthy individual
and the sociopolitical dynamics surrounding him or her.

‘This historical mythicization is not, for the most part, a consciously
created phenomenon. The media don't go out of their way to mislead
the public by constructing false heroes and emphasizing the mundane,
Fewer “dimly lit conferences” take place than conspiracy theorists
believe. It is the existing political system that is responsible for the
information that reaches the general public. The state's control of

PART ONE. n

information created che system, and it continually re-creates it,
Propagated by schooling and the media, information that reaches the
public is subject to three chief mechanisms of state control: denial,
self-censorship, and imprisonment.

Denial is the easiest control mechanism, and therefore the most
common. If events do not follow the state’s agenda or its ecumenical
ideology and might bring unrest, they are denied. Examples are
plentiful: prewar state terrorism against the people of North and South
‘Vietnam and later the bombing of Cambodia: government funding and
military aid to che Nicaraguan Contras: and suppore of UNITA and
South Africa in the vietual destruction of Angola, among many others.

Denial goes hand in hand with self-censorship. The media emphasize
certain personal characteristics and events and de-emphasize others, in
‘a pattern that supports US. hegemony. The information that reached
the public after the US. invasion of Panama in 1989 is telling, It was
not until much later, after the heat of controversy, that the average
citizen had access to the scope of the devastation. The effectiveness
‘of self-censorship in this ease was maximized, as the full details of the
Panama invasion were patchwork for years

‘While we may assume that the media have an obligation to accurately
convey such an event to the public, the media in fact perpetuate the
{government's position by engaging in their own self-censorship. Noam
Chomsky points out in Deterring Democracy, “With a fringe of
‘exceptions — mostly well after the tasks had been accomplished — the
media rallied around the flag with due piety and enthusiasm, funneling
the most absurd White House rales to the public while scrupulously
refraining from asking the obvious questions, or seeing the obvious
facts”

Denial and self-censorship create a comfort zone for the US. citizenry,
generally uncritical and willing to accept digestible versions of
historical personalities and world events. The reasoning behind denial
and self-censorship: do not make the public uncomfortable, even if that
means diluting, sensationalizing, or lying about the truch, Ultimately,
when denial and self-censorship may not be sufficient for control of
information, the state resorts to imprisonment. All imprisonment is
political and as such all imprisonments carry equal weight. Society does,
however, distinguish two categories of imprisonment: one for breaking
law, the other for political reasons. A difference is clear: American

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER

Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier, serving a federal sentence for
his supposed role at Wounded Knee, is considered a different type of
prisoner than an armed robber serving a five-to-seven-year sentence.

State policy reflects instieutional needs. When the state as an
insticution cannot tolerate an outside threat, real or perceived, from
an individual or group, the consequences at its command include
isolation, persecution, and political imprisonment. All may occur in
‘greater or lesser form, depending on the degree of threat

Political incarceration removes threats to the political and economic
hegemony of the United States. Even though in 1959 George Jackson
initially went co prison as an “everyday lawbreaker” with a one-year-
to-life sentence, it was his political consciousness that kept him
incarcerated for eleven years. In 1970 George wrote:

International capitalism cannot be destroyed without the extremes
of struggle. The entire colonial world is watching the blacks inside
the US. wondering and waiting for us to come t0 our senses. Their
problems and struggles with che Amerikan monster are much mote
difficult than they would be if we actively aided them. We are on the
inside. We are the only ones (besides the very small white minority
lee) who can get at che monster’s heart without subjecting the world to
nuclear fire. We have a momentous historical role to act out if we will

‘The whole world forall time in the future will love us and remember us
as the righteous people who made it possible for the world to live on. IF
wwe fail through fear and lack of aggressive imagination, then the slaves
of the future will curse us, as we sometimes curse those of yesterday. I
don’t wane to die and leave a few sad songs and a hump in the ground as
my only monument. I want to leave a world that is liberated from trash,
pollution, racism, nation-states, nation-state wars and armies, from
pomp. bigotry, parochialism, a thousand different brands of untruth,
and licentious usurious economics

Nothingis more dangerous toa system that depends on misinformation
than a voice that obeys its own dictates and has the courage to speak
‘out. George Jackson's imprisonment and further isolation within the
prison system were clearly a function of the state’s response to his
‘outspoken opposition to the capitalise structure.

Political incarceration is a tangible form of state control. Unlike
denial and self-censorship, imprisonment is publicly scrutinized. Yet

PART ONE. B

public reaction to political incarceration has been minimal. The US.
‘government claims it holds no political prisoners (denial), while any
notice given to protests focused on political prisoners invariably takes
the form of a human interest story (self-censorship).

‘The efficacy of political incarceration in the United States cannot be
denied, Prison serves notonly asa physical barrier, buta communication
restraint. Prisoners are completely ostracized from society, with
little oF no chance to break through. Those few outside who might
be sympathetic are always hesitant to communicate or protest past a
certain point, fearing their own persecution or imprisonment. Also,
deep down most people believe that all prisoners, regardless of their
individual situations, rally did do something “wrong.” Added to that
prejudice, society lacks a distinction between a prisoner's actions and
his or her personal worth: a bad act equals a bad person. The bottom
line is that che majority of people simply will not believe that the state
‘openly or covertly oppresses without criminal cause. As Daniel Singer
asked at the Evergreen conference in 1987, “Is it possible for a class
which exterminates the native peoples of the Americas. replaces them
by raping Africa for humans it then denigrates and dehumanizes as
slaves, while cheapening and degrading its own working class — is it
possible for such a class to create a democracy, equality and to advance
the cause of human freedom? The implicit answer is, "No, of course

How does a person — inside or outside prison — confront the culeural
mindsets, the layers of misinformation propagated by the capitalist
system? Sooner or later, what can be called the “radical dilemma”
surfaces for the few wanting to enter into a structural attack/analysis
of the United States. Culeurally, educationally, and politically, all of
us are similarly limited by these layers of misinformation: we are all
products of the system. None of us functions from a clean slate when
considering or debating any issue, especially history as it pertains to
the United States. George Jackson struggled against the constraints
of denial and self-censorship. to say nothing of his physical and
communicative distance from society. Political prisoners are inherently
vulnerable to an either/or situation: isolating silence or elimination,
For George, his vociferous revolutionary attitude was either futile or
self-exterminating. He was well aware of his situation. In Blood in My
Eye, his political treatise, he wrote:

u SOLEDAD BROTHER

I'm in a unique political position. I have a very nearly closed future,
and since I have always been inclined to get disturbed over organized
injustice or terrorist practice against the innocents — wherever — I
‘ean now say just about what I want (I've always done just about that),
‘without Fear of self-exposure. I can only be executed once.

George was equally aware that revolutionary change happens only
when an entire society is ready. No amount of action, preaching, or
teaching will spark revolution if social conditions do not warranc it. My
father’s case, unfortunately is an appropriate indicator. He attempted
revolutionary act during a reactionary time: elimination was the only
possible consequence. The challenge for a radical in today’s world isto
balance reformist tendencies (political liberalism) and revolutionary
action/ideology (radicalism). While reformism entails a legitimation
of the status quo as a search for changes within the system, radicalism
posits a change of system, Because revolutionaries are particularly
vulnerable, a certain degree of reformism is necessary to create space,
space needed to begin the laborious task of making revolution,

‘George's statement "Combat Liberalism” and the general reaction to it
typify the gulf between the two philosophies. George was universally
misunderstood by the left and the right alike. As is the case with
most modern political prisoners, nearly all of his support came from
reformists with liberal leanings. Ie seems that they acted in spite of,
rather than because of, the core of his message.

‘The lefts attitude toward COINTELPRO is a usefal illustration,
COINTELPRO, the covert government program used to dismantle
the Black Panther Party, and later the American Indian Movement,
is typically cited by many leftists as a damning example of the
government's conspiratorial nature. Declassified documents and ex-
agents’ testimonies have shown COINTELPRO to be one of the
most unlawful, insidious cells of government in the nation’s history.
COINTELPRO, however, was really a symptomatic, expendable
entity: a small police force within a larger one (FBI), within a branch
‘of government (executive), within the government itself (liberal
democracy), within the economic system (capitalism). Reformists in
radicals’ clothing unknowingly argued against symproms, rather than
the roots, of the entrenched system, Doing away with COINTELPRO
for even the FBI would not alter the structure that produces the
surveillance/elimination apparatus.

PART ONE. 15

In George's day, others who considered themselves lefe of center, oF
even revolutionary, concerned themselves with inner-city reform
issues, mostly black ghettos. The problem of and debate about inner
cities still exists. However, recognition of a problem and analysis of
that problem are two very different challenges. The demand to becter
only predominantly black inner-city conditions is unrealistic at best. In
the capitalist structure, there must be an upper, middle, and especially
1 lower class. Improving black neighborhoods is the equivalent of
gheteoizing some other segment of the population — poor whites,
Hispanics, Asians, ete. Nothing inerinsic to the system would change,
only superficial alterations that would mollify the liberal public. As
Chomsky asserts in Turning the Tide:

Determined opposition to the latest lunacies and atrocities must
continue, for the sake of the victims as well as our own ultimate survival.
Butt should be understood as a poor substitute for a challenge to the
deeper causes, a challenge that we are, unfortunately, in no position to
mount at the present though the groundwork can and must be laid
Failure to understand the radical, encompassing viewpoint in the
sixties led to reformism. In effect, the majority of the lefe completely
deserted any attempt at the radical balance required of the politically
conscious, leaving only liberalism and its narrow vision to flourish,

Nobody comprehended the radical dilemma more fully than George
Jackson. Indeed, he developed his philosophy not out of mere
happenstance, but with a very conscious eye upon maintaining his
revolutionary ideology. He writes in Blood in My Eye:

Reformism isan old story in Amerika. There have been depressions and
socio-economic political crises throughout the period that marked the
formation of the present upper-class ruling circle, and their controlling
lites, But the parties of the left were too committed to reformism to
exploit their revolutionary potential.

George’s involvement with the prison reform movement should
therefore be seen as a matter of survival. Unlike the reformist left,
prison oppression was directly affecting him. His balanced reform
activities — improving prisoners’ rights while speaking out against
prison asan entity — were required to make living conditions tolerable
‘enough for him ¢o continue on his revolutionary path. Simply, he did
what he had to do to survive — created space while simultaneously
pursuing his radical cheory.

6 SOLEDAD BROTHER

‘The reform George Jackson did accomplish was and still is incredible,
transforming the prison environment from unlivable to livable hell,
from encampments that he called reminiscent of Nazi Germany to at
leasta scaled-down version of the like. With his influence, these changes
‘occurred not only in California, but throughout the nation. Only now
is his influence beginning to slip. with reactionary politics bringing
about torture and sensory deprivation facilities such as Pelican Bay
‘State Prison in California, as well as the reintroduction for adoption of
the one-to-life indeterminate sentence, This type of sentence is fertile
‘ground for state oppression, as itis up to a parole board to decide if
an inmate is ever to be let go. A prison can easily and effectively create
situations thac transform a one-to-life into a life sentence. (Tellingly,
the indeterminate sentence is being promoted notby the right, but by a
California senator formerly associated with mainstream liberal causes.)

Politically, George Jackson provided us all with a radical education, a
viable alternative to viewing not only the United States bu the world
as a political entity. He gave the disenfranchised a lens through which
they could clearly see thei situation and become more conscious about
it, He wrote in April 1970:

Ieallfallsinto place. Isee the whole thing much clearer now,how fascism
thas taken possession of this country, the interlocking dictatorship from
county level on up to the Grand Dragon in Washington, D.C.

Crucially, George’s treatment is a concrete, undeniable example of
political oppression. Race is more times than not the easy answer to
a problem. Among people of color in the United States, the quick fix,
“blame iton whitey” mentality has become so prevalent that itshorteuts
thinking. Conversely, stereotypes of minorities act as simple-minded
tools of divisiveness and oppression. George addressed these issues in
prison, setting a model for the outside as well: “I'm always telling the
brothers some of those whites are willing to work with us against the
pigs. All they got to do is stop talking honky. When the races start
fighting, all you have is one maniac group against another.” On the
surface, race has been and is still being put forth as an overriding issue
that needs to be addressed as a prerequisite for social change. In fact,
although it seems to loom as a large problem, race as an issue is again
‘a symptom of capitalism, OF course, on a paltry level and among the
relatively powerless, race does play a part in social structure (the racist
cop, the bigoted landlord, etc.) pitting segments of the population
against cach other. But revolutionary change requires class analysis that

PART ONE. 7

dives appropriate actions and eliminates race as a mitigating factor.
Knowing these socioeconomic dynamics, George Jackson was first
and foremost a people’ revolutionary, and he acted as such at all times
‘without compromise. His writings clearly reflect his belief in class-
based revolutionary change.

Considering the many structural elements affecting him, it is easy to
sce why George and his message have been misinterpreted. The quick
takes on him are abundant: its assumed that he was imprisoned and
‘oppressed because he was black, because he had publicized vies with
the Black Panther Party and was a well-known organizer within
the prison reform movement. Although George became a “prison
celebrity” a status thae certainly didn’t help him in terms of acquittal
and release, ignorance ofthe actual forces responsible for his prolonged
imprisonment is inexcusable. The radical viewpoint is absolutely
indispensable when regarding both George’s life circumstance and
philosophy. His life serves not as a mere individual example of prison
cruelty, but as a scalding indictment of the very nature of capitalism.

In these times, there are two very different ways to be born into
privilege. First and most obvious in che system of capital is to be
born into wealth, Second, and not precluding the firs, is to have an
intellectual, politically conscious base fom which to grow as a person
philosophically and spiritually. Radical figures in modern society —
Lenin, Trotsky, Ché Guevara, my father, Jonathan Jackson, and my
uncle George Jackson — have the capability of providing this base
through their examples and writings

‘Those not born into privilege can achieve a politically conscious base
in different ways. No veils separate the lower class from the realities of
everyday life. They have been given the gift of disillusion. Bourgeois
lifestyle, although perhaps sought after, isin most cases not attainable.
Daily survival is the primary goal, as it was with George. Of course,
when it finally becomes more attractive for one to fight, and perhaps
die, chan to live in a survival mode, revolution starts to become a
possibility. Not a riot, not a government takeover by one o another
‘group, but a people’ revolution led by the politically conscious.

‘This consciousness doesn’t simply appear: Individuals muse grow and
work into it, bt isan invaluable gift to have insight into and access to
an alternative to the frustration, a goal on the horizon.

18 SOLEDAD BROTHER

‘The nineties are an unconscious era. The unimportant isall-important,
the essential neglected, What system than capitalism, what time period
than now. is better suited to naturally create the scape-goat, the seldom-
heard political prisoner, misunderstood in his cultof personality
status, held back in a choke hold from society? It is not only our tight,
bur our duty, co listen to and comprehend George Jackson's message.
To not do so is to turn our backs on one of the brilliant minds of the
twentieth century, an individual passionately involved with liberating
not only himself, but all of us.

Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our
situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are
dying who could be saved, chat generations more will die or live
poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done,
discover your humanity and your love in revolution, Pass on the
torch. Join us, give up your life for the people.

George Jackson
Jonathan Jackson, J.

‘San Francisco
June 1994

PART ONE. 19

Recent Letters and Autobiography
George Jackson

JUNE, 1970 10

Dear Greg?
I probably didn’t work hard enough on this but I'm pressed for time
all the time.

1 could play the criminal aspects of my life down some but then it
wouldn't be me. That was the pertinent part, che thing at school and
‘home I was constantly rejecting in process.

All my life I pretended with my folks, it was the thing in the street
that was real. I was certainly just pretending with the nuns and priests,
I served mass so that I could be in a position to steal altar wine, sang
in the choir because they made me. When we went on tour of the
rich white catholic schools we were always treated very well — fed —
rewarded with gifts. Old Father Brown hated me but always put me
down front when we were on display. I ean’ say exactly why, I was the
ugliest, skinniest litle misfit in the group.

Black men born in the US. and fortunate enough to live past the age of
eighteen are conditioned to accept the inevitability of prison. For most
‘of us, itsimply looms as the next phase in a sequence of humiliations
Being born a slave in a captive society and never experiencing any
“objective basis for expectation had the effect of preparing me for the
progressively traumatic misfortunes that lead so many black men to the
Peon gate Las prepared for prion, equed only minor pci
adjustments.

Ie always starts with Mama, mine loved me. As testimony of her love,
and her fear for the fate of the man-child all slave mothers hold, she
attempted to press, hide, push, capcure me in the womb. The conflicts
and contradictions that will follow me to the tomb started right chere
in the womb. The feeling of being captured . .. this slave can never
adjust co i, ie’ a thing that I just don’t favor, then, now, never.

I've been asked to explain myself, “briefly.” before the world has done
‘with me, Ic is difficult because I don't recognize uniqueness, not as its

2 The editor who asked forthe author's autobiography:

20 SOLEDAD BROTHER

applied to individualism, because it is too tightly tied into decadent
capitalist culture, Rather I've always strained to see the indivisible thing
cutting across the artificial barricades which have been erected to an
‘older section of our brains, back to the mind of the primitive commune
that exists in all blacks. Bue then how can I explain the runaway slave
in cerms that do not imply uniqueness? I was captured and brought to
prison when I was 18 years old because I couldn't adjust. The record
that the state has compiled on my activities reads like the record of ten
men, It labels me brigand, thief, burglar, gambler, hobo, drug addict,
‘gunman, escape artist, Communist revolutionary, and murderer.

Iwas born as the Great Depression was ending. Ie was ending because
the second great war for colonial markets was beginning in the US. I
pushed out of the womb against my mother’s strength September 23,
1941 — [felt free.

My mother was a country gitl from Harrisburg, Illinois, My father was
born in East St. Louis, Iilinois. They mee in Chicago, and were living
‘on Lake Street near Racine when I was born. It was in one of the oldest
sections of Chicago, part ghetto residential, part factory. The el train
passed a few yards from our front windows (the only windows really),
‘There were factories across the street and garage shops on the bottom
level of our lat I ele right in the middle of chings.

ur first move up the social scale was around the corner to 211 North
Racine Street, away from the el train. I remember every detail of
preschool days. I have a sister 15 months older than myself, Delora,
a beautiful child and now a beautiful woman, We were sometimes
allowed to venture out into the world, which at che time meant no
further than fenced-off roof area adjoining our little three-room
apartment built over a tavern. We were allowed out there only after the
city made its irregular garbage pickups. The roof area was behind the
tavern and over an area where people deposited their garbage. But, of
‘course, I went out when I pleased.

Superman was several years old about then, I didn’t really confuse
myself with him but I did develop a deep suspicion that I might be
Suppernigger (ewenty-three years ahead of my time). I tied a tablecloth
around my neck, climbed the roof’s fence, and against my sister’s tears
‘would have leaped to my death, down among the garbage bartels, had
she not grabbed me, tablecloth and all, and kicked my litele ass.

PART ONE. a

Seeing the white boys up close in kindergarten was a traumatic event.
I must have seen some before in magazines or books but never in the
flesh, I approached one, felt his hair, scratched at his cheek, he hie me
in che head with a baseball bat. They found me crumpled in a heap just
‘outside the school-yard fence.

‘After that, my mother sent me to St. Malachy catholic mission school.
Te was siting right in the heart of the ghetto area, Washington and
Oakley streets. All of the nuns were white: of the priests (there were
five in the parish) I think one was near black, or near white whichever
you prefer. The school ran from kindergarten to 12th grade. [attended
for nine years (ten counting kindergarten). This small group of
missionaries with their silly costumes and barbaric rituals offered
the fall range of Western propaganda to all ages and all comers. Sex
‘was never mentioned except with whispers or grimaces co convey
something nasty: You could get away with anything (they were anxious
to make saints) but getting caught with your hand up a dress. Holy
¢ghosts, confessions, and racism,

‘St. Malachy’s was really ewo schools. There was another school across
the street that was more private than ours. “We" played and fought
‘on the corner sidewalks bordering the school. “They” had a large
sgrass-and-tree-studded garden with an eight-foot wroughtiron fence
bordering ic (co keep us out, since it never seemed to keep any of them
in when they chose to leave). “They” were all white. “They” were driven
to and from school in large private buses or their parents’ cars. “We”
‘on the black side walked, or when we could afford it used the public
buses or streetcars. The white students’ yard was equipped with picnic
tables for spring lunches, swings, slides, and other more sophisticated
gadgets intended to please older children. For years we had only the
very crowded sidewalks and alley behind the school. Years later a small
‘gym was buile but it just stood there, locked. Ie was only allowed to be
used for an occasional basketball game between our school and one of
the others like i from across the city’s various ghetto areas.

Delora and I took the Lake Street streetcar to school each morning,
and also on Sundays when we were forced to attend a religious
function. I must have fallen from that thing a hundred times while it
‘was in motion. Each time Delora would hang on to me, trying to save
me, but I was just too determined and we would roll down Lake Street,
books and all, miraculously avoiding the passing cars. The other black
children who went to public school laughed at us. The girls had to wear

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER

uniform, the boys wore white shirts. I imagined that the nuns and
priests were laughing too every time they told one of those fantastic
lies. I know now that the most damaging thing a people in a colonial
situation ean do is to allow their children to attend any educational
facility organized by the dominant enemy culture.

Before the winter of my first-grade year, my father, Lester, prepared a
fifey-gallon steel drum to store oil for our little stove. As I watched,
he cleaned the inside with gasoline, When he retreated from his work
temporarily for a cigarette he explained to me about the danger of the
{gas fumes. Later when he had completed work on the barrel I sneaked
back our co the roof with my sister Delora trailing me like a St. Bernard.
Thad matches and the idea of an explosion was irresistible, As soon as
iy sister realized what I was going to do, she turned her big sad eyes
‘on me and started crying. I lita match as I moved closer and closer to
the barrel. The I lit the whole book of matches. By now Delora was
convinced that death was imminent for us both. She made a last brave
cffore co stop me but I was too determined. I threw the matches across
the last few feet. Delora shielded my eyes with her hand as the explosion
‘went off. She still carries her burns from that day’s experiences. I was
injured around the lower face but carry no sign of it. Our clothes were
burned and ripped away. I would probably be blind if not for this sister.

My parents had two more children while we were hanging on there at
North Racine, Frances and Penelope. Six of us in the litle walk-up,
‘The only thing that Ican think of that was even slightly pleasant about
the place was the light. We had plenty of windows and nothing higher
about us to block off the sun. In “49 we moved to a place in the rear on
‘Warren near Western that was the end of the sun, We had no windows
that opened directly on the street, even the one that faced the alley was
blocked by a garage. Ie was a larger place but che neighborhood around
the place was so vicious that my mother never, never allowed me to go
‘out of the house or the small yard excepe to get something from one of
the supermarkets or stores on Madison and return immediately. When
wanted to leave I would either go by a window, or throw my coat out
the window and volunteer to take out the garbage. There was only one
door. Ie was in the kitchen and always well guarded.

I spent most of the summers of those school years in southern Illinois
‘with my grandmother and aunt, Irene and Juanita. My mother, Georgia,
called it removing me from harm’s way. This was where my mother
‘grew up and she trusted her sister Juanita, whose care I came under,

PART ONE. 2

completely. I was the only man-child and I was the only one to get
special protection from my mother. The trips to the country were good
for me in spite of the motive. I learned how to shoot rifles, shorguns,
pistols. I learned about fishing. I learned to identify some of the food
plants that grow wild in most areas of the US. I could leave the house,
the yard, the town, without having to sneak out of a window.

Almost everyone in the black sector of Harrisburg is relative of mine.
‘loyal. righteous people: I could raise a small army from their numbers.
Thad use of any type of rifle or pistol on those trips downstate and
‘everyone owned a weapon. My disposition toward guns and explosions
is responsible for my firse theft. Poverty made ammunition scarce and
so... [confess with some guilt that I liked to shoot small animals, birds
rabbits, squirrels, anything that offered itself as a target. I was a little
skinny guy: scourge of the woods, predatory man. After the summer
I went back up north for school and snowball (sometimes ice-block)
fights with the white kids across the street,

don’t remember exactly when I met Joe Adams, it was during the early
years, but I do recall the circumstances, Three or four of the brothers
‘were in the process of taking my lunch when Joe joined them. The bag
‘was torn, and the contents spilled onto the sidewalk, Joe scrambled for
the food and gor all of it. Butafter the others left laughing, he returned
and stuffed itall into my pockets. We were great friends From then on it
that childish way. He was older by a couple of years (two or three years
means a lot at that tender age). and could beat me doing everything,
I watched him and listened with John and Kenny Fox, Junior, Sonny,
and others sometimes. We almost put the block’ businessmen into
bankruptcy, My mother and father will never admic it now, I'm suse,
bur I was hungry and so were we all. Our activities went from stolen
food to other things I wanted, gloves for my hands (which were always
cold), which I was always wearing out, marbles for che slingshots,
{games and gadgets for outdoorsmen from the dime store. Downtown,
wwe plundered at will. The city was helpless to defend against us. But I
couldn't keep up with Joe. Jonathan, my older brother, was born about
this time.

My grandfather, George “Papa” Davis, stands out of those early years
more than any other figure in my total environment. He was separated
from his wile by the system. Work for men was impossible to find in
Harrisburg, He was living and working in Chicago — sending his wage
back to the people downstate, He was an extremely aggressive man,

u SOLEDAD BROTHER

and since aggression on the part of the slave means crime, he was in
jail now and then. I loved him. He tried to direct my great energy into
the proper form of protest. He invented long simple allegories that
always pictured the white politicians as animals (jackasses, toads, goats,
‘vermin in general), He scorned the police with special enmity. He and
my mother went to geeat pains to impress on me that it was the worst
form of niggerism to hook and jab, cut and stab at other blacks.

Papa took me to his little place on Lake and fed me, walked me through
the wildest of the nation’ jungles, pointing up the foibles of black
response to crisis existence. I loved him. He died alone in southern
Ilinois che fifth year that I was in San Quentin, on a pension that after
rent allowed for a diet of litele more than sardines and crackers.

‘After Racine Street we moved into the Troop Street projects, which
in 1958 were the scenes of the city’s worst riots. (The cats in those
projects fell out against che pig with heavy machine guns, 30s and 50s
that were equipped with tracer ammunition.)

My troubles began when we were in the projects. Iwas eaught once or
twice for mugging but the pig never went much further than co pop
ime behind the ear with the “oak stick” several times and send for my
mortified father to carry me home.

My family knew very little of my real life. In effece, I lived two lives,
the one with my mama and sisters, and the thing on the street. Now
and then I'd get caught at something, or with something thac I wasn't
supposed co have and my mama would fall all over me. I left home a
thousand times, never to return, We hoboed up and down the state, I
did whae I wanted (all my life I've done just that). When it came time
toexplain, lied.

Thad a giel from Arkansas, finest at the mission, but the nuns had
convinced her that love — touching fingertips, mouths, belies, legs
— was nasty. Most of my time and money went to the other very
loose and lovely girls I met on the stairwells of the projects’ 15-story
buildings. Thae was our hangout, and most of the time that’s where
wwe acted out the ritual. Jonathan, my new comrade, just a baby chen,
was the only real reason that I would come home at all: a brother to
help me plunder the white world, a father to be proud of the deed — I
‘was a fanciful litle cat. But my brother was too young of course. He's
‘only seventeen now while I'm twenty-nine chis year. Any my father, he

PART ONE. 25

‘was always mortified. I stopped attending school regularly, and started
getting “picked up” by che pigs more often. The pig station, a lecture,
and oak-stick therapeutics. These pickups were mainly for “suspicion
‘of or because I was in the wrong part of town. Except for once or
twice I was never actually caught breaking any laws. There just wasn’t
any possibility of a policeman beating me in a footrace. A target that’s
really moving with evasive tacties is almost impossible to hi with a
short-barreled revolver. Through a gangway with a gate that only a few
can operate with speed (it's dark even in the day) up a stairway through
a door. Across roofs with seven- to ten-foot jumps in between (the pig
is working mainly for money, bear in mind, I am running for my life).
‘There wasn't pig in the city who could “follow the leader” of even the
most timid ghetco gang,

My father sensed a need to remove me from the Chicago environment
so in 1956 he transferred his post-office job to the Los Angeles area,
He bought an old “49 Hudson, threw me into it, and the two of us
‘came Wese with plans to send for the rest of the family later that year. I
knew nothing of ears. It was the first car our family had ever owned. I
watched my father with great interest as he pushed the Hudson across
the two thousand miles from Chicago to Los Angeles in ewo days. Iwas
certain that I could handle the standard gearshift and pedals. I asked
hhim co let me try upon our arrival in Los Angeles that first day. He
dismissed me with an “Ah — crazy nigger lay dead” look. We were to
stay with his cousin Johnny Jones in Watts until the rest of the family
could be sent for. He went off with Johnny to visit other relatives, I
stayed behind with the keys and the ¢ar. I made one corner, down one
street, waited for a traffic light, firmed my jaw, dry-swallowed — took
off around the next comer, and ended the turn inside the plate-glass
window and front door of the neighborhood barbershop. Those cats
in the shop (Watts) had become so immune to excitement that no one
hardly looked up. I tied to apologize. The brother that owned the shop
allowed my father to do the repair work himself. No pigs were called to
settle this affair between brothers. One showed up by chance, however.
Thad co answer a court summons later that year. But the brother
sensed that my father was poor, like himself, with a terribly mindless,
displaced, irresponsible child on his hands, probably like his own, and
didn’t insist upon having the gun-slinging pig from the outside enemy
culture arbitrate the problems we must handle ourselves.

26 SOLEDAD BROTHER

My father fixed the brother's shop with his own hands, after buying
the materials. No charges were brought against me for the damages.
My father straightened out the motor bed, plugged the holes in the
radiator, hammered out some of che dents and folds from the fender,
bought a new light, and taped it into place on the fender. He drove that
car to and from work, to the supermarkets with my mother, to church
‘with my sisters, for four years! Ie was all he could afford and he wasn't
the least bit ashamed of the fact. And he never said a word to me about
it, I guess he was convinced by then that words wouldn't help me. U've
been a fool — often.

Serious things started to happen after our settling in L.A, but chis
{guy never abandoned me. He felt shame in having to bail me out of
encounters with the law but he would always be there. I did several
months in Paso Robles for allegedly breaking into a large department
store (Golds on Central) and attempting a hijack. I was 15, and full
‘grown (I haven't grown an inch since then). A cop shot me six times
point-blank on that job, as I was standing with my hands in the ait.
‘After the second shor, when I was certain that he was trying to murder
me, I charged him. His gun was empry and he had only hi me twice by
the time I had closed with him — “Oh, get chis wild nigger off me.” My
mother fell away from the phone in a dead faine when they informed
her that I had been shot by the police in a hijack attempt. I had ewo
comrades with me on that job. They both got away because of the
exchange between the pigs and me.

Since all black are thought of as rats, che third degree started before I
‘was taken to the hospital. Medical creatment was offered as a reward
for cooperation. Ac first they didn’t know I had been hit, but as soon
as they saw the blood running from my sleeve, the questions began.
‘A bullet had passed through my forearm, another had sliced my leg, I
sat in the back of the pig car and bled for ewo hours before they were
convinced that lockjaw must have set in already. They took me to that
little clinic at the Maxwell Street Station. A black nurse or doctor
attended. She was young, full of sympathy and advice. She suggested,
since I had strong-looking legs, that instead of warring with the enemy
culture I should get interested in football or sports. [told her that if she
could manage to turn the pig in the hall fora second I could escape and
perhaps make a new start somewhere with a football. A month before
this thing happened a guy had sold me a motorcycle and provided a
pink slip thae proved to be forged or changed around in some way: The

PART ONE. 7

bike was hot and I was eaughe with i. Taken together these two things
‘were enough to send me to what California calls Youth Authority
Corrections. I went to Paso Robles.

‘The very first time, it was like dying, Just to exist at al in che cage calls
for some heavy psychic readjustments. Being captured was the first
of my fears. It may have been inborn. It may have been an acquired
characteristic buile up over che centuries of black bondage. It is the
thing I've been running from all my life. When it caught up co me in
1957 I was fifteen years old and not very well-equipped to deal with
sudden changes. The Youth Authority joints are places that demand
complete capiculation; one must cease to resist altogether or else

‘The employees are the same general types found lounging at all prison
facilities. They need a job — any job: the state needs goons. Chino
‘was almost new at the time. The regular housing units were arranged
so that at all times one could see the lockup unit. Ie think they called
ie “X", We existed from day to day to avoid it. How much we ate was
strictly controlled, so was the amount of rest. After lights went out,
no one could move from his bed without a flash of the pigs’ hand-
light. During the day the bed couldn't be touched. There were so many
compulsories that very few of us could manage to stay out of trouble
even with our best efforts. Everything was programmed right down
to the precise spoonful. We were made to march in military fashion
everywhere we went — to the gym, to the mess hall, co compulsory
prayer meetings. And then we just marched. I pretended that I couldn't
hear well or understand anything but the simplest ditections so I was
never given anything bue the simplest work. I was lucky: always when
my mind failed me I've had great luck to carry me through.

All my life Pve done exactly what I wanted to do just when I wanted, no
rmore, perhaps less sometimes, but never any more, which explains why
Thad to be jailed, “Man was born free. But everywhere he isin chains.”
I never adjusted. I haven't adjusted even yet, with half my life already
spent in prison. I can’ truthfully say prison is any less painful now than
during that first experience. In my early prison years I read all of Rafael
Sabatini, particularly The Lion's Skin, “There once was aman who sold
the lion’ skin, while the beast still lived, and was killed while hunting
hhim” This story fascinated me, It made me smile even under the lash.
‘The hunter bested, the hunted stalking the hunter. The most predatory
animal on earth curning on its oppressor and killing it. At the time,
this ideal existed in me just above the conscious level. It helped me to

28 SOLEDAD BROTHER

define myself, but it would take me several more years to isolate my real
‘enemy. I read Jack London’, “raw and naked, wild and free’ military
novels and dreamed of smashing my enemies entirely. overwhelming,
vanquishing, crushing them completely, sinking my fangs into the
hhunter’s neck and never, never letting go.

Capcare, imprisonment, isthe closest to being dead that one is likely to
experience in this life. There were no beatings (for me at least) in this
youth joint and the food wasn’t too bad. I came through it. When cold
to do something I simply played the idiot, and spent my time reading,
‘The absentminded bookworm, I was in full revolt by the time seven
‘months were up. I went to school in Paso Robles and covered the work
required for 10th-year students in the California school system, and
centered Manual Arts for the 11th year upon my release. After I got
‘out I stopped in Bakersfield, where I planned to stay no more than
a week or two. I met a woman who fele almost as unimpressed with
life as I did. We sinned, I stayed. I was 16 then, just starting to get
my hefe, but this wonderful sister, so round and wild, firm and supple,
mature... in one month she reduced my health so that I had to take
to the bed permanently. I was ill for eleven days with fevers and chest
pains (something in the lungs). When I pulled out of ie I was broke. Vd
collected a few friends by that time. Two of them would try anything.
Mat and Obe. We talked, borrowed a car, and went off

‘A few days later we were all three in county jail (Kern County) on
suspicion of committing a number of robberies. Since the opposition
cleans up the books when they find the right type of victim, they
accused us of a number of robberies we knew nothing about. Since they
had already identified me for one, I copped out to another and cleared
Mat and Obe on that count. They “allowed” Obe to plead guilty to
‘one robbery instead of the three others they threatened him with,
‘They cleared Mat alrogether. Two months after our arrest Mat left the
county jail free of charges.

1 was in the “time tank” instead of the felony tank because they had
‘only ewo felony anks (that was the old county jail) and they wanted
to keep the three of us separated. After Mat left, a brother came into
the time tank to serve 2 days. The morning he was scheduled to leave
T went back to his cell with a couple of sheets and asked him if he
‘would aid me in an escape attempt. He dismissed me with one of those
looks and a wave of the hand. I started tearing the sheet in stripes, he
watched. When I was finished he asked me, “What are you doin’ with

PART ONE. »

that sheet?" I replied, “I’m tearing it into these strips.” “Why you doin’
that?” “I'm making rope.” “What-chew gonna do with ah rope?” “Oh
— I'm going to tie you up with i

‘When they called him to be released that morning, I went out in his
place. I've learned one very significant thing for our struggle here in the
US. all blacks do look alike to certain types of white people. White
people tend to grossly underestimate all blacks, out of habit. Blacks
have been overestimating whites in a conditioned reflex. Later, when
was accused of robbing a gas station of seventy dollars, I accepted a
deal — I ageced to confess and spare the county court costs in return
for a light county jail sentence. I confessed but when time came for
sentencing, they tossed me into the penitentiary with one to life
‘That was in 1960, I was 18 years old. I've been here ever since. I met
Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Engels, and Mao when I entered prison and they
redeemed me. For the first four years I studied nothing but economics
and milicary ideas. I met black guerrillas. George “Big Jake" Lewis,
and James Carr, W.L. Nolen, Bill Christmas, Torry Gibson and many,
many others. We attempted to transform the black criminal mentality
into a black revolutionary mentality. As a result, each of us has been
subjected co years of the most vicious reactionary violence by the state,
Our mortality rate is almost what you would expect to find ina history
‘of Dachau. Three of us were murdered several months ago by a pig
shooting from 30 feet above their heads with a milicary rifle.

1am being tried in coure right now with two other brothers, John
Clutcherte and Fleeta Drumgo, for the alleged slaying of a prison
guard. This charge carries an automatic death penalty for me. I can't
get life. I already have it. When I returned to San Quentin Prison last
‘week from a year in Soledad Prison where the crime I am charged with
took place, a brother who had resisted the logic of prolecarian-people’s
revolutionary socialism for the black man in America sent me these
fines in a note:

“Without the cold and desolation of winter there could not be the
warmth and splendor of spring! Calamity has hardened my mind, and
tured it to steel!! Power to the People”

George

30 SOLEDAD BROTHER

APRIL, 1970

Dear Fay.’

On the occasion of your and Senator Dymally’s tour and investigation
into the affairs here at Soledad, I detected in the questions posed by
your team a desire to isolate some rationale that would explain why
racism exists at the prison with “particular prominence.” Of course
the subject was really too large to be dealt with in one tour and in
the short time they allowed you, but it was a brave scene. My small
but mighty mouthpiece, and the black establishment senator and his
team, invading the state’s maximum security row in the worst of its
concentration camps. I think you are the first woman to be allowed to
inspece these facilities. Thanks from all. The question was too large,
however. It’s tied into the question of why all these California prisons
vary in character and flavor in general. Is tied into the larger question
‘of why racism exists in this whole society with “particular prominence,”
tied into history. Out of it comes another question. Why do California
joints produce more Bunchy Carters and Eldridge Cleavers than those
‘over the rest of the country?

understand your attempe to isolate the set of localized circumstances
that give to this particular prison’s problems of race is based on a desite
to aid us right now, in the present crisis. There are some changes that
could be made right now that wouldalleviate some of the pressuresinside
thisand other prisons. Bur to get at the causes, you know, one would be
forced to deal with questions at the very center of Amerikan political
and economic life, at the core of the Amerikan historical experience.
This prison didn’t come to exist where it does just by happenstance.
Those who inhabie it and feed off is existence are historical products.
‘The great majority of Soledad pigs are southern migrants who do not
‘want to work in the fields and farms of the area, who couldn't sell cars
for insurance, and who couldn't tolerate the discipline of the army.
‘And of course prisons ateract sadists, After one concedes that racism is
stamped unalterably into the present nature of Amerikan sociopolitical
and economic life in general (the definition of fascism is: a police
state wherein the political ascendancy is tied into and protects the
interests of the upper class — characterized by militarism, racism, and
imperialism), and concedes further that criminals and crime arise from
material, economic, sociopolitical causes, we can then burn all of the

3 Mrs. Fay Stender, che author's lawyer.

PART ONE. 31

criminology and penology libraries and direct our attention where it
will do some good.

The logical place to begin any investigation into the problems of
California prisons is with our “pigs are beautiful” Governor Reagan,
radical reformer turned reactionary. For a real understanding of the
failure of prison policies, itis senseless to continue to study the criminal,
All of those who can afford to be honest know that che real victim, that
poor, uneducated, disorganized man who finds himself a convicted
criminal, is simply the end result of a long chain of corruption and
mismanagement that starts with people like Reagan and his political
appointees in Sacramento. After one investigates Reagan's character
(what makes a turncoat) the next logical step in the inquiry would bea
look into the biggest political prize of the state — the directorship of
the Department of Correction.

Al other lines of inquiry would be like walking backward. You'll
never see where you're going. You must begin with directors, assistant
directors, adule authority boards, roving boards, supervisors, wardens,
captains, and guards. You have to examine these people from director
down to guard before you can logically examine their product. Add to
this some concrete and steel, barbed wit, rifles, pistols, clubs, the tear
gas that killed Brother Billingslea in San Quentin in February 1970,
while he was locked in his cell and the pick handles of Folsom, San
Quentin, and Soledad.

To determine how men will behave once they enter the prison it is
of first importance to know that prison. Men are brutalized by their
environment — not the reverse.

1 gave you a good example of this when I saw you last. Where I am
presently being held, they never allow us to leave our cell without first
hhandcuffing us and belting or chaining the cuffs to our waists. This
is preceded always by a very thorough skin search, A force of a dozen
‘or more pigs can be expected to invade the row at any time searching
and destroying personal effects. The attitude of the staff coward
the convicts is both defensive and hostile. Until the convict gives in
completely it will continue to be so. By giving in, I mean prosteating
‘oneself at their feet. Only then does their attitude alter itself to one
of paternalistic condescension. Most convicts don’t dig this kind of
relationship (though there are some who do love it) with a group of
individuals demonstrably inferior to che rest of the society in regard to

32 SOLEDAD BROTHER

education, culture, and sensitivity, Our ces are so far from the regular
dining area that our food is always cold before we get it. Some days
there is only one meal that can be called cooked. We never get anything
bur cold-cut sandwiches for lunch, There is no variety to the menu.
‘The same things week after week. One is confined to his cell 23% hours
1 day. Overt racism exists unchecked. Ic is not a case of the pigs trying
to stop the many racist attacks: they actively encourage them,

‘They are fighting upstairs right now. Ies 11:10 A.M. June 11. No black
is supposed to be on the tier upstairs with anyone but other blacks but
— mistakes take place — and one or ewo blacks end up on the tier with
9 oF 10 white conviets frustrated by the living conditions or openly
‘working with the pigs. The whole ceiling is trembling. In hand-to-hand
‘combat we always win: we lose sometimes if the pigs give them knives
‘or zip guns. Lunch will be delayed today, the tear gas or whatever itis
drifts down co sting my nose and eyes. Someone is hurt bad. I hear the
meat wagon from the hospital being brought up. Pigs probably gave
them some weapons. But I must be fair. Sometimes (not more often
than necessary) they'll set up one of the Mexican or white conviets
He'll be one who has not been sufficiently racist in his attitudes. After
the brothers (enraged by previous attacks) kick on this white convict
‘whom the officials have set up, he'll fall right into line with the rest.

I was saying that the great majority of the people who live in this area
‘ofthe state and seck their employment from this institution have overt
racism as a traditional aspect of their characters. The only stops that
regulate how far they will carry this thing come from the fear of losing
employment here as a result of the outside pressures to control the
violence. That is © Wing, Max (Maximum Security) Row Soledad —
in pare anyway.

‘Take an individual who has been in the general prison population for
1 time, Picture him as an average conviet with the average twelve-year-
‘old mentality, he nation’s norm. He wants out, he wants a woman and
a beer. Lets say this average convict is white and has just been caught
attempting to escape, They may put him on Max Row. This is the worst
thing that will ever happen to him. In the general population facility
there are no chains and cuffs. TVs, radios, record players, civilian
sweaters, keys to his own cell for daytime use, serve to keep his mind off
his real problems, There is also a recreation yard with all sorts of balls
and instruments to strike or thrust at. There is a gym. There are movies
and a library well stocked with light fiction, And of course there is

PART ONE. 33

One can understand the depression felt by an inmate on Max Row. He's
fallen as far as he can into the social trap, relief is so distant that is very
«easy for him co lose his holds. In two weeks that tee average man who
may have ended up on Max Row for suspicion of attempted escape isso
brutalized, so completely withoue holds, that he will never heal again.
Ie’s worse than Vietnam, He's dodging lead. He may be Forced to fight a
duel to the death with knives. Ifhe doesn’t sound and act more zealous
than everyone else he will be challenged for not being loyal to his race
and its polities, fascism. Some of these cons support the pigs’ racism
‘without shame, the others support it inadvertently by their own racism,
‘The former are white, the latter black. But in here as on the street black
racism is a forced reaction. A survival adaptation,

‘The picture thae I have painted of Soledad's general population facility
may have made it sound not too bad at all. That mistaken impression
would resule from the absence in my description of one more very
important feature of the main line — terrorism. A frightening,
petrifying diffusion of violence and intimidation is emitted from the
offices of the warden and captain. How else could a small group of
armed men be expected to hold and rule another much larger group
except through fear?

‘We have a gym (inducement to throw away our energies with a ball
instead of revolution). But if you walk into this gym with a cigarette
burning, you'te probably in trouble. There is a pig waiting to trap you.
‘There's sign "No Smoking.” If you miss the sign, trouble. Ifyou drop
the cigarette to comply, trouble. The floor is regarded as something
of a fire hazard (I’m not certain what the pretext is). There are no
receptacles. The pig will pounce. You'll be told in no uncertain terms
to scrape the cigarette from the floor with your hands. Ie builds from
there. You have a gym but only certain things may be done and in
specified ways, Since the rules change with the pigs’ mood, itis really
safer for a man to stay in his cell.

You have work with emoluments that range ftom nothing to three
cents an hour! Bur once you accept the pay job in the prison’s industrial
sector you cannot get out without going through the bad conduct
process. When workers are needed, it isn’t a case of accepting a job in
thisarea. You take the job or you're automaticaly refusing to work, even
if you clearly stated that you would cooperate in other employment,
‘The same atmosphere prevails on the recreation yard where any type
‘of minor mistake could result not in merely a bad conduct report and

PART ONE. 35

placement in adjustment center, but death. A fistfight, a temporary,
trivial loss of temper will bring a fusillade of bullets down on the darker
of the ewo men fighting,

You can’t begin to measure the bad feeling caused by the existence of
‘one TV set shared by 140 men. Think! One TY, 140 men. If there is
more than one channel, what's going to occur? In Soledad’s TV rooms
there has been murder, mayhem, and destruction of many TV sets.

‘The blacks occupy one side of che room and the whites and Mexicans
the other. (Isn't it significant in some way that our numbers in prison
are sufficient to justify che claiming of hal of all these facilities?)

‘We have aside, they have a side. What does your imagination envisage
‘out of a hypothetical situation where Nina Simone sings, Angela Davis
speaks, and Jim Brown “splits” on one channel, while Merle Haggard
yodels and begs for an ass kicking on another. The fight will follow
immediately after some brother, who is less democratic than he is
starved for beauty (we did vote but they're 60 co our 40), eurns the
station to see Angela Davis. What lines do you think the fighting will
be along? Won't it be Angela and me against Merle Haggard?

But this situation is tolerable at lease up to a point. Iewas worse. When
Tentered the joint on this offense, they had half and we had half, but
‘out half was in the back.

In a case like the one just mentioned, the white conviets will start
passing the word among themselves that all whites should be in the
TV room to vote in the “Cadillac cowboy.” The two groups polarize
‘out of a situation created by whom? Its just like the outside, Nothing
ac all complicated about it. When people walk on each other, when
disharmony isthe norm, when organisms start fallingapartic isthe fault
of these whose responsibility itis to govern. They're doing something
‘wrong. They shouldn't have been trusted with the responsibility. And
long-range political activity isn’t going to help that man who will die
tomorrow or tonight. The apologists recognize that these places are
controlled by absolute terror, but they justify che pig’ excesses with
the argument that we exist outside the practice of any civilized codes
of conduct. Since we ate conviets rather than men, a bullet through
the heat, summary execution for fis-fighting or stepping across a line
is not extreme or unsound at all. An official is allowed full range in
violent means because a convict can be handled no other way.

36 SOLEDAD BROTHER

Fay, have you ever considered what type of man is capable of handling
absolute power. I mean how many would not abuse it? Is there any
way of isolating or classifying generally who can be trusted with a gun
and absolute discretion as to who he will kill? I've already mentioned
that most of them are KKK types. The rest, all the rest, in general,
are so stupid that they shouldn't be allowed to run their own bath. A
responsible state government would have found a means of weeding
‘out most ofthe savage types that are drawn to gunslinger jobs long ago.
How did all these pigs gee through?! Men who can barely read, write,
or reason, How did they get chrough!!? You may as well give a baboon
‘gun and set him loose on us!! Irs the same in here as on the streets
‘out there, Who has loosed this thing on an already suffering people?
‘The Reagans, Nixons, the men who have, who own. Investigate them!!
‘There are no qualifications asked, no experience necessary. Any foo!
‘who falls in here and can sign his name might shoot me tomorrow from
4 position 30 feet above my head with an automatic military rifle!! He
could be dead drunk, It could really be an accident (a million to one
ic won't be, however), but he'll be protected still. He won't even miss
a day's wages.

‘The textbooks on criminology liketo advance the idea that prisonersare
mentally defective. There is only che merest suggestion that the system
itself is at fault. Penologists regard prisons as asylums. Most policy is
formulated in a bureau that operates under the heading Department
of Corrections. But what can we say about these asylums since none
of the inmates are ever cured, Since in every instance they are sent out
of the prison more damaged physically and mentally than when they
centered. Because that is the reality. Do you continue to investigate
the inmate? Where does administrative responsibility begin? Perhaps
the administration of the prison cannot be held accountable for every
individual act of their charges, but when chings fly apare along racial
lines, when the breakdown can be traced so clearly to circumstances
even beyond the control of the guardsand administration, investigation
‘of anything outside the tenets of the fascist system itself is Futile.

Nothing has improved, nothing has changed in the weeks since your
team was here, We're on the same course, the blacks are fast losing the
last of their restraints. Growing numbers of blacks are openly passed
‘over when paroles are considered. They have become aware that
their only hope lies in resistance. They have learned that resistance is
actually possible. The holds are beginning to slip away. Very few men

PART ONE. 37

imprisoned for economic crimes or even crimes of passion against the
‘oppressor feel chat they are realy guilty. Most of today’s black convicts
hhave come to understand that they are the most abused vietims of an
unrighteous order. Up until now, the prospect of parole has kept us
from confronting our captors with any real determination. But now
with the living conditions of these places deteriorating, and with
the sure knowledge that we are slated for destruction, we have been
transformed into an implacable army of liberation. The shife to the
revolutionary antiestablishmene position that Huey Newton, Eldridge
Cleaver, and Bobby Seale projected as a solution to the problems of
“Amerika’s black colonies has taken firm hold of these brothers’ minds,
They are now showing great interest in che thoughts of Mao Tse-
tung, Nkrumah, Lenin, Marx, and the achievements of men like Che
Guevara, Giap, and Uncle Ho.

‘Some people are going to get killed out ofthis situation that is growing.
‘That is not a warning (or wishful thinking). I see it as an “unavoidable
consequence” of placing and leaving control of our lives in the hands
‘of men like Reagan,

“These prisons have always borne a certain resemblance to Dachau and
Buchenwald, places for the bad niggers, Mexicans, and poor whites.
Bur the last ten years have brought an increase in the percentage of
blacks for crimes that can clearly be traced to political-economic
causes. There are still some blacks here who consider themselves
criminals — but not many. Believe me, my friend, with the time and
incentive that these brothers have to read, study, and think, you will
find no class or category more aware, more embittered, desperate, oF
dedicated to the ultimate remedy — revolution, The most dedicated,
the best of our kind — you'll find them in the Folsoms, San Quentins,
and Soledads. They live like there was no tomorrow: And for most of
them there isn’, Somewhere along the line they sensed this. Life on the
installment plan, three years of prison, three months on parole: then
back to stare all over again, sometimes in the same cell. Parole officers
have sent brothers back to the joint for selling newspapers (the Black
Panther paper). Theie official reason is “Failure to Maintain Gainful
Employment, ete

We're something like 40 to 42. percent of the prison population.
Pethaps more, since I'm relying on material published by the media
‘The leadership of the black prison population now definitely identities
with Huey, Bobby, Angela, Eldridge, and antifascism. The savage

38 SOLEDAD BROTHER

repression of blacks which can be estimated by reading the obituary
columns of the nation’s dailies, Fred Hampton, etc., has not failed to
register on the black inmates. The holds are fast being broken. Men
who read Lenin, Fanon, and Che don’t riot, “they mass” “they rage.”
they dig graves

When John Clutchette was first accused of this murder he was
proud, conscious, aware of his own worth but uncommitted to any
specific remedial action, Review the process that they are sending this
beautiful brother through now. Ie comes at the end of a long train of
similar incidents in his prison life. Add co this all of the things he has
witnessed happening to others of our group here. Comrade Fleeta
spent eleven months here in O. Wing for possessing phocography
taken from a newsweekly. Ie is such things that explain why California
prisons produce more than their share of Bunchy Carters and Eldridge
Cleavers.

Fay, there are only ewo types of blacks ever released from these places,
the Carters and the broken men.

‘The broken men are so damaged that they will never again be suitable
members of any sort of social unit. Everything that was still good when
they entered che joint, anything inside of them that may have escaped
the ruinous effects of black colonial existence, anything that may have
been redeemable when they first entered the joint — is gone when they
leave.

‘This camp brings out the very best in brothers or destroys them entirely
Bur none are unaffected. None who leave here are normal. If I leave
here alive, 'll leave nothing behind. They'll never count me among the
broken men, but I can’t say that I am normal either. I've been hungry
too long. I've gotten angry too often. I've been lied to and insulted too
many times. They've pushed me over the line from which there can be
no retreat. I know that they will nor be satisfied until chey've pushed
me out of this existence altogether. I've been the victim of so many
racist attacks that I could never relax again. My reflexes will never be
normal again. I’m like a dog that has gone through the K — 9 process.

‘This isnot the first attempt the institution (camp) has made to murder
ime, It is the most determined attempt, but not the first. I look into
myself at the close of every one of these pretrial days for any changes
that may have taken place. I can still smile now, after cen years of

PART ONE. 39

blocking knife thrusts and pick handles, of anticipating and faceless
sadistic pigs, reacting for cen years, seven of them in Solitary. [can still
smile sometimes, but by the time this thing is over I may not be a nice
person. And I just lit my seventy-seventh cigarette of this 21-hour day.
'm going co lay down for ewo or three hours, pethaps I'll sleep.

Seize the Time.

JUNE, 1970 12

‘You know I had a visie yesterday from an old friend, Joan. They told her
she couldn't come back again, an economy move. It costs the state too
much to supervise my half-hour visits, so T'll be held incommunicado
i seems. They turned my sister away today. Someone is going to have
to come up with some guts. These fools must be stopped. Absolute
power in the hands of idiots! It makes me think of Rome and England.
Do you know where the barbarians and guerrillas are going to come
from to destroy Imperial Amerika, from the black colonies and these
concentration camps. The three of us are the only conviets in this joint
who have to accept half-hour visits, with a special guard, handcuffed
and chained. Now it seems we won't even get that. My sister, my
brother can’t visit me in what could be the last days of my life! Well,
‘one good thing comes from this experience: no question remains in the
minds of any member of my family as to where their energies would
best be spent. My father will have a whole den of Panthers there to feed

‘With each attempe the pigs made on my life in San Quentin, I would
send an SOS out to my family. They would always respond by listening
and writing letcers tothe joint pigs and Sacramento rats, but they didn't
entirely accept that I was telling them the truth about the pig mentality
I would get dubious stares when I told them the lieutenants and the
others who propositioned some of the most vicious white convicts in
the state: “Kill Jackson, we'll do you some good.” You understand, my
father wanted to know why. And all [could tell him was that I related
to Mao and couldn't kowtow. His mind couldn't deal with it.I would
use every device, every historical and current example I could reach to
explain to him that there were no-good pigs. But the task was too big,
I was fighting his mind first, and his fear of admieting the existence
‘of an identifiable enemy element chat was oppressing us because that
‘would either commie him to attack that enemy or force him co admit
his cowardice. I was also fighting the establishment's public relations

40 SOLEDAD BROTHER

and propaganda machine. The prisons all use the clean, straight faces,
or the old, harmless-looking pigs to work in areas where they must
come in contact with free people. And these pigs are never allowed
to use their tusks. Regarding the racism, my father would remind me
that there were black pigs too. But, ofcourse, that means nothing at all,
‘They simply work around the blacks when necessary. One guard or two
guards working together is all that’s needed to murder any con in the
joint. Bue i isnt really necessary to work around the black pigs. They'll
all cooperate or turn their heads.

‘The black cop could be a large factor in preventing our genocide.
But no help can be expected from that quarter. The same stupidity
and desperation chat brought him co the gates prevents him from
interceding. The job, the wage means too much to him. Often he
feels compelled to prove himself, prove that he is loyal to the force,
prove that he is not prejudiced in favor of us, prove that he is honest,
His honesty prevents him from dealing in contraband as every white
pig does. Look, I was in San Quentin for seven straight years. I knew
‘everything that was brought in and by whom. The white pig actually
considers it his privilege to supplement his income by bringing in and
selling narcotics, weapons, and, of course, pornography. The black pig
is afraid, too unsure of his position to be dishonest.

‘This same fear will cause him to show more zeal in the “club therapy”
sessions than even the whites manage. If che victim is black, he’s going
to get so mad that the white pigs will have to stand back and let him
swing. If they don’t have murder planned for that session, they'll have
to pull that nigger off of you. A pig — isa pig, Ieall falls into place. Isee
the whole thing much clearer now, how fascism has taken possession of
this country. che interlocking dictatorship from country level on up to
the Grand Dragon in Washington, D.C.

‘The solidarity between the prison here and the court in Salinas,
between the judge and geand jury. the judge and the D.A. and other
city officials. The institution has effectively cut me off from any relief
‘The unmeck have taken over this whole county, the state, the entire
country. They work together, to the same end, effective control

1 knew of these links before this, long before this, but seeing it in
‘operation is pretty frightening. What force binds them together? I'm
referring to the intermediary, the physical thing, not the ideal. What
is i that really ties that fat rat with a chain of department stores to a

PART ONE. 41

uniformed pig? The fat rat wants the country and world policed, made
safe for his business to expand, But how does he sell the ideal to the man
‘who must do the policing? Money is the bond I think. They're in i for
the money, these pigs and skinny rats, The fascist ideal doesn really
take hold until one gets into the upper levels of the power pyramid
‘Then any ideal that preserves becomes attractive

People’s government would decentralize this power that they hold over
us — these men must be stopped.

Power to the People.
George

JUNE, 1970 13

Dear Fay,
No one here knows about the scheduled court heating, They say we're
not going. The prison doesn’t like moving us, so somehow they have
managed to arrange with the judge to leave us out of our own trial! Or
pretrial. Can they try usin absentia (is that the term?2)? Some bull (pig
| mean) just said that the judge under no circumstances wants us in his
court. In that case they shouldn't mind dropping the whole thing or
sending us to another county for trial. Berkeley perhaps. But as you've
said more than likely it'll be Orange County.

‘Why do we accept this sore of thing? We have numerical superiority —
bur they have guns and money. And then the righteous don’t like to cut
throats, so we languish in misery.

‘When you finally get me out of this mess, you'll have to send me away
somewhere for a while, somewhere like Cuba or China or Tanzania, so
that I can reorient myself. My understanding had been strained to the

JUNE, 1970 14

I don’t think we can afford to be nice much longer, the very last of
our protection is eroding from under us. There will be no means of
detecting when that last right is gone. You'll only know when they start
shooting you. The process must be checked somewhere between now
and then, or we'll be fighting from a position of weakness with our

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER

backs against the wal. (I chink we still have the advantage now.) We
‘of the black colony know about that kind of action, fighting off of the
wall. Ies nor the best way to get down,

Tes getting tighter here, they're taking our visits. It looks as if chey’te
stopping our court appearances. They also made a mistake concerning
‘our “money draw” this month. This means we'll be without the little
things even.

You may never read this letter either, our mail is being held back,
returned, thrown away somewhere. Nice people aren't they? They richly
deserve anything we can do to them. This man who just passed my cell
counting, he'll never listen to reason. His mind isn’t constructed that
‘way. While we reason with him in ideals and ideas, he isn‘ listening.
He is thinking about which rule he'll quote co dismiss us. When he
walks away, you'll see the little code book protruding from his ass
pocket. Thav’s where he carries his mind, in his ass pocket. When we
attack the problem with incelleccualism we give away the advantage we
have in numbers

I'm with Bobby! We are going to have to kick him where he keeps his
brain, in the region of the ass.

Power
George

PART ONE. 4B

Letters: 1964 — 1968

JUNE, 1964"

Dear Mother,
‘Are you well? I think of you often and would write more regularly than
1 do if I could but find the time. The things that I am working on
demand a great deal of time. I guess this is so because itis my lot to have
no one to help me.

Mama, and I mention this without vanity, I have made some giant
steps toward acquiring the things that I personally will need if am
to be successful in my plans; aside from the factual material acquired
from books and observations there is, as you know, a certain quality
of character needed to perform the thing that I have in mind. I
have completely repressed all emotion; have learned to see myself in
perspective, in true relation with other men and the world, I have
«enlarged my vision so that I may beable co think ona basisencompassing
not just myself, my family, my neighborhood, but the world. I have
completely arrested the susceptibility to think in theoretical terms, or
give credence to religious, supernatural, or other shallow unnecessary
things of this nature that lock the mind and hinder thinking

When a man docs something or possesses something tha is
complementary to his character, it is virtually impossible for him to
hide this thing, keep it to himself, keep from telling it to those he
‘wishes to impress; this is natural egoism, the need for attention and
flattery asserting itself I have quietly removed this need: neglect and
loneliness have no effect whatever on me anymore. I feel no pain of
mind or body, and the harder it gets the betcer I like it. 1 must rid
myself of all sentiment and remove all possibility of love. Though I
‘owe allegiance to no one other than myself clearly understand that my
facure rests with the black people of the world. Lam trying in every way
possible co adjust my thinking habits so that their ways of life won't
seem as strange and alien to me as these people over here would have
it, After I am finished with myself, an observer who could read my

4 All previous letters were acidentaly destroyed, They were described by the
author as “extremely bitter”

a“ SOLEDAD BROTHER

thoughts and watch my actions would never believe that I was raised in
the United States, and much less would he believe that I came from the
lowest class, the black stratum of slave meneality’

Thave been meaning to ask you how Delora was doing with her husband
in jail. I sincerely hope she is not finding it too hard, but life on the
treadmill can be expected to be hard: if you will send me her address
and ask her if she wants to write me, I will send the necessary forms to
her. Hang on, I'm going to make everything all right.

Your son,
George

SEPTEMBER, 1964

Dear Mother,
T went up yesterday and I'll have to say that it does not look too
hopeful. I chink my black brother crossed me, the one you mec when
you were here last. They made mention of my going to school. One of
them told me in so many words to bring back a diploma. Maybe this
‘was his meaning, maybe not. I will not know for sure until my official
results come in on Friday of this week. I'l write you again then,

Lavera® came to see me this weekend, and said she will come again
next weekend. I will tell her Saturday what I got atthe board: she can
contact you. But there is no need for that much disquiet; if I should
sget an immediate release there would still be weeks of formalities to
go through.

‘Weave birthdaysthis week. Though [have oseall of my sentimentality,
T know you people still cling to the old, so I'll observe the social
amenities by wishing you health on your birthday. Really though, is it
not silly the little pat phrases, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, ete.?
‘They (the Europeans) have reduced all life to a very dull formula. All
natural feelings have been lost.

5 During his early years in prison, the author explained to the editor that he
had completely lost faith in American blacks and thei ability to become a erly
revolutionary force. The only thing he waned was to get out of prison and fight
for Roberto in Angola or Lumumba in the Congo.

6 The author's mother’ niece

PART ONE. 45

Thave work here in my cell to do, see you soon.

Love,
George

DECEMBER, 1964

Dear Father,
1 guess you are right in what you say about Mother’ position. If she
‘wishes to occupy the corner set aside for usin this society and be happy
with such then lee it be. I merely speak of better and different things
in a society geeater (in my humble opinion) and more conducive to
advancement for people of my kind. Always bear in mind that though
I may sound intolerant and pressing at times, all I say is by way of
discourse and nothing by way of advice. You see I understand you
people clearly. You are afflicted by the same set of principles that has
always governed black people's ideas and habits here in the US. I know
also how we arrived at this appalling state of decadence. You see, my
father, we have been “educated” into an acceptance of our positions
as national scapegraces. Our acceptance of the lie is consciously based
‘on the supposition that peace can and must be preserved at any price.
Blacks here in the US. apparently do not care how well chey live, but
are only concerned with how long they are able to live. This is odd
indeed when considering that it is possible for us all co live well, but
‘within the reach of no man to live long! My deepest and most sincerely
fele sympathies go out to all of you who are not able to resolve your
problems because of this fundamental lack of spirit. The morass of
illusionment has claimed your souls completely. I do not care about
the other millions of blacks here in the land of tears, cheie fate is of
their own choosing: but because you and the others of our family have
always been close to me whatever successes I wring from the eternal foe
you will share, Until I do this I know itis expecting too much for you
to be impressed with the ideals I pue forward. Ie’ always been this way
imagine. One has to be shown the fruits and feel the rewards of a new
or different ching before perceiving its merits.

In the airmail letcer you sent it is not altogether clear to me what you
‘were trying to say, so I wont leap co any conclusions but let me state
that I have a singular incapability, which is my strongest point, my first
principle. I could never in this existence betray my kind. Love of self
and kind is the first law of nature, my father. What N. did to me in

46 SOLEDAD BROTHER

1958 I can never forgive.” Ican understand why she betrayed me to the
whites and can even explain why she thought herself right in doing so,
bur I can’t forgive her because she has not made any effore to change
her completely backward sympathies. It is the same thing today with
her as it was yesterday. She would betray me a second time if allowed
it, You know that [love my mother dearly for many reasons, she always
(chrough your labor of course) provided for me materially the best
she knew how, but she failed me bitterly in matters of the mind and
spirit. My education she put in the hands of the arch-foes of my kind,
This is a betrayal of the worst kind, because of this I’ve had to learn
everything I now know on my own by trial and error. I have almost
arrived but look at the cost. I would not be in prison now if she hadn't
bbeen reading life through those rose-colored glasses of hers, or if you
would have had time and the wisdom to tell me of my enemies, and
how co get the things I needed without falling into their traps. She
kept telling me how wrong I was and making me feel guilty. All ofthis I
now understand, but again cannot forgive because she is still doing this
same sort of thing!

I got the nuts and cake today thanks, socks and handkerchiefs also,

Take cate.
Son

DECEMBER, 1964

Dear Father,
Everything was in order, concerning the package that is. They brought
ie right in front ofthe cell and opened it

Mama sent me a card with a picture of some white people on the front
of it. I guess she just can’t perceive that I don’t want anything to do
with her white god.

7 "ln 1958 Leseaped from Kern County Jil and Foughe the pigs ll the way back
‘to the midwestern area of my birth, 45 smokeles in hand. [ose chem aleogeth-
«erin Chicago. The pigs gave up on me after about three months, Lended up in
Harrisburg to await che return of my mother's half-brother, Amide Walker. Iwas
hoping that he would help me get out of the country. While I was waiting for
hen, my aunt discovered ehrough my family in California cha Lwas on the run
from the lave She turned in my name and Iwas recaprured.”

PART ONE. a7

$1 am still confined to this cell. It is nine by four. I have left it only twice in the month P've been here for ten minutes each time, in which I was allowed to shower. Did I tell you? They have assured me that I have not been given a bad-conduct report. Ie is just that they felt I was about to do some wrong. Its always suspicions. What I was supposed to have done or was about to do, never, never what they caught me doing as it should be. The last time I was in a cell like this three months, from February to May (1964) for reasons chat are nor altogether clear yet! I have had no serious infraction in almost three years now. You kknow I had at least $125 on me when I was arrested in 1960 and they took it. [assume it was to cover the $70 that was missing as the result of the robbery. So I'm thinking that I shouldn't owe them too much more. You know in fact I’m fast awakening to the idea that I may not ‘owe anyone anything and that they even might owe me. I have given four-and-a-half years of life, during which I have had to accept the unacceptable, for $70 that I didn’t ake — I protest. I protest. If you knew how much I protested, how seriously I felt about the matter, you and Mother and anyone who has a natural affinity with me ‘would surely be trying to convince me that you were on my side. ‘The events of the Congo, Vietnam, Malaya, Korea, and here in the US. are taking place all for the same reason. The commotion, the violence, the struggles in all these areas and many more spring from one source, the evil and malign, possessive and greedy Europeans. Their abstract theories, developed over centuries of long usage, concerning economics and sociology cake the form that they do because they suffer under the mistaken belief chat a man can secure himself in this insecure world best by ownership of great personal, private wealth. They attempt to impose their theories on the world for obvious reasons of self-gain, ‘Their philosophy concerning government and economies has an underlying tone of selfishness, possessiveness, and greediness because their character is made up of these things. They can’t see the merit in socialism and communism because they do not possess the qualities of rational chought, generosity, and magnanimity necessary to be part of the human race, part of a social order, part of a system. They can not understand that “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” is the only way men can live together without chaos. There is a species of fly chat lives only four hours. Ifone of these flies (June fly I believe they are called), ifone of these flies was born at twelve o'clock midnight in darkness and gloom, there would be no way 48 SOLEDAD BROTHER$

possible for him in his lifetime to ever understand the concept of day
and light. This is the case with the Europeans.

‘They are small men with their petty intrigues and prejudices. “In
shallow men the fish of small choughts cause much commotion, in
magnanimous oceanic minds the whales of inspiration cause hardly a
ruffle” (Mao Tse-tung).

George

FEBRUARY, 1965,

Dear Mother,
I promised myself that I wouldn’e write you again from here. I only
take pen in hand when feeling moves me to do so. My feeling seems
to be wasted on you. You know beyond question what my feelings
are, I never think of anything trite or inconsequential anymore. I've
forgotten the feeling of joy. I've long since had my last smile wrung
unceremoniously from my hollow soul. I write home to you people,
my people, the closest of my kind for understanding and advice. 1
attempt to advise you in areas of which experience has made me better
informed. I get no understanding. If I followed the advice I receive it
would only serve to enslave me further to this madness of our times
My advice falls upon deaf ears!

‘This is my reason for not wanting to write. What can I say further? It
is clear you don't love me when you refuse to aid me the only way you
can, the only way I expect! By telling me Iam right and that I have your
blessings. You sce I am being frank: though I care about your feelings,
I care more for your well-being. There are things brewing now that
could ruin you completely if, when they break, you are in sympathy
with wrong, Robert is the same way, he pretends or he may earnestly
not feel the effects of the circumstances I attempe to explain. He is
sympathetic to wrong. But I ean overlook him more readily because
of his almost complete lack of mental training. His past experiences
have been very limited regarding the stimulus of academic learning,
he is innocent. But not so with you, though your exposure was not all
that ieshould have been, you are equipped with the basic Fundamentals
needed to guide one to the truth, should ie be truth one favors. When
T consider my own experience bought at the cost of these terrible
years, supplemented in love and concern by your own experience and

PART ONE. 9

be made clear before long. I should be out of here this year. I have
complied with all of their demands: group counseling, school, clean
conduct record, I go to board next time they meet. You could start
‘writing leeters to the Adult Authority now, the more the better. You
know what to say: that I was young then and you see a vast change in
my character now. Also say that you can and will help me with a place

1 asked Robert to send me some shoes. Check with him on it. They
hhave to be sent from Sears by the salesman, cost no more than $25, have
the price or sales slip in the box, and in the way of type and size I want
some old folks’ comforts with high tops, 9 — B. Nothing else, my feet
need therapy in the worse way. Soon as you can on this, I want to get rid
‘of these corns and sores before I get out.

I'm glad you weren’ta singer or dancer. Pop was wise in that. The image
held ofthe blacks in chis part ofthe world is that we are proficient in but
‘one or two areas only, the service trades or the physical entertainment
fields (singers, dancers, boxers, baseball players).

‘Would you like to support the theory that we are good for nothing
bur to serve or entertain our captors? In the society of our fathers and
in the civilized world today, women feel it their obligation to be ever
yielding and obedient to their men. Life is purposely made simple for
them because of their nature, and they are happy. When the women
‘outnumber the men in the black societies, the men take as many wives
as they can afford, and care for chem all equally. In the white for
some nebulous reason the men can take only one ... the rest are left
to become prostitutes, nuns, of lesbians. In the civilized societies the
women do light work, bear children, and lend purpose to the man’s
existence. They train children in the ways of wisdom that history has
shown to be correct. Their job is to train the children in theie early life
tobe men or women, not confused psychories! This isa big job, co train
and propagate the race!! Is this not enough? The rests left to the men

government administration, the providing of means of subsistence, and
defense, or maintenance of life and property against any who would
deprive us of it, as the barbarian has and is till attempting to do. The
white theory of “the emancipated woman” isa false idea. You will find
it, as they are finding it, the factor in the breakdown of the family unit,
Mama, all chis struggle is unnecessary. Let's not ereate an atmosphere
‘of competition among ourselves as they have done. Life is too short.
‘There is too much for us to restore to its proper order and we are too

PART ONE. 31

wise. What do you chink made the white guy write thar life is “a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” — he felt
frustrated and stupid.

Son

MARCH, 1965 12

Dear Mama,
‘The things you speak of are uppermost in my mind and my heart. 1am
not too manly or sophisticated to say that I love you and all the rest
with a devotion and dedication that will continue to grow until I pass
from this existence. Anything that will please you, and that falls within
human accomplishment, I will carry out. I say this with confidence
because of my certainty that you would never ask me to please you by
surtendering my mencal liberty and self-respect: I wouldn't want to live
‘were these, my last evo real possessions, to be lost.

‘Any confidence you put in me, Mama, will be well placed. This is not
mere talk, my ego is nowhere involved. If we are to surmount these
barriers standing between us, and finally work things around to our
advantage, on a few points we must be agreed. You must listen to me.
T've been trying to say something, Stop closing my voice off from your
mind! My hair has started to turn gray and I'm beginning to look like
an old man, My best efforts up to now have all fallen far shore of their
intended goals. I know, however, just as sure as day follows night that
I will win the last round. That is the one I always win, the important
‘one, I feel that you understand the situation bercer than most who live
‘on your level. From your last letter, I know you are intelligent enough
to understand. I have it before me now and I glean much to indicate
that this isso, But chere is much that has escaped your understanding,
and itis quite reasonable that this be true. You have no way of learning
and bettering. However, if you will honor my humble voice, I would
vvery much like to pass on to you just a thoughe or ewo Ihave had. All
that Task is chat you hear me, and think about what I say. Do nor just
read over the lines. Think of what I say in relation to things past, and
the vague possibility that is our future. I’m not just another convict
‘or "Negro." I'm one who really loves you and who has been observing
with a practiced eye and an almost photographic memory. But first let
ime clear up one other incidental thing. Robert has never said anything
unattractive or beliteling about you. Each of his letters expresses almost

32 SOLEDAD BROTHER

total grief for the condition of your health. He blames me even, then
himself, bue never the right people. He feels he has failed you, me, and
all che others, and he keeps trying to learn ifLalso blame him. OF course
Ido not blame him or you, or myself I place the blame for the social
ills chat have caused us discomfort and unhappiness squarely upon the
shoulders of those responsible: the people in control!

Ieis mainly on chis subject hat I am going to speak now. To getit across
Tam going to write two letters, this one and another sheet also tonight,
‘This should be read first for the idea to follow in logical order. Lam
going to do exactly as you say concerning the show of good conduct
here. I have never raised my hand against any man, since I've been an
adule that is, except in self-defense, but there has been an element of
aggressiveness in the way that I have handled these incidents. I'l have
to always defend my person, but I promise you hae unless there is a
direct threat to my existence I will never have another bit of trouble
here. Understand though that you do not live in the real rip-and-tear
world. You have escaped it by surrendering your self-determination
and freedom of thought in a tranquilizing conformity to the wishes
‘of whoever may hold the strings. Consequently you do not know how
hard itis to live in peace even for a short period with people who defy
violence, and vilify peace and harmony.

George

MARCH, 1965 12

Dear Mama,
will try what you advised. [know it to be the bese way at this point in
the litele game. But should I fail you are not co say, "George is no good.”
‘You must try to understand that now, just asin the past, there are other
considerations and influences that enter into the course of events that
tum our lives one way or the other. Have you ever wondered how you
and I and all our kind lost cheir identiey so fast? The last blacks were
brought into this country only 75 to 80 years ago, three generations at
most. This is too short a time for us to have lost as much as we have,
No other people have completely been divorced from their own as we
have in such a shore period. I don’t even know my name. Have you

8 California prison regulations limi che length of convict eters to both sides of
‘one standard 81 by 11 ruled sheet.

PART ONE. 33

something better: It is vague, and is a possibility at best, but I know a
place, a refuge where people love and live.

George

MARCH, 1965 16

Dear Father,
T've been going through final examinations at school. Had to use all of
my available time in study and have not been able to write like I should,
but forgive me. They are over now and I did well. I go before the board
next week. I didn't know about L’s husband. That is too bad. She seems
to be extremely unlucky in that area. She told me that the last husband
she had was worse. Since that is the case I can feel nothing against her,
but as you said, she should have explained. People are odd indeed,
about money that is. The best method of testing a person’s character
is through money. The shocks and strains of this money-mad society
are enough to ruin the purest of minds. Men are so deeply engaged in
making a living that their very existence is shaped and dominated by
the system of production. I'm throughly tired already, Pop. When I
brain what I need to work with, nothing could stop me from going
hhome. That is where I will invest my money, resources, and talents. My
labor shall be expanded where it will be appreciated. My taxes will go
to an order and system of government that will in turn protect me and
my interests I shall not, 2s longas I call myselfa man, compromise with
tyranny. There area few things that mean more to me than life. Though
T must think of and plan for tomorrow, I cannot, I must not surrender
for tomorrow all that I possess today. I can repair this loss, chis morbid
depression that owns a litele more of my mind each day that passes. The
paleand almost indistinguishable glow of the future may yet materialize
to disperse the gloomy stupor that has encompassed me completely.
have been purposely kepr ignorant, I have been taught what to think,
instead of how to think. I have been subjected to the ordeal of hunger,
thirst, name-calling, and other uncountable indignities. Danger comes
even from those of my own kind. Their lack of response and unyielding
adherence to ineffectual thought and action is an obstacle to my plans.
I may yet surmount it, but only if I follow my call. I must obey the
dictates of my mind.

Give my regards to all.
Son

PART ONE. 55

MARCH, 1965 30

Dear Father,
Thaven’e read anythingor studied in aweek now. Ihave been devotingall
my time to thought. [trust you are all in health. I think of my personal
past quite often. This is uncomfortable sometimes but necessary.
1 try not to let my past mistakes bother me too much, though some
seem almost unpardonable. IF it were not for the few intermixed little
victories, my confidence in my ability would be iereparably shaken.

‘Though I know Iam a victim of social injustice and economic pressure
and though I understand the Forces that work to drive so many of our
kkind to places like this and to mental institutions, I can’t help but
know that I proceeded wrong somewhere. I could have done a lot
worse. You know our people react in different ways to this neoslavery,
some just give in completely and join the other side. They join some
christian cule and cry out for integration, These are the ones who
doube chemselves most. They are the weakest and hardest to reach with
the new doctrine. Some become inveterate drinkers and narcotic users
in an attempt to gain some mental solace for the physical depravity
they suffer. I've heard them say, “There's no hope without dope.” Some
hire on as a janitor, bellboy, redcap, cook, elevator boy, singer, boxer,
baseball player, or maybe a Freak at some sideshow and pretend that
all is as well as is possible. They think since it's always been this way
ie must always remain this way: these are the fataists, chey serve and
entertain and rationalize.

‘Then there are those who resist and rebel but do not know what,
who, why, or how exactly they should go about this. They are aware
bur confused. They are the least fortunate, for they end where I have
ended. By using half measures and failing dismally to effect any real
improvement in their condition, they fall victim co the full fury and
might of the systems repressive agencies. Believe me, every dirty trick
‘of deception and brutality is employed without shame, without honor,
‘without humanity, without reservation to either convert or destroy a
rebellious arm. Believe me, when I say that I begin to weary of the sun
Tam by nature a gentle man, I love the simple things of life, good food,
‘good wine, an expressive book, music, pretty black women. I used to
find enjoyment in a walk in the rain, summer evenings in a place like
Harrisburg, Remember how I used to love Harrisburg. All of this is
sgone from me, all the gentle, shy characteristics of the black men have
been wrung unceremoniously from my soul. The buffets and blows of

56 SOLEDAD BROTHER

this have and have-not society have engendered in me a flame that will
live, will live to geow, until it either destroys my tormentor oF myself
You don’t understand this but I must say it. Maybe when you remember
this ten or twenty years from now you'll comprehend. I don’t chink of
life in the same sense that you or most black men of your generation
think of it i is not important to me how long I live, I think only of
how I ive, how well, how nobly. We think if we are to be men again we
must stop working for nothing, competing against each other for the
little they allow us to possess, stop selling our women or allowing them
to be used and handled against cheir will stop letting our children be
educated by the barbarian, using their language, dress, and customs,
and most assuredly stop turning our cheeks.

George

APRIL, 1965 18

Dear Father,

Did you get my letter of April 11, last Sunday? I fear you may not have
gotten that letter since therein I set down some important matters in
an almost too direct manner. I did so thinking that if ie was allowed
to go through, you would have in your possession knowledge of the
singular events that seem to rush upon me menacing and evil from all
directions at once. You would have this information in as complete a
form as the space of that single page allows, or if they had sent it back
‘or destroyed it, nothing, This was logical in that I wanted you to know
immediately. It is best to have such matters done, and related, and over
with, Here in my position you know I'm not supposed to be critical,
nor am I supposed to attempt to convey what goes on in here. So please
acknowledge my letter. [have from you only the letters you wrote on
April Land April 2, Have you sent others?

‘They are sending me to Folsom soon, so they told me. The assault
charge was referred to the distri attorney. He will in curn refer it to
the grand jury, which will chen bring what they call legal proceedings
against me, Let me say here that all of this is a well-thought-out effort
to frighten me and maybe even do me whatever harm they can without

9 All of Jacksons correspondence had to passthrough the rigors of prison censor
ship. Mach oft was completely destroyed or mutilated, Only his ae leters to is
lawyer passed through uncensored.

PART ONE. 37

alarming or shocking those around me, you included, too much. I guess
they want to show me and those around me here how powerless | am
in their hands, Bue they must do this without giving rise to feelings of
total insecurity on the part of the litle people which could serve as
stimulus to some act which would lead toward changing conditions
for circumstances that threaten not just our well-being but our very
existence. Thus if I or any of my kind should suffer the final hure, it
‘would be by accident, heart attack instead of poisoning, malnutrition
instead of beating, suicide by hanging instead of being shot, or legal
proceedings instead of foul play.

Bur I have much to say about any matter that concerns me in spite of
their wishes. Fear, the emotion that stiffens and inhibits the minds of
‘most men, causing them to be incapable of acting in their defense at
the moment of tial, is totaly lacking in me. I could look upon my total
ruin with as detached an unconcern as Ilook upon theirs. The payment
for life is death. I have written many a page in the book of life in spite
‘of my limited years, and I intend to write many more. I'll come out
of this as I have everything else. I'll see Ghana yet. Folsom is a becter
prison than this. There will be found many older inmates who are more
stable and less inclined to mind others’ business, I can also obtain a
parole faster chere or a transfer to some minimum security camp. On
the assaule charge I don’t think they will convict me. Maybe won't even
try me. The D.A. has to accept the case, and then the geand jury must
be convinced to accept what evidence they may concoct against me.
Give Mother my regards,

Fare you well.
Son

MAY, 19652

Dear Mother and Father,

am still in isolation. Nothing has changed since I wrote you last,
Robert."” You have a remarkable method for relieving yourself of
unpleasane or weighty problems that can almost be admired, were it just
a lite less chancy and notso slow. You seem to just ignore the matter or
pretend ic doesn’t exist, hoping maybe others wich more time or brains

10 The author's fathers name is Robert Lester Jackson. The author addresses him
cither as Robert ot Lester depending on mood o circumstance

58 SOLEDAD BROTHER

‘or perhaps more to lose will work something out. I have tried several
times over the last few years to adopt this means of rationalization for
my own relief, [tried ic at the start of this last attack upon my well-
being. Like you, I go to bed each night hoping that the morrow will
bring about the needed change. I simply force all my awareness, all my
many and monumental problems, from my remembrance. Without
plans or forethought, without a hint of uneasiness, I go to bed each
night, hoping, trying to avert the storm that is now coming on. I find
each morning, as I found this one, freighted with possibilities of my
‘own disaster. I still see the poverty among plenty. feel the curse of total
insecurity I still feel cramped within this cloud of ignorance which has
been placed about me purposely to make me act against my interests
My bed is just as hard as it was when I went to sleep, my clothing just
as coarse and inadequate. Here in the isolation cell the picifully light
breakfasts are just che same, I went supperless to bed the night before.
Each morning if I can find or beg a piece of soap I wash myself. This
is indeed counted as good fortune. But I mustn’t complain. Ie is un-
American to do so. Like the rest of you I should be completely lacking
in feeling for myself. I should smile and sing. Perhaps I should thank
the lord in spite of the fact that I have had not one moment's mental
‘gratification in all my ewenty-three years. I find no relief in baseball
and basketball games on the TV. The charges they bring against me
now could cost me my life, the last of my possessions, the only thing
they have heretofore left me with. But now that I think of it, I have
always been forced to fear for my life, o this is nothing new. It merely
more direct.

One of you send me twenty-five dollars as soon as you can after reading
this. Iwill get our of isolation nexe week and be locked up in segregation
(slightly better than this because we can draw money or articles from
the prison store). I want co buy some envelopes, and books that I will
be needing, Important because I have nothing. Have lost everything. If
you can get it here soon enough I will be allowed to draw ie chis month,

Well, I've heard it said that the darkest hour falls just before dawn, so
brace myself to my tasks, never doubting in my ability to struggle
‘on. [feel no defeat could overcome me, and fear no evil bue fear itself
perhaps. I have removed this emotion from my mind completely, and I
languish in misery, waiting, This is a big part of the battle: waiting for
the correct moment and then having the courage and wit to move when
the time is right. The living condition, though bad, have no effect upon

PART ONE. 59

ime physically. Bue how much longer will this last for me in and out
of prison, for you in and out of debe, for the others of our kind who
suffer jail, mental institutions, and the like. How long will we be forced
to live this life, where every meal is an accomplishment, where every
movie or pair of shoes i a fulfillment, where circumstance never allows
‘our children co develop past a mental age of sixteen. I've been patient,
bur where I'm concerned patience has its limits. Take it too fat, and it’s
cowardice.

George

JUNE, 1965 9

Dear Father,
‘We can spend twenty-five dollars a month here at the canteen for toilet
articles, a few dry goods, and food. Bue we can spend any amount
through the mail on such things as books, typewriters, correspondence
courses in all the liberal arts. spend what you have sent me on books.
Many that are of interest and value to me cannot be obtained here in
the library.

Anything that you send me in the way of finances isa good investment,
the returns will be forthcoming after the successful conclusion of the

Mao Tse-tung, leader of the Chinese Communist party, has written
many works on polities and war. Please ascertain the exact titles of his
works and who they are published by and how much each costs. Also
the price of the Encyclopedia Africana by William Du Bois. How many
volumes are there in the set? Who publishes them? Ie is very important
that I have the publisher's name and address, because if I come by the
money to purchase these books I need the exact titles and publishers.
To read and study the major works of these ewo authors would be the
climax of my education, and education in itself. Du Bois was amere Foo!
in his earlier days: but right at che close of his eveneful life he gave up
this life of toil, deprivation, and tears to join his own kind, He left the
United States, went to Ghana, and wrote the Encyclopedia Africana,

Ic is difficult, very difficule to get any facts concerning our history

and our way of life. The lie, half-truths, and propaganda have won
total sway over the facts. We have no knowledge of our heritage. Our

0 SOLEDAD BROTHER

‘economic status has reduced our minds to a state of complete oblivion,
‘The young black who comes out of college or the university is as
ignorant and unlearned as the white laborer. For all practical purposes
he is worse off than when he went in, for he has learned only the
attitudes and ways of the snake, and a few well-worded lies. The ruling
culture refuses to ler us know how much we did to advance civilization
in our lands long ago. It refuses to recognize and appreciate our eraft
and strength and allow us some of the fruits of our labor. All this has
lefcan emptiness in our lives, a void, a vacuum that must soon be filled
by hostilities. Iam most certainly committed, until the day I’m sent to
the warrior’ rest. By the ruling culeute’s acts of greed and barbarism
the uncommitted will soon learn that compromise with such an enemy
is impossible, Our two fortunes move along a collision course, I'm
prepared in every aspect, I have nothing, I can lose nothing!

George

JUNE, 1965

Dear Mother,
Even though I have plenty of time now, I don’t write more regularly
because of my studies. I get involved in some aspect of the subjects that
interest me and before Ican extract myself che lights are going off and
itis twelve oelock. You know the last thing we discussed just before
you people lefe me when you were up here last, well I've decided to go

My life here is slowly becoming one of complete alienation. I talk
to fewer conviets every day. Just one lieutenant here has tried to do
anything for me. He got me out of segregation twice last year. The die
is cast now though, I guess, thumbs down on me. My future is about as
sound as a three-dollar bill. I chank whatever forces there are working
for me that I'm still able to write you. I'm joking of course, it isn’t that

Nothing will help me now chough but patience and I have developed
plenty. There is nothing left to: me now but to await whatever may
‘come. Igo back to the board October or is it December. Nine months
from March would be December. Yes! Pethaps the fog will lift and
I will see some ray of hope by then. You know the thing which they
have locked me up for now could mean spending my next few years in

PART ONE. 61

confinement here, Iewould be merely a flight from reality to think that
T could get a date this year. I would be happy though co just know how
ong I will be held, even if i was 10 years. Id feel better knowing.

Take care of yourself.
Son

JUNE, 1965

Dear Father,
One of those tall ultra-bright electrical fixtures used to illuminate the
walls and surrounding area at night casts a direce beam of light in my
cell at night. (I moved to a different cell last week). Consequently I
have enough light, even after the usual twelve oclock lights-our, to
read or study by. I don’t realy have to sleep now if I choose not to,
‘The early hours of morning are the only time of the day that one can
find any respite from the pandemonium caused by these the most
uncultured of San Quentin inmates. I don't let the noise bother me
‘even in the evenings when it rises to maddening intensity, because I
try to understand my surroundings. I've asked myself, as I do about
all the other aspects of life, why — why do white cons act and react
as if they were animals of a lower order than we black men (some
blacks get foolish also bue we dont refer to them as “men”)? Why just
because they look like shaved monkeys must they also act like chem?
Ie’ frayed nerves, caused by the harsh terms that defeat brought when
they went against che system, the same system that runs this place. I
must ask myself why did they go against che system and why are the
terms so harsh? Could it be that a man will most always pursue his
interests, system or no? But why should so many people’s interests lie
‘outside the system? Why doesn‘ the system encompass the needs and
requirements of all of, o be realistic, the majority. We now come to
the part of the question around which the whole contention pivots:
Why are the terms so harsh, the price of defeat so high? What is it
that causes a man co become power-mad, to deify exploitation and
mendacity and vilify the compatible, harmonious things of nature,
‘how many times have you heard that “everyone should help fight the
evils of communism,’ ete.?

George

a SOLEDAD BROTHER

for the vote of confidence you displayed in that letter to the warden
T'll never forget it! All my younger life you betrayed me, Like I said,
1 could forgive. At first you may not have known any better, but over
the last ewo years I've informed you of many things. I've given you my
best and you have rejected me for my enemies. With this last act, you
have betrayed my bosom interest, even though I warned you not o say
anything av all. I will never forgive you this. Should we live forever I'l
never trust you again. Your mind has failed you completely. To take
sides against your son! You did it in ‘58 and now again. There will not
be a third time. The cost to me is too great. Father against son, and
brother against brother. This is truly detestable. You are a sick man,

George

JULY, 1965

Dear Father,

Tam perplexed and hard pressed in finding a solution or reason that
will adequately explain why we are so eager to follow Charlie. Why
wwe are so impressed with his apparent know-how. A glance at his
history shows that it has been one long continuous war. At no time in
European history has there been a period of peace and harmony. Every
‘moment of his past has been spent in the breakdown of civilization by
causing war, disruption, disease, and artificial famine, You send me a
date from the moment he emerged from his cave-dwelling days and U'l
tell you which of his tribes were at war, either on us or on themselves.
‘The whole of the Western European’s existence here in the US. has
been the same one long war with different peoples. This is the only
thing they understand, the only thing they respect — the only thing
they can do with any dexterity. Do you accept this miscreane as the
architect of the patterns that must guide your future life! IF so, we
must part company, and it is best we do so now, before the trouble
begins. Bur please stop and think so that you ean turn yourself around
in time, so that che developments to come won't shock you so badly.
Thave not wasted my time these last three or Four years. I speak with
some authority and people ate listening. People like me are going to be
shaping your tomorrows. So just sit back, open your mind, and watch,
since you can’t marshal the fundamentals to help me.

‘Yes, my friend, I remember everything, the reason that Delora and
Thad to spend that summer and winter in Harrisburg is known and

ot SOLEDAD BROTHER

remembered by me. I remember the garbage right under the side and
back of our place on Racine, Mama having to wash and wring clothes
by hand, carrying Penny and Jon while some fat redheaded mama sat
‘on her behind. I remember how strange people looked to me when I
finally had to be sent to Skinner School. You never knew why I was
almost killed the first day I went, but I do. I remember how the rent
and clothes for us children kepr you broke and ragged. All of us hungry,
if not for food — the other things that make life bearable. After you
and Mama settled down you had no recreational outlets whatever.
‘And everyone on Warren Blvd. knows how you would beat me all the
way home from our baseball games in the alley. Robert, can you see
how absurd you sound to me when you speak on “the good life” or
something about being a free adult? I know you have never been free.
know that few blacks over here have ever been free. The forms of slavery
merely changed at the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation from
chattel slavery to economic slavery. If you could see and talk to some
of the blacks I meet in here you would immediately understand what
T mean, and see that I'm right. They are all average, all with the same
backgrounds, and in for the same thing, some form of food getting.
About 70 to 80 percent ofall crime in the US. is perpetrated by blacks,
“the sole reason for this is that 98 percent of our number live below the
poverty level in bitter and abject misery”! You must take off your rose-
colored glasses and stop pretending. We have suffered an unmitigated
‘wrong! How do you think I fele when I saw you come home each day
a litele more depressed than the day before? How do you think I felt
‘when I looked in your face and saw the clouds forming, when I saw you
ook around and see your best efforts go for nothing — nothing. lean
count the times on my hands that you managed to work up a smile.

George

JULY, 1965

Dear Father,

‘Well I guess you know that I'm aware that this is not the bese of all
possible lives. You also know that I thank you for trying to cushion
the shocks and strains that history has made it our lot to have to
endure, But che make-believe game has ended now. I don’t think it
necessary for me to burden myself with listing strains we've endured
‘You are intelligent enough to know. At each phase of this long train of
tyrannies, we have conducted ourselves in a very meek and civilized

PART ONE. 65

manner, with only polite please for justice and moderation, all to no
avail. We have shown a noble indisposition to react with the passion
that each new oppression engenders. But any fool should be able
to see that this cannot be allowed to continue. Any fool should be
able to see that nature allows no such imbalances as this to exist for
ong. We have petitioned for judicial redress. We have remonstrated,
supplicated, demonstrated, and prostrated ourselves before the feet
of our self-appointed administrators. We have done all that we can do
to circumvent the eruption that now comes on apace. The point of
no return in our relationship has long been passed. I know what must
and will take place so I follow my ends through to thei most glorious
conclusion. Don’t make me waste my time and energy winning you to
4 position that you should already support with all your sympathies.
‘The same forces that have made your life miserable, che same forces
that have made your life senseless and unrewarding, threaten me and
all our posterity: I know the way out. Ifyou cannot help. sit back and
listen, watch. You are charged with the responsibility of acknowledging
the truth, my friend, and supporting it with whatever means, no matter
how humble, are in your power. I am charged to right the wrong, lift
the burden from the backs of future generations. will not shrink from
my duties. I will never falter or waver before the task, but we will go
forward — to resolve this conflict once and forever. OF all che twenty
thousand known years of advanced civilization, the years that are now
coming on will be the most momentous.

George

AUGUST, 1965

Dear Father,
Although I'm still beeween the lif-death cycle, I feel alot better. How
is the ceeth situation with you?

1 know you stay pretty busy and have a very bad memory, but try to
remember to answer this question in your next letter, You told me once
when I was at home there never to sleep more than six hours a day.
You said that four was really enough. Why did you say this? On what
authority? Experience or just something you read? What would be the
cffects of getting too much sleep?

T've been carrying out some very interesting experiments with myself
in here. I quite definitely do not believe in a strict regimen. By strict

66 BLOOD IN MY EYE

I mean absolute patterns for thinking and living, But I cannot help
feeling there is a judicious mean somewhere. I have been forced to seck
the judicious mean, due to the circumstances that history has thrown
me into here — now. You see it isn’t as simple as you implied. “Thinking
and reading” won't fill a ewenty-four-hour day. I have something real
deep running through me, a burning thing of the mind. I have observed
myself pass into a state of anger over something that happened as far
away as Rhodesia or the Union of South Africa. And I didn't sleep for
two days when those children and women were being murdered down
there in your part of che world last week. I've told myself uncountable
times that anger is an emotion, a degenerative emotion, unnecessary
and controllable, but I couldn't control ie until a few days ago when I
‘observed myself being consumed by the force of my own weight. So, my
friend, I starced conducting these experiments with myself

Why can't I rid myself of the sorrow and emotion that awareness
hhas brought me? I get rid of the self-destructive force of error and
ignorance only to be ton and miserable by what I discover. It happened
that I knew all along that some imbalance did exist, or I'll say a few
imbalances existed, that disallowed me from progressing further in my
development. I put my head in my hands and wondered why do I make
myself sick, why can’t I overcome this, maybe I’m just human after all?
believe chat is whae got it! Lam what Iam, and that’ all Iam. I knew
this morbid depression must have some human explainable cause, an
imbalance somewhere. The mind and body cannot be separated, a
physical imbalance can precipitate effects that could eventually lead
to some mental imbalance. Too much sleep, too little, the wrong kind
of food, too much, too little, oo much reading in the wrong position,
too much study, or too long an application to one subject, results in
imbalances, conflicts, struggles. I was looking for a solution from one
direction only, when no event, no effect in nacute, has a single cause.
Ies a collection of causes! So I look at myself and I discover new ways
‘of knowing myself, seeing and placing myself in the vast scheme.
‘The struggle is almost over, my friend, complete and harmonious
development can be mine, everyone's. Only one-fourth of the sorrow
in each man's life is caused by outside uncontrollable elements, the rest
is self-imposed by failing to analyze and act with calmness

George

PART ONE. or

AUGUST, 1965

Dear Father,
T'vebeen on five hours sleep a day and one-and-one-half hours exercise.
‘The rest of my time is divided proportionally between my work and
‘what little pleasure Lean make for myselfin here. This isn’t too much to
speak of, a lite light fiction, or the radio, The experiment seems to be
bringing me some benefits: the tenseness that brings about emotional
unrest has lefe.

Thope you are not too uncomfortable with your teeth being worked on
will have to have mine worked on also when I leave here. The longer I
‘wear these shoes you sent me the more comfortable they become. You
should try some. Of course I haven't too far to walk in here, but I make
the best of what I have. I do my best thinking on my feet, so I walk this
lietle ten feet I have rather diligently sometimes.

1 was just thinking yesterday how far I have fallen from glory, how very
much of my “physical” freedom they have taken from me (I still have
mental freedom). realized how few ofthe pleasures of life [have tasted
‘Trouble, difficulties, and sorrow have pervaded these twenty-four years.
‘Twenty-four years without one moment’s mental gratification, For us it
is always tomorrow: tomorrow we'll have enough money to eat better:
tomorrow we'll be able to buy this necessary article of clothing, to pay
that debr. Tomorrow, it never really gets here. “To every one who has
will more be given ... but from him who has not, even what he has
will be taken away” I like this life, I can never reconcile myself to it, or
rationalize the face that I have been basely used, hated, and repressed as
if ie were the natural order of things. Life is at best a nebulous shadow,
vague contingency, the merest of possibilities to begin with, But men
in general (myself most emphatically included), being at best complete
and abject fools, have rendered even what small possibilities there were
to love and learn null and void! Bue I refuse to excite myself about my
past, or our fucure. I have simply taken up a task and I am preparing
myself for its execution. I absolutely refuse to give way to emotional
involvement or any undisciplined or dogmatic belief. Life is too
uncertain, and dogmas and beliefs are the product of this sick man who
now transgeesses against us and the world. IfI can bend circumstances
to my will I succeed. IFnot — I'm off the cycle

‘You know that the US. power elite, the7 percent who own and run this
country and influence the policies of the rest of the European world,

68 SOLEDAD BROTHER

want to attack and destroy China in the next four or five years. China
hhas become too strong and it is influencing the rest of the Afro-Asian
world too heavily with anti-Western philosophy (self-determination
and economic independence). All that stands in the way of the power
elite is a few dissenting factions which are daily being won over, and
having their opinions molded for them by the communications media,
and, second, the domestic unrest and near-revolutionary atmosphere
in the black slums of al che large US. cities. Do you add well? Can you
see what may be in the making? They cannot attack China unless the
blacks here in the USS. support their war effore. What if some black
voice denounced the war? Many blacks would go for this. What would
happen if large numbers of blacks refused to fight or make weapons, or
‘even say attempted to subvere the US. war effort? Remember the Jews
‘of Germany! From what I observe in here, where they don't have to
hide their contempt, we're moving toward this eventuality.

George

SEPTEMBER, 1965 6

Dear Father,
This is abour six leecers I've written in two weeks. Did you get my
answer to your last one? In the future I will put che exact date on them
and doubie-check with you on them. You say you got none of these
recent letters? When they stop them, they usually send them back to
me, I can’t say exactly what happened, but I guess these things are to
be expected

I mentioned in one of those other letters that I went before one of
these committees last month made up of the top officials here. They
informed me that I “can forget about the board transfer or the main
population facilities here in the prison.” These were their words. So,
mmy friend, I'll be in this litele cell for a while yer. [hope you note that
all this is done without any proof, and without allowing me to face my
accuser. But I guess these things are to be expected.

I want you to send me a portable typewriter and of course the carrying
cease. We can have them here, and I can use one to build my spelling and
vocabulary. Ie will give me something to do in here. Send a lesson book
also. A used one will be all right. Although they sell ribbons here you
will have to send a couple of rolls because I have no way of buying any.

PART ONE. 9

T've had to secure permission to send out for the typewriter, of course,
Ie took over a month to have ie approved, so send it as soon as you are
able,

‘They just urned the lights out I's 12:15 (A.M., Tuesday). Take it easy

George

SEPTEMBER, 1965 12

Dear Mama,
Robert tells me that you are not well. 'm sorry to hear this, but I guess
we're all lucky co have lived as long as we have. The many years you
spent without proper clothing for the cold wet weather back East, with
improper food, not enough food, and lack of expert medical attention,
is enough misfortune to leave the strongest person ill.

You need to see a specialist. IF we were not blacks and consequently
poor, you would be able to enjoy the benefits of science. But you are
probably seeing some disinterested, half-trained parasite who knows
rho more about yourailment or the curing of i than I do, Robert doesn’t
make enough in ewo years to allow you to get the best attention (that
is, here in our present surroundings). His scope doesn't extend any
farther than the boundaries of the U.S. Those lies and the propaganda
he reads in Life, Reader's Digest, and Look, have completely undressed
his mind. I feel very sorry forall of you. I'm locked in a cell 24 hours a
day, but I still know my potential, I still feel my strength, I still chumb
my nose at the caveman, Because my mind is still my own, no one can
lie to me anymore. I know where my interest lies

For now though, I’m going to be a good boy, as Robert and most of the
blacks we see around us are all good boys. I’m going to smile, and I'm
going to pretend to accept the small compensations they hand out in
return for our soul and our freedom. I'm going to be a good boy and
«eat what is put before me. I’m going to do this so chat I'll stay alive long
enough to take care of you. You deserve alot better than you have had
and more than you will have. You don’t know it but there is a becter
life, regardless of whae the Reader’s Digest says. Believe me there is a
better life

Take care of yourself.
George

70 SOLEDAD BROTHER

OCTOBER, 1965 3

Dear Robert,
Thave the typewriter in my possession here, so all is well. They didn’t,
however, produce the instruction book or paper. They’ let me have
the two extra ribbons. I can get an instruction book. Paper isn’t too
much ofa problem. All things considered, it turned out very well. You
can take a chance if you care to on the shorthand book. Put it in an
envelope like you say, but also write a letter stating right in the front,
in the firs lines, chat it is a shorthand book. Mail che leeter and the
book together. I'they don’t chink it’s some kind of eryprogram we have
going, ic may be allowed or overlooked, but you can‘ just leave it up to
them to figure out whar it is. That would be asking for too much, Just
read in the Monitor that "6 parts of insecticide to one billion parts of
‘water wil kill most all marine animals in salt water or fresh"! Be sure to
ook into the course on speed reading, It costs sixty cents. I know itis a
‘great help. I would be nice for me to have someone to talk to.

‘Take care, and keep your eyes open,
George

NOVEMBER, 19657

Dear Robert,
Nothing has changed. I’m still losing. I’m alive though, so there’s still
the possibility. . How is Georgia? Don't tell her anything about my
condition." It isn’t necessary for you to reveal to her all that I tll you.
She doesn’t need to know. It can only worry her needlessly. [hope you
are well,

George

NOVEMBER, 1965 13

Dear Mother,
Tam alive and well, and am at present working my way through the
adjustment center here. It is an overall improvement in my condition,
‘The prospects of getting out or getting a transfer to a more habitable
prison are now better.

1 The author had been putin isolation afer being charged by the prison authori
‘es with assault with a deadly weapon,

PART ONE. a

I will relish che transfer part. Al of che officers here have preconceived
notions about my patterns of behavior now. Consequently it is
somewhat hard for me to avoid falling under suspicion for almost every
misdeed perpetrated by a black. But no matter, if I do have to stay here
Tam determined to circumvent che litle raps.

I sincerely hope your health is improving, oratleast becomingno worse,
1 feel awful disconcerted that I am unable to tender any assistance,
However, I feel this inability is only temporary. I intend to surge back
with a tenacity uncontainable in its relentlessness.

Fortune must soon smile on me because sincere effort is always
rewarded, Nature allows no such imbalances as this. I am assured and
completely self possessed in the knowledge that all contradictions and
conflicts must one day be resolved. Give my love to all the women
there, please take care of yourself

Love,
George

DECEMBER, 1965 23

Dear Mother,
I got the food you sent me today: it was very nice, and fills areal need
almost didn’t getit though. You see we are supposed to send outa slip
to the correspondent when we wish someone to send us somethingand
you are supposed to send the package with this slip you get from me
as proof that you are an authorized correspondent. I didn't send a slip
‘out this year because of the trouble it might involve for you, and the
money could possibly have been better placed. I hope your health is
improving. Lam doing quite well in that respect all chings considered
‘You may not know me when you next see me. I find a few new gray
hairs every time I look in the mirror. If live to be thirty, [guess i will
be all white.

T'll sare writing Jon a couple of letcers a week. If you would like me to,
lec me know. I would tell him as much of the truth asis advisable in one
of these letters, bur if you don’t feel that what I represent is correct for
him, chen I'l refrain, How old is he now?

1 guess I'll be getting a transfer, or going out to the main population
soon. A couple of months more of this and I think they will let up on

n SOLEDAD BROTHER

me, About parole, [can’t say, but [am notalone. I don’t feel so distressed
when I look around me and see others like myself experiencing the
same thing. The uniformity of our condition seems to lend support
to each of us. I don’t think the administrators fully understand. 1
hhave the strangest feeling that they may not understand how this
atmosphere they foster nurtures a mindless, hopeless mass. Ie is suicidal
incompetence. The strong can afford to be incompetent or wrong
sometimes without loss of face. Even the mightiest and most capable
‘of men are only human, But he who attributes to himself omnipotence
must never be wrong. For once a weakness is found, no matter how
small, in one who claims omnipotence he is completely exposed. The
fall from omnipotence ends only with insignificance, May this New
‘Year coming be your year, our year. Take care.

Love,
George

DECEMBER, 1965 29

Dear Robert,
‘The photographs were nice, Penny sent me one of her baby also. I
thought him very beautiful. Send me her address, also send Delora’s
Delora looks wel. Tell her I love her and that the baby looks just like
het. She has two babies now hasn't she? I’m an uncle three times.

Jon should be the main concern now. By now you should have seen
‘enough to know how to proceed with his development. He doesn't
ook too healthy to me. He looks thin, pale, and soft. Those weights
‘would improve his circulation and make his veins stand out. If he
works out in the backyard in the sun every evening in a year, he could
be a paragon. He needs that and he needs to be told the truth. He can
{get these things only from you. That school won't teach him anything
except possibly a few Latin prayers, but if you haven't caught on yet,
nothing I can say inthis letter will help. Don't forget I've been over the
road he is straining on now. Maybe i isa litle different now with him.
You can afford to give him bikes and baseball gloves, but the loose-
living thing is going to seem awfully exciting to him in a few years when
the compares it against che artificial world of those catholics. I'm doing
allright here I guess. You take it easy.

George

PART ONE. 2

JANUARY, 1966 1

Dear Robert,
I received your geatifying letter. Was it an expression of your love, an
indication of your gracious sympathy for the position we were both
born into, and that Lam presently feeling the cramping convulsions of
I got the money. IfI feel like a burden to you, itis bese thac we suspend
‘exchanges until I've struggled on back to my feet. You probably don't
feel chat you owe me anything, and I guess you don't since you have
accepted the values and customs of these people we live among. In that
light, Lowe to you the unquestionable honor of my struggle within this
‘American dream.

‘What can I say to you, my friend? I've been wondering if it would be
best to lie to you and hide myself, say only what I know so well that
you like to hear. I hesitate to do this because you have been lied to
so much already. To add to this may be my last and greatest and most
unpardonable crime against you. You are the older ofthe two of us. You
are a man in your way and there is much merit in the manner you have
conducted yourself these last 25 years. To have lived through the period
of your ealy youth is in itself a qualifier for respect. The following
shocks and strains were surely enough to drive the strongest man to
distraction. All the honor that you are due I freely give. However,
we, the humble representatives of the future generations, have at our
disposal all the accumulated knowledge and experiences of all past
sgenerations to build our thoughts. I have made no mark as yet to be
sure, but why is it that we cannot communicate? What is it thae bars
our efforts to exchange thoughts and ideas? The faule could lie in my
presentation. If so, I will make every effort to correct my deficiency
because it isto the interest of us both that we meet on the same level.
Can you understand that a meeting of the minds will have to precede
any advancement of our combined fortunes? The question is whether
‘we will be able ro overcome the malicious efforts and forces that divide
us and be able to put group interests before personal petty prejudice
and preconceived notions. Or will we all end by turning our backs on
cach other and going our way in anger?

I'm tired, my friend, real tired. I've gota pain deep in my stomach and
'm tired pretending that the obvious doesn’t exist and that this is the
best of all possible lives. Iris not, and ifa concentrated effort isn’t made
to finally learn and use the lessons set forth in history, unthinkable
chaos will result!

74 SOLEDAD BROTHER

I know that ie probably will not come true, but may this be your year,
‘our year to realize the promise that being born a man brings.

George

FEBRUARY, 1966 23

Dear Mama,
Thave been hoping that you would write and acknowledge my las letter.
Thope it doesn’t worry you too much that I will not be considered for
release for some time yet. It worries me enough. I hope your health
{gets no worse atleast. I'll be with you as soon as I can, I've got some
clean time in now already and plan to do as well for the rest of this year
so that in December they will let me go. They have promised me this
anyway. I don’t put any confidence whatever in what they say, but the
hope remains.

Tam in the main population now. I was released from the adjustment
center lockup today (because of good conduct) and have a good
program set up for me, one conducive to parole consideration. I have
learned something by the experience: never again to look for mercy,
never again to expect or hope for justice, never to look for quarter
‘without strings being attached. The last illusion has been shattered: I
know the way from here: ask no quarter of fae and give none,

‘That thing you mentioned concerning Frances has had me perturbed
for a week. Some just are nor going to make it, some of us have just
slipped too far to ever get back. This guy, I promise you, will be sorry
1 Tong, long time. Right here at this juncture of time we as a people
have nothing, absolutely nothing but each other, some fresh air, the
blue and gold of day and silver at night, a clean conscience, and the
promise of cloudless days to come. But some do not enjoy these things
‘enough, don’t understand the nature of our circumstances and commit
unpardonable crimes, unnatural crimes that must in the end bar
them from partaking in the benefits of the liberation that is planned
for tomorrow. In the end a requiem will be sung over the whole vast
complex of disorder.

Please inform me of any new developments there. Help Jon to become
aman, Fare you well.

George

PART ONE. 75

MARCH, 1966 3

Dear Mama,
Always good to hear from you, though it makes me sad to know that
you are not well. Just hold on chough and circumstances will cake a
definite vurn for the better, no ifs or ands about this. The way lies open
for us. I'm nor just talking or hoping. I know there isa becter life for
us. Lknow what there is to be had and of al there is to be had I plan to
claim for us the lion’s share.

You are right of course in what you contend. The black woman has in
the past few hundred years been the only force holding us together and
holding us up. She has absorbed the biggest part of the many shocks
and strains of existence under a slave order. The men can think of
nothing more effective than pimping, gambling, or petty theft. I've
heard men brag about being pimps of black women and taking money
from black women who ate on relief. Things like this I find odious,
disgusting — you are right, the black men have proven themselves to
be utterly detestable and repulsive in the past. Before I would succumb
to such subterfuge I would scratch my living from the ground on hands
and knees, or die in a hail of bullets! My hat goes off to every one of
you, you have my profoundest respect. I have surrendered all hope
‘of happiness for myself in this life to the prospect of effecting some
improvement in our circumstances as a whole. Ihave a plan, I will give,
and give, and give of myself until ic proves our making or my end. The
men of our group have developed as a resule of living under a ruthless
system a set of mannerisms that numb the soul. We have been made the
floor mat of the world, but the world has yer to see what can be done
bby men of our nature, by men who have waiked the path of disparity, of
regression, of abortion, and yet come out whole. There will be a special
page in the book of life for the men who have crawled back from the
‘grave. This page will tell of utter defeat, ruin, passivity, and subjection
in one breath, and in the next, overwhelming victory and fulfillment.

So take eare of yourself, and hold on.

Love,
George

76 SOLEDAD BROTHER

MARCH, 1966 20

Dear Mama,
We have to order books from a bookstore owned by one of the staff
here. Ic is contrary to insticution policy for someone to send us books
from outside. This is the rule, the law, so I guess it eannot be helped
Sieuations of this type are what this country is built on, the wonderful
system chat made ie great.

I've read as much St, Augustine as I could stomach. Ifyou don't know
about him and Jerome, Leibniz, and the rest of that lunatic feinge yet,
my love, you are hurting. Why do you say things like that to me? You
know how I feel about those people. You know that I am completely
aware ofall of them. [can never be deceived again by them. [know their
awesome capacity for evil, I'm victim of it now. That Pope Pius XIL, the
{guy you lec us pray for, gave Mussolini his blessing as he was about to
‘embark upon his misadventure in Ethiopia. I could give you thousands
‘of examples ofthis type. Ihave explained my feeling to you many, many
times, so I won't go any further with this. Ifchildren being blown out of
this existence while attending church services, men being lynched for
1 gesture, colonialism, the inquisition, and H-bombs haven't affected
you, nothing I say here can help you. Ifyou could live my life one week
land see the things I se, feel the pain I feel, and die a ltee bit each day
as Ido, all your illusions and apparitions would vanish. You talk to me
like Iwas born yesterday, like I was stil a ietle boy. All my life now you
have told me about European gods and European christians who were
supposed co be knowledgeable. When do you plan to say something
that will help me? You may not know any better. If not, [am wrong in
saying whar I have, but I find it hard to admit that my mother could be
so insensitive co the truth! You disrespect me, Mama, when you talk to
ime like that. Ie like you saying to me, “George. you'r a fool. You do
not have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a brain to interpret, so I'l ell you
any kind of outrageous story” Ordinary people, the mediocre, need to
feel or believe in something greater than themselves. Ie gives them false
security and it makes them feel that help may be forthcoming. This is
self-delusion in the extreme. I cannot partake in any foolishness. Do
you want me to be mediocre like the rest of the herd! When I need
strength, Mama, I reach down within myself. I draw out of the reserves
T've buile — the necessary endurance to face down my opposition. 1
call on myself, [have faith in myself. This is where it must always come
from in the end — yourself I place no one and nothing above myself

PART ONE. 7

‘What any man has done before me I can do, If there is a god, Mama,
the hates me and I'll have to resist what he or itis doing to us. All my
life, Mama, U've had to work things out for myself. I've had help from
no quarter. I've been alone now for a long time. This is why I've had so
‘much pain and trouble, Robert gave me nothing, You gave me god and
that horrible church. Even god managed to take something away from
me, I have nothing left bue myself.

Love,

George

APRIL, 1966 17

Dear Mama,
I received, your card, nice of you to think of me on Easter. Getting that
card sure made me feel a lo better. You know how important Easter is
to me. Are you any better? Have you resolved the insurance problem?
Don't worry too much about these things: solutions cause new and
sometimes even worse problems to spring up. All of our difficulties will
never be worked out. I guess perhaps this existence is merely a constant
choosing of the lesser evil.

Penny came to see me last week: I recall a time when all she wanted
'was get away from the family group, bue now that she’s on her own,
she didn’t wane to talk about anything else but you and the past. She is
devoted to you. She is a sweet, well-balanced, and wonderful woman,
deserving of much more than this life here offers us.

Bur the weather is fine here, plenty of sun lately. I exercise in the sun an
hour every day, I'm getting very big and very black.

Fare you well,

George

MAY, 19668

Dear Mama,

Allis well here, 'm going to night school again, and have encountered

no trouble of lace.

‘Are you well? They say that today is Mother’s Day: I ean’ make much
sense out oft, though. I love mine every day. But these guys around me

78 SOLEDAD BROTHER

here seem to like being told when to celebrate this and that, so should
you also feel chis way, ler me acknowledge the custom and wish you as
pleasant a Mother’ Day as is possible under our circumstances.

‘Take care of yoursel
Love,
George

SEPTEMBER, 19669

Dear Mama,
Hope you are better: the typewriter is being repaired so this comes by
hand.

‘We are in agreement on many things. Allis as well a i is possible to
be between two who are human and subject to human error. You have
done much for me and Iam sincerely in your debe: your returns will be
soon forthcoming. That which you didn’t do I never expected, for you
are after all a woman and think as a woman should, The attitudes and
methods that I have developed on my own have no reflection on you,
bur on the nature of our life circumstances and situational pressures
IsJon in health? I have some pictures of you on your trip back East. You
surely look well and unchanged

1 go to the board in December and as I have stated before I have met all
‘of their terms. My release is almost assured.

‘What is Penny’s new address? I will send her a letcer on her birthday
and discuss things as they are said to be, and as they really are. She
must be having a pretty bad time: that guy seems to be pretty Anglo-
Americanized.

Take care of yourself.
Love,

George

SEPTEMBER, 1966 16
Dear Mama,

wish you many happy returns in the birthday department. It sounds
pretty empty I know but that’ all I have to offer right now, a wish:

PART ONE. ”

Thave broad plans for che future though. A large villa for you in the
Maldive Islands, with an extra-deep bomb shelter. Allis the same here,
Each day that comes and goes is like the one before: being a good boy,
sgoing co church, reading about the saints, and getting good ratings on
my job for the proper attitudes.

‘Are you well, are you getting any of the pleasant things chat life
in these United States offers? That reminds me of a thing I read
recently concerning China. One of the top political leaders came to
an elementary school to lecture (they take education pretty seriously)
He told the children co put their heads on the desk and pray to god
for ice cream. After fifteen minutes of serious and sincere effort all the
children lose inerest and grew restive. He then told chem to pray to him
and the party for ice cream, whereupon a few minutes later they raised
their heads from their desks and found, guess what, ice cream. Isn't that
disgusting, Mama, to distort the thinking of children like that... Now
how is Jon? How much does he weigh? You don't say much about the
folks in che Midwest, are they well? Take care of yourself

Love,
George

SEPTEMBER, 1966 25

Dear Robert,
‘What has happened to Penny? Is she having troubles with her man?
You were going to send me her address, have you forgotcen? I have
been trimming down my weight some, more exercise and less food, I'm
getting ready for December. [dont want to stand out. I must fic in with
the rest of the herd and look as ordinary as possible. { wane my system
to grow accustomed to little or no food at all without it causing me the
normal distress thac ic causes others. You would be surprised how little
food an adult really needs. I went for ewo weeks on nothing but three
slices of bread and “one” cumbler of water a day without noticeable loss
mentally or physically.

‘Are you well, my friend? Glad to hear you are becoming interested in
things of the mind. The school idea is truly out of the ordinary. Most
others of your caste and peer group have given up. There ate two or
three things that I would like to take, but cannot take them here in
prison: language (Chinese and Arabic), electronics, and chemicals

80 SOLEDAD BROTHER

Maybe I'll get out next year and if I still feel the inclination I'll buy a
few courses. Take care of yourself.

George

OCTOBER, 1966 20

Dear Robert,
Just received your letter of October 15, good to hear that Jon is well, and
that your studies are comingalong. I wanted to exhaust the possibilities
of getting thar free course in drafting here. I wanted to know if I was
{going to remain here in this prison at least until board before I asked
you to put yourself out in sending ic. Well itis conclusive that I will
not be able to take it here, The school is carrying the course bue there
is no room for folks like me, just right now, maybe next year. I have
found conclusively that I will not be transferred either. So, my friend,
if you will, and whenever you can, send the course from LaSalle. I will
be able to finish much sooner than you think. My math is excellent and
Thave nothing bue time. I'll suspend my other endeavors in deference
to the speedy and satisfactory completion of this course. Upon closer
‘examination of all che facts involved in my doing something like this in
here I also find that plastic tools are not necessary. I can have and use
anything necessary for the course. LaSalle sends al of these tools right
along with the course, so things are not as complicated as I thought
them at first to be.

Very likely I will be given a parole date this year. If so, or perhaps to
increase the possibility, I should have a job offer here on record. You
could correspond with some machine shops or the like right now
and tell them thae I have completed or am just about to complete an
accredited course in drafting, and I need a statement from them on
record here to be released. Don’t worry about me nor being prepared
by then. I have thought everything out. But any offer from almost any
area will suffice to get me out. If you are not able to get someone to
send me ina job offer then there should be a lengthy statement here on
record that you are willing to support me while I go to school. I hope
you understand what I am saying. I have to have something on record
for the board to gain the impression all is secure financially for my
release. Ir may be less difficult just to state officially that I am going to

PART ONE. al

school and that you plan to pay my way completely through it upon my
release. We must decide now what will be said for their benefit upon
this matter now. Let me know in your next letcer which will be easier
for you to do. Get me a job offer or state that our plans include school
with your full backing. Send it to the Department of Corrections in
Sacramento.

Take care of yourself,
George

DECEMBER, 19662

Dear Robert,
‘The typewriter is being repaired again. Never buy a plastic typewriter.
‘Though good for some things, plastic is too flexible for that type of
machinery. Ie keeps the parts out of trim. I received your letter and
nothing that develops from this mess will surprise me. I have taken all
possibilities into account, in advance. I have nothing going for me and
any good or favorable turn of event will be only luck, good fortune.

You don't really think that I mind not being liked by them, do you?
I sincerely feel chat ic is a tribute to my character that they do not. I
said what I did only to help you understand my position, and in eurn
understand any fucure action I may undertake. But I don’t want you
to trouble your mind, or lose any sleep about the seriousness of my
position either. When things become too hard for everyone else, that’s
when I start enjoying myself. Just understand in the light of fucure
cevents that I am guided by necessity and that my needs are different
than yours. The board meets during the last few days of the month.

‘Take care of yourself, my friend,
George

DECEMBER, 1966 3

Dear Robert,
Tam worried about Penny. Does she still write you? Have you let her
know that should she need a refuge or a strong arm she can find them
in her father. Women need to know these things. It is tormenting to
them co know that they are alone, can look to no quarter for string-

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER

$free aid. If Penny felt that she had no choice in the matter, no help, she ‘would accept ill treatment forever. But then an offer of help must seem freely and honestly given to be of value. Are you well, my friend? The climate here is terrible, and I am not talking aboue the weather, each day is a tral. I stay close co my cell these days, reading, working on my book. Take care of yourself, George JANUARY, 19673 Dear Mama, Thave at least another fourteen or eighteen months to do. OF course I could do the rest of my life here, not taking into account a possible change in the system of government and economics, a change of hhands, that is. They gave me no consideration at the board, the same people that gave me their promise last year. I was not surprised, I was completely prepared for this. Take care of yourself. George JANUARY, 1967 12 Dear Mama, Your letcer was well received; it left me feeling better than I have felt for years. I have never felt as close to any human as I do to you now. Your thoughts mirror mine exactly. Why have you left me alone to my struggle so long? I know the answer to this must be that we hesitate to reveal or acknowledge the existence of ugliness to the ones we love, ceven though the knowledge of such may better equip them to resist the effects of evil. am goinginto my seventh year here, [have learned as muchas possibly could in this time: I have studied myself closely, I have studied people, ‘human and inhuman, wanting to know and understand, I am given to understand that itis the strong who rule the weak but, in turn, the wise rule over the strong, So you see that I recognize the value of what you have stated concerning faith and wisdom, What is happening to me here, what has happened, what will happen, can never surprise or upset me again, My nerves have been fractured, my sensibilities outraged, for PART ONE. 83$

the last time. Its all a matter of course to me now. My outlook is clear
and the future holds no more terrors for me, Just existing, life without
joy, without real meaning does not appeal to me at all. Tam very tired
‘of waking up each morning wondering if I will be worked for nothing
again today, or wondering if I will be insulted, humiliated, injured, or
ceven done to death today. There are a few things that I must be decisive
about, a few things that I know to be so. then there are things which
my faith tells me could possibly be so. I have faith in the face that we,
the majority of peoples (5 to 1) on earth, can live with and complement
cach other's existence if we rid the earth of the barbarous influence
spread by this inhuman, unnatural minority! My faith in life holds still
to the principle that we men of color will soon make a harmonious
world out of this chaotic travesty of fact. But first we must destroy the
malefactor and root out all of his ideals, moralities, and insticutions.
Ic is to this end that I have long since dedicated myself, co extinguish
forever the lights of a perverted science in any way that I can, by any
and all means. To accomplish this we can no longer woo false gods or
invoke half measures. Please understand that though I would miss you
and all the others, though I love you dearly. I do not want to live in this
world as itis. Ido not think of myself as one small person among so
many. [know what I can do, I know I can build and can cause things to
happen, but I also can be hurt,

L. is my closest consort, a true friend, che most trustworthy man Ihave
cever met. This is saying a lot, believe me, trust isa difficult thing to
build between men brought up under Anglo-American or Western
cultures. I learned much from him. He is also tired of seeing himself
through the eyes of others on Amos *n’ Andy and I Spy. This individual
‘comes to you with my highest recommendation. He will help me. You
help him to help me. His intelligence and character are unquestionable.

George

JANUARY, 1967 23

Dear Robert,
Tried to write several times these last couple of weeks but my letters all
came back with a note attached explaining what I can and cannot say.

Have you been well? How old are you now, pop? Where were you and
what were you doing when you were my age, twenty-five? I'l ber you

a SOLEDAD BROTHER

‘were not doing too much better than I am now. You probably were not
in prison. Well, I know you were not, but was your standing socially
and economically speaking any better than mine? I guess it was, since
you at least had limited freedom of movement. I have none here.

Although I would very much like to get out of here in order to develop
1 few ideas that have occurred to me — although I would not like
to leave my bones here on the hill if itis a choice between that and
surrendering the things that make me a man, the things that allow me
to hold my head erece and unbowed, then the hill can have my bones.
Many times in the history of our past — I speak of the African here in
the USS. — many times we were presented with this choice, too many
times, too many of us choose to live the crippled existence of the near-
man, the half-man. Well, I don’t care how long I live. Over this I have
no control, but I do care about what kind oflife I live, and Iean control
this. may not live bur another five minutes, but it will be five minutes
definitely on my terms.

George

JANUARY, 1967 31

Dear Frances,
Sorry to have neglected you for so long: things are very complicated for
ime here. I stay very busy, all of the time. I never have enough time to
do the things that I must. [ have made inroads into political economy,
‘geography, forms of government, anthropology, archaeology and the
basics of three languages, and when I can get hold of them some of,
the works on urban guerrilla warfare. I can use some assistance on the
language aspect, though. Next time you pass a bookstore ask about a
book dealing with Swahili a self-teaching Swahili book. Ger the proper
title and the publisher's name and also a good self-teaching book on
Arabic.

Last year Mama suggested that a lawyer could possibly help me get out
of here, by sitting in and representing me at the board. I wish I had
gone along with it. A couple of people have gotten out like that. There
is a lady lawyer up here in San Francisco who specializes in that. She
says a grand in her hand, several months before the board, is all that is
required to get a date, fa person has his minimum in, My minimum is
‘one year, o I've got seven times more than necessary. Talk to Robert

PART ONE. 85

about this. If she doesn’t get a client out, she returns his money. IF
Robert borrowed it and got me out I would of course return it. If
don't get a new sentence for the scuff I am locked up for now, that is
what we must do. Just discuss it with Robert for now. I'll let you know
ina few months if you should take definite steps in that direction. First
I must ascertain whether or not they plan to fix me with the blame for
these recent events.

1 must now start doing all chat is humanly possible to get out of prison
T can see great ill forecast for me if I don’t find some way to extract
myself from these people's control. “If we must die let it nor be like
hhogs, hunted and pinned in an inglorious spot, while around us bark
the mad and hungry dogs making their mock at our accursed lot: if
‘we must die then lee us nobly die, so that our precious blood may not
be shed in vain. Then even the monsters we defy shall be constrained
to honor us though dead. We kinsmen must meet the common foe,
though far outnumbered, let us show us brave, and for their thousand
blows, deal one death blow. What though before us lies the open grave,
like men we'll face the murderous pack, pressed to che wall, dying, but
fighting back.” I don’t mind dying but I'd like to have the opportunity
to fight back. Take care.

George

FEBRUARY, 1967 1

Dear Mother,
‘Things are normal here, the usual turmoil. I hope you are well. I
hope you are doing enough light exercise each day to work up some
perspiration and not eating the wrong things — pork, sugar, white
bread, etc. I'm very careful in this respect and enjoy almost perfect
health and great reserves of energy and strength in spite of my
circumstances. But I do heavy exercises, maybe two hours worth a day,
every day. In close confinement where I cannot get to any workout
facilities, as now, I work out somewhat differently. I rake neat piles of
books and magazines tied together and exercise with them. For you I
imagine some deep knee bends, touch your toes, and say some push-
ups would be fine. You would do five sets of ten of each exercise. For
‘example, start by doing ten push-ups, rest a minute or ewo, do ten more,
rest a few minutes, ete. until you get to five sets, then go to the next
‘exercise. Stay young and firm that way. Resistance to bodily disorders
stays high, or builds up.

86 SOLEDAD BROTHER

‘You know when they locked me up this time all my personal property
‘came up missing. I'll have to replace everything — two personal chess
sets, toilet articles, che black sweat shirts. [ had four of these bue saved
only the one I had on, Even the plastic tumblers I used to drink with in
the cell, everything is gone. I’m not sure about the typewriter, I can’t
{get any information on it. I know that I don’t have it here: whether itis
safe somewhere else I don’t know. Then, too, several of us blacks were
locked up at the same time for just about the same thing. They go to
the small adjustment center yard each day for two hours: Lam forced to
remain in my cell, no fresh ait, no sun, ewenty-four hours a day in here,
Iedoesn't bother me, though. I've trained myself not to be disorganized
by any measure they take against me. I exercise in here, and pursue my
studies. That fills my day oue nicely. Since I know that I am the original
man and will soon inherit this earth, I am content to just prepare
myself and wait, nothing an stop me now! But I do sometimes wonder
just exactly how they got the way they are. I know beyond question
the extent of che evil chat lurks in their hearts: Isee the insane passion,
inherent in their characters, to dominate all chat they come in contact
with, What aggressive psychosis impels a man to want his dessert and
mine to0, to want to feast at every table, to want to cast his shadow
‘over every land? I don’t know what they are: some Folks call them devils
(doers of evil). I don’t know if this is an adequate description. Ie goes
much deeper. From their footprints I see that they are descendants of
Pichecanchropus erectus like ourselves, but here the similarity ends. I
refuse o compare myself wich a man who for one truth will tell ninety-
nine lies: with a vampire who cannot stand in the sun and do a day’s
‘work: and with someone who thrives upon the blood, sweat, and tears
‘of any who fall within his power. Bue doomsday is dawning: on this
‘most awesome day all imbalances and contradictions must be resolved,
and it will be some of us who will be left to rebuild this world and
people these lands with civil men.

George

MARCH, 1967

Dear Mother,

I guess Robert told you what happened to me here. My comrades have
prevailed upon me to desist for a time, but I must decide for myself. In
any event I won't lose my head. This isa terrible price to pay just co stay
alive, or I should say just to exist: [have never really lived,

PART ONE. 87

You know I have grown very, very tired of talking, and listening to
talk. King and his kind have betrayed our bosom interests with their
demagogic delirium. The poor fool knows nothing of the antagonist’s
true nature and has not the perception to read and learn by history
and past events, In a nonviolent movement there must be a latent
threat of eruption, a dormant possibility of sudden and violent action
if concessions are to be won, respect gained, and the established order
altered. That nonviolent theory is practicable in civilized lands among
civilized people, the Asians and Africans, but a look at European
history shows that anything of great value that ever changed hands was
taken by force of arms.

I cannot lee my feelings become involved. I must not fall victim to a
play of emotions, because it would limit my ability to actin my defense,

You know the world. The depressed peoples of the world are very
shortly going to grow tired of being wooed and lulled into passivity
and quiet endurance by chromium and neon lights. The soft music
from the many well-placed public-address loudspeakers and car radios
will no longer serve as balm to the thwarted hopes, defeated aims, and
brutal suppression of needed change. They'll come out of their coma
with a bloodlust and justified indignation for social injustice that will
sweep the asphalt right from under the empire builders. This is the
only reason I hang on. I want to be in the vanguard.

My cell partner puts i this way: “Every sickness ain't death, every
‘good-bye ain’t gone, and every big man ain't strong.” I say: “Let Rome
in Tiber mele, and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall” and “The
jungle is still the jungle be it composed of trees or skyscrapers, and the
law of che jungle is bite or be bitten,

Take cate.
Son

MARCH, 1967 26
Dear Mama,

Papa!” has had the “true release, and at last the clasp of peace.” For him
to have received this at such a great age and without violence is no

12 George Davis, che author's grandfather

88 SOLEDAD BROTHER

small consolation. [loved him dearly and thoughe of him as one of our
‘most practical and level-headed kin. You probably don't remember the
ong walks and talks Papa and I used to take, or the long visits when he
lived on Lake Street and we lived on Warren. But I remember. He used
to say things, probably just thinking aloud, sure that I wasn’t listening
‘or would not comprehend. But I did, and I chink I knew him beccer
than most. Do you remember how I used to answer “What” to every
question put to me, and how Papa would deride me for this? He later
in the course of our exchanges taught me to answer questions with
“Why” instead of “What.” Another of our games helped me greatly
with my powers of observation, When we would walk, he told me to
always look at the large signboards as deeply as possible and after we
hhad passed one, he would make me recite all chae was on it. I would
never remember as much detail as he, but I did win a kind word or two
‘on occasion. We played this same game at his house with piccures and
‘objects spread out on the table or bed.

I wish he could have survived to sce and enjoy the new world we plan
to create from this chaos. If could have gotten out of here last year he
‘would never have gone out on sardines and crackers. I don't know how
anyone else views the matter and don’t care, but now for me his is one
more voice added to the already thunderous chorus that ery from their
unmarked and unhallowed graves for vindication.

Don't wait for me to change or modify my attitudes in the least. I
cannot understand, as you putt, or as you would have me understand.
Tama man, you area woman. Beinga woman, you may expect to be and
enjoy being tyrannized. Perhaps you actually like walking at the heel
‘of another, or otherwise placing yourself beneath another, but for me
this is despicable. I refuse to even attempt to understand why I should
debase myself or concede or compromise any part, the smallest part,
‘of anything on earth to anyone who is not of my kind in thought and
form.

T love you, Mama, but I must be frank. Why did Papa die alone and
hungry? Why did you think me insane for wanting a new bicycle
instead of the old one I stole piece by piece and put together? Why
did you allow us to worship ata white altar? Why even now, following
tragedy after tragedy, crisis after crisis, do you still send Jon to that
school where he is taughe co feel inferior, and why do you continue to
send me Easter cards? This is the height of disrespect you show me.
You never wanted me to be a man nor Jon either. You don't wane us

PART ONE. 89

to resist and defeat our enemies. What is wrong with you, Mama? No
‘other mama in history has acted the way you ace under stress situations.
won't be a good boy ever.

Love,
George

MARCH, 1967 26

Dear Robert,
‘Why, my friend, did Papa go out alone and hungry. Did Frances and
Mama ever talk to you of his condition when they returned from Illinois
last year. Was it ever put to him that he could stay with you people and
cat when you ate and fast when you fasted, I wonder? “When poverty
‘comes in atthe door, love fies out of the window.”

Can you see the division among us and its effect? This is our greatest
obstacle. I sometimes wonder how this will turn out. Before we can
ever effectively face down the foe, we must have had long since learned
to share, crust, communicate, and live harmoniously with each other.
Our new state governor has decreed that the daily food allowance
for each convier be cut exactly in half. We get almost no “grade one”
protein now. Stuff like eggs. meat, and milk products is seldom seen
now. So my experiments in self-discipline are now paying off. Everyone
else is hungry now, while I feel nothing. And this is just the beginning:
the reactionary, repressive forces presently at work will bring things to
such a isis soon that Baldwin's warning of “The fire next time” must
soon be borne out with all is sinister accompaniments.

‘Take care of yourself, Pop. Comfort Mom as well as you can and tell
her I'mall right, healehy, happy, content. Of course, this isa lie, but she
likes to be lied to.

George

MARCH, 1967 27

Dear Mama,
Please don't take what I expressed in my last letcer too seriously. I was
feeling extremely bad. Try to relax: the mental depression you are
presently gripped by comes from a very common cause, particularly

0 SOLEDAD BROTHER

amongus lacks herein the US. Asa defense, we lookat life through our
rose-colored glasses, rationalizing and pretending that things are not so
bad afterall, but then day after day — tragedy after tragedy strikes and
confuses us, and our pretense fails to aid or dispel the nagging feeling
that we cannot have security in an insecure society, especially when
‘one belongs to an insecure caste within this larger society. I believe
sincerely that you will be a very unhappy and perplexed woman for as
Jongas you try to pretend that you have anything in common with this
culture, or better, that this culture has anything in common with you,
and as long as you pretend that there is no difference between men,
and as long as you try to be more English than the English, while the
English ignore your attempts and use your humility to their advantage.
I suggest no action, no physical action that is for [know you have never
been a woman of action, but I do suggest that you purge your mind
little by little of some of your Western notions. Direct your nervous
animosity at the right people and their system, and stop. for your
‘own sake please stop blaming yourself. Ifyou were, right now, walking
toward your kitchen with the whole family’s life savings in your hand,
ler say, and I sneaked up behind you and pulled the rug from under
youand you fell and broke your arm, leg. nose, and the money flew into
the burning fireplace, would you get up blaming me for pulling the rug.
‘or would you just lay there and blame yourself and pretend that you
didn’t really fall, or that the whole thing made no difference anyway?
The analogy is perfect.

Do you know who I blame for what has happened to me the last 25
years, and before to my ancestors? I would be narrow-minded indeed
if I blamed any of you, my folks. I don’t blame you for not teaching
me how to get what I wanted without getting put in jail, nor do I
blame myself. I was born knowing nothing and am a product of my
total surroundings. I blame the capitalistic dog, the imperialistic,
cave-dwelling brute that kidnapped us, pulled the rug from under us,
made us a caste within his society with no vertical economic mobility.
‘As soon as all this became clear to me and I developed the nerve to
admit it to myself, that we were defeated in war and are now captives,
slaves or actually that we inherited a neoslave existence, I immediately
became relaxed, always expecting the worst, and started working on
the remedy. Can you play chess? Ie relaxes, builds foresight, alertness,
concentration, and judgment. Learn, so we can play next year.

George

PART ONE. 91

MAY, 19679

Dear Robert,
‘That's great about the classes. You passed the exams pretty easy, didn't
your Ie’s wonderful to have a pop with brains. I was approved for a
transfer, but itis not official yet. When i is T'll inform you of the
denals.

T've been getting a lot of work done lately. My mind is fast becoming
clear and I am slowly harnessing my emotions, I can go days without
speaking a word. With che pursuie of food and shelter relegated to the
state, [ have been able to channel all my thoughts to important chings,
significanc things, So I attempe co bend this experience to our benefit
rather than let them weaken and destroy me, as they would like. You
are aware that these places, this one in particular, will ether bring out
the best in an individual or ruin him entirely. Wherever they send
me, Robert, I will try as hard as my character will alow to avoid all
involvement in those situations that lead to trouble. But I ean promise
nothing, the fuure holds no surprises for me. I expect anything,
including trouble, especially trouble, considering the times. I have
adopted, these last several months, a new attitude, however, that will
limi the scope of my troubles.

Take care of yourself.
George

MAY, 1967 16

Dear Robert,
That is good reasoning concerning the school issue. It was a wise
decision in every way you look at it. The other way (catholic school)
you pay more for less education, plus they make emotional pansies of
the boys with that sanctimonious dogma. Dear Pop, I'm not ust talking
for the sake of talking. Iam deeply concerned for Jon and youall. Much
thought goes into all I attempt to convey. Whenever a man builds an
image of himself and of his surroundings that he cannot live up to and
that does nor conform to the de facto situation, the end result must
be confusion and emotional breakdown. If my instructor tells me that
the world and ies affairs are run as well as they possibly can be, that
Tam governed by wise and judicious men, that I am free and should
be happy, and if when I leave the instructor’ presence and encounter

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER

the exact opposite, if I actually sense or see confusion, war, inflation,
recession, depression, death, and decay, is it not reasonable that I
should become perplexed? If my instructor tells me thae sex is evil, bad,
base, and I happen to like sex, is it not reasonable to assume that I will
develop mixed emotions concerning sex? If this instructor relates to me
that sex is bad, thinking of itis lustful, and Lust isa sign of my moral
decay, what opinion will I have of myself? This is what they will do
to Jon at thar catholic school. But that is just part of it. He will also
learn that J.C. was white, which isa lie. That the Egyptians were white,
which isa lie, Thae the people of India are white under their black skin.
‘That Chinese are yellow, when they range from brown to the blackest
black. He will get a lot of this misinformation in public school too,
bur not nearly as much, With a little effort after school from you this
can be corrected. Tell him that these men don't always tell che truth,
Make him read histories by Ronald Segal, Du Bois, etc. Make him read
the pro-Eastern writers, so that he will have a good cross section of
all there is to be heard. Show him how to masturbate, and explain to
hhim that making love with a woman is the most natural ching on earth,
Explain how he can do so without getting the gir! pregnane. Tell him
that “there is no hell, no heaven, and no immortality, and chat all things
are permissible? as long as the next man’s feelings are considered.

None of those at home who contest you in your judgment know neatly
as much about life as you. So you must be firm and decisive. None of
the Western European cultures know anything about philosophy (love
‘of knowledge). They know nothing of the proper way that men should
carry on their relations with other men, Proof of this — who originated
the passport laws, tariff laws, atom bomb, competitive enterprise, ete.
«exc. They only excel in one area, technology. So let Jon learn chemistry
at school. You give him his economies, history, and philosophy at
home!

George

MAY, 1967 21

Dear Robert,
Penny was here again last week. She has taught the little guy how co
say Uncle George. So “Uncle George” was ringing the length of the
visiting hall for a couple of hours. However, I was less than pleased. I
tried co get him to change it to “Comrade George.” but he didn’t seem

PART ONE. 93

to understand. Uncle George is too much like Uncle Tom and Uncle
Ben (of rice-box fame) for comfort!

I erust you are well. Iam holding off the ill effects of the concentration
‘camp as best I can, Ie seems a losing battle, however. I've had to take to
‘wearing glasses of considerable strength due to failure of my eyesight.
Living in chis constant half-light, I guess. When you told me a while
back of Frances’ serious eye problem, I resolved upon my release to have
‘one of mine transplanted into her head. But this will no longer be any
bargain for her.

Ihave been having trouble with my eyes for a year. When I finally was
able to maneuver an eye test, I was surprised at the amount of money
they took from my account (money thae you have sent me that I have
not used yet). I was even more surprised when I finally got the glasses
two months later with their strength and how much they improved my

Speaking of money and accounts, Pop, I'm flush for now, by flush I
mean I have stocked up on envelopes and toothpaste, I've come to
realize that I don’t need much to eat to stay alive and I don't smoke,
T can get fat on what the average man may starve on. So the money
you have been sending me can be put t0 use at home there, your
books, or perhaps something for Jon, he also needs supplementary
reading material. Iam sorry that you and Mama don't make each other
happy. European-Anglo-American brainwashing is at the bottom of
it. Those empry pscudo-middle-class ideas that we have adopted from
the opposition make us unhappy in the same way the middle class
itself is unhappy. Then too when poverty comes in at the door, loves
leaves by the window. We all know who has caused our poverty. I have
experienced the same thing with women and men. All che women
ve had tried co use me, tried to secure through me a soft spor in this
cutthroat system for themselves. All they ever wanted was clothes and
money and to be taken out to flash these things. Ino longer have time
for such small ideas or small people. Blacks that I've met here who
exhibit such characteristics I disdain and ignore. The same with any
‘woman I may have when I get out. She must let me retrain her mind
oro deal.

George

on SOLEDAD BROTHER

MAY, 1967 28

Dear Robert,
ve been a good boy lately, kind, polite, forgiving. Don’t know if it
will do any good though since people invariably mistake kindness for
weakness, I really cannot imagine how anyone can stay detached and
complacent for any period of time and still maintain social contacts
‘on any level. Ie no longer surprises me, but I still find the general
acceptance and widespread practice of the more deranged products of
‘Western culeure disturbing, Prying, nosy, schizophrenic, domineering,
psychoneurotie people press you from all sides. They remain in a
continual state of agitation, always on the brink of doing something
maniacal! Capitalism, 1 believe, the capitalizing on the next man’s
labor, on the next man’s weakness, has contributed greatly to the
development of the anomalous “Western man’: capitalism, competitive
‘enterprise, man competing against man for the necessary things, for
status symbols, for power to repress his competitors and secure his
personal well-being to exercise his ego, his fancy. Ijust cannot get used
of the idea of some petty, stereotyped, bureaucratic official, patently
suffering from some mental disorder, asking me questions, calling on
me to explain myself. [vis odd, and ironical, the trickery and turnabout
that has gone down these last few generations.

Chew on this a few moments: a colonizer, a usurer, the original thief,
‘a murderer for personal gain, a kidnapper-slaver, a maker of cannon,
‘bombs, and poison gas, an egocentric parasite, the original fork tongue,
the odd man is trying to convey to us that we must adjust ourselves to
his warp, that we must learn to be more like him, thae because we're
not we're backward, underdeveloped, unsophisticated! This is strange
and contradictory.

1 am deeply sorry that I ever told a lie, stole anything robbed and
cheated at anything — mainly because itis so much like conforming
to Western ways. To all appearances they are upset with me for doing
these things. That privilege is supposed to be reserved for them I guess.
So whae do they mean by saying that we must get in with them, be
like them, adopt capitalism, clothe ourselves in Western ways? This
is a strange and contradictory thing. If we the colored and black of
the world adope capitalism where would we have to seek our colonies,
Europe, the US.2! Who would we capitalize on if we used their history
as a pattern? Them I should say!! Who would we kidnap, murder,
lynch, enslave, and then neglect!! So what do they mean by saying, "Do

PART ONE. 95

as do"? Idon’t think, well Iknow that they are not serious, not sincere.
I think they are employing another trick, a ploy to further confuse us
and use us, I think what they mean is not "Do as I do” but “Do as I
say"! In the 1770s the Europeans over here wanted to pull away from
the Europeans of England. They called ica freedom fight. Now we men
‘of color here in the U.S. want to pull away from these Europeans and
they call ie subversion, irresponsibility, ete. I don’t even speak to them
anymore. I go my way and hope to be lefe alone.

George

JULY, 1967 13

Dear Robert,
I'm in regular adjustment center — segregation again. They have let
ime have my personal property, books, toilet articles, envelopes, that is
‘minus 90 percent of it. It happens every time I transfer from one part
of the prison to another oF go to isolation, my stuff gets ripped off. I
get robbed. I'm sure it wasn't the officials. They are such nice, efficient
people, so I won't complain here with my pencil. I'll need a few dollars
to replace the necessary things (envelopes, dictionary, etc), when you
can afford it.

Your physical appearance hasn't changed at all over the years, Pop.
Clean living has preserved you marvelously. Do you ever drink any
alcoholic beverages? I have never known you to, but that doesn't mean
that you don’t, How much sleep do you average a day? Perhaps I won't
live to be as old as you ate, but if I do I won't look as good. The loose
skin on my face is already starting to wrinkle, and strange as it seems,
Trend toward obesity if I eat certain foods. I must have picked that up
from Mama, How is she? Tell her I'm going to be a good boy from now
until Ican get our of here.

I worry about Penny, does she know that she can come home if the
circumstance make it necessary? She respects you for what you have
done for usandaccepts youas youare,So doll, Pop. [recall hat younever
hhad more than one suit or two pairs of shoes all chroughout the early
years. I never remember you having a moment's personal gratification
during those years. No one believes me when I tell chem you never
‘went to a nightclub or finger-poppers’ party during the twenty years
that I remember. I don’t think any other man in the US. would have

96 SOLEDAD BROTHER

reacted as you did concerning that incident with the Hudson car, fixing
iewith your hands and driving it for five years in that condition. False
pride would have forced anyone else into radical and uneconomic acts
I fele real bad about that, but I didn’t understand life then as I do now.
I'm deeply sorry for the weak, silly transgressions of my past, and I'm
sorry that I won't be able to conduct my relations with the world as
you would have me conduct chem. I see the big picture where you may
never have. I think I see the larger historical concept in its Full detail,
‘The obligation you felt toward us, I feel toward history. I must follow
iy call. I is of great importance to me that you understand this and
sgive me your blessings. I don’t care about anyone else. I don’t feel I must
explain myself or be understood by anyone else on earth,

George

JULY, 1967 15

My Friend,
I got your letter of June 5. I have it here before me, I told Les to
cooperate with your efforts for me. I sure do need some of the benefits
‘of togetherness now. As I explained I am in adjustment center here for
an undefined amount of time.

Les speaks of me coming home with optimism, but I would benefit
largely from a transfer. No one, among the officials that i, ever calls
me out of my cell anymore to speak with me of my progeess or my
fucure. I’m just locked down and forgotten. Can a lawyer do anything
about getting me a transfer? He would have to go through Sacramento.
‘The justification for such action is obvious: I cannot adjust here, the
officials have preconceived notions about my behavioral patterns
and consequently look for the worst in me. The atmosphere here is
aggressive, and I'm too far away from home. I cannot get regular visits
and thus miss the beneficial influence of you and my parents,

My friend, my thinking has changed somewhat since I saw you last,
‘That fellow who sent pictures of his Cadillac auto up here ean explain
some of the workings and progress of my thoughts. I hope he doesn’t
betray himself with chat fast living I hear he is doing. Seems he has
learned nothing from bicer experience! I have trained away, pressed
‘out forever the last of my Western habits. You remember I never got
intoxicated or spent any money or time on trifles, but in the passing

PART ONE. 7

of these last couple of years, I have completely retrained myself and
my thinking to the point now that I think and dream of one thing
only, 24 hours of each day. I have no habits, no ego, no name, no face.
I feel no love, no tenderness, for anyone who does not think as I do,
‘There can be no ties of blood or kinship strong enough to move me
from my course. I'l never, never trade my self-determination for a car,
cheap mass-produced clothes, clapboard house, or a couple of nights a
week at the go-go. Control over the circumstances that surround my
cexistenceiis ofthe first importance to me. Without this control, or with
control in someone else’s hands, I am forever insecure, subject at all
times to the whim and caprice of the man in control, and you and I
know how whimsical some men can be. Well, Pop, I'll be going outside
to court the seventh of August to testify for a friend. I'l geca glimpse
of the world at large, ifyou can call San Rafael the world a large.

Thope you are doing well. Lwould have written before now but I wasin
isolation up until che eleventh of this month, as you know.

Do you have time to read? I'll suggest some books if so, next letter,
Take cate.

George

JULY, 1967 19

Dear Robert,
Iwrote you letter about two weeks ago. Iwas returned to me today. It
never got out of the institution. Received your letcer of the 15th today,
no change here. I have that address I asked you for. I got it through
other channels. I was spelling and pronouncing the name wrong. Tell
A.A. to get busy and make my woman start writing. A visit every now
and then would be nice also. Tell him to send me her new address that
Imay send hera correspondence form. You don't know her, but he will,

Penny has not been up to see me since you came, no letter either, hope
she is all right. Locked up 24 hours a day now. Ie’ all right, hough —
gives me plenty of time at my work. My cell faces north, and there isa
‘window in front of it. Plenty of fresh air comes into my cell.

George

98 SOLEDAD BROTHER

JULY, 1967 28

Dear Georgia,
For me, the word “soul” has yet to be properly defined. I have seen or
felt no evidence of its existence. I have heard the word and listened to
the theory connected with it, but ie is abstract and academic at best,
‘The theory of an existing and benevolent god simply doesn’t make
sense to anyone who is rational. A benevolent and omnipotent god
‘would never allow such imbalances as I see to exist for one second. IF
by chance I am wrong, however, I must then assume that being born
black called for some automatic punishment for sins I know nothing
about, and being innocent it behooves me to defy god. I seriously fail
to understand when someone speaks of my soul, bue I do know what
my body needs. know what my mind incessantly craves. Gratification
ofthese is what I must pursue. As a woman I can understand your being
naturally disposed to servitude. Ican understand your feelings but what
can’t understand is why you would have me feel the same, considering
that Lam a man, Why have you always attempted to implant womanly
ideas into my character. Of course itis your option to do as you please,
bur please don’t feel thae I love you less simply because [fail to respond,
or feel that I love you any less because I do not have time to explain
myself

Love has never turned aside the boot, blade, or bullet. Neither has it
‘ever satisfied my hunger of body or mind. The author of my hunger, the
architect of the ciscumstantial pressures which are the sole cause of my
ills will find no peace, inthis existence or the next, or the one following
that: never, never. I'll dog his trail to infinity. I hope I never will feel
ve love forthe thing that causes insufferable pain. What I do feel isthe
urge to resist, resist, and never stop resisting or even think of stopping
my resistance until victory falls ro me. Extreme, perhaps, bue involved
is my self-determination, and control of the environment upon which
my existence depends, and the existence of my father, mother, Delora’s
and Penny’s sons, and all chat I feel tied to. We are in an extreme
situation. I didn’t exeate this impasse. I had nothing to do with the
arrival of matters at this destructive end, as you infer. Did I colonize,
kidnap, make war on myself, destroy my own institutions, enslave
myself, use myself, and neglect myself, steal my identity and then,
being reduced to nothing, invent a competitive economy knowing that
I cannot compete? Sounds very foolish, but this is what you propose
when you place the blame on me or on “us.” It was a fool who created

100 SOLEDAD BROTHER

this monster, one unaccustomed to power and its use, a foolish man
‘grown heady with power and made drunk, dizzy drunk from the hot
air that inflates his ego. Iam his victim, born innocent, a total product
‘of my surroundings. Everything that I am, I developed into because of
circumstantial and sicuational pressures. I was born knowing nothing:
necessity and environment formed me, and everyone like me. Please
accord me at least the social morality chat springs from its contorted
brain center. 'm through with weakness and cowardice. I've trained it
‘out, Let come what comes. I can never delude myself into thinking that
Tove my enemies. I can hardly do any worse than Iam doing now: if
‘worst comes to worst chat’ al right, I'll just continue the fight in hell,

George

AUGUST, 1967 10

Dear Robert,
‘Things are looking up, I have a promise on my injured leg, should be
seeing about it anytime now. I'm in pretty good shape and it won't kill
me, Good move you made on your way out. I could never say anything
like that for myself. No one would believe me. Doing good, minding
my business, won't let you down. Delora is quite handsome, you know
that was the first rime I'd seen her in seven years. There are three ways
to enforce and build discipline in a child: through terror, through
guile, and through shame. The first principle isthe worst and involves
keeping the child in constant fear of beating or harsh reprimand. This
is not conducive to all-round adjustment. Either the child becomes a
confirmed coward or at best unstable and erratic. A child with feelings
of insecurity (lack of confidence) may later on try to prove himself
by deliberately doing things against what he has been taught is right.
‘Think on that a moment! Then the guile concept: i¢ finds expression
in convincing the child that he will suffer god's wrath (religion) or be
looked upon as a fool, knucklehead, buffoon, or evil and maligned
person by the rest of mankind. This is not good in that it causes the
child co be too dependent. He cannot develop or become creative for
fear of disapproval from on high. Then, what man can live up to the
expectations of god. Then there are those amongus who cannot live up
to the expectations of other men, society. What happens to the child
who cannot live up to gods or man’s expectations, the child trained or
disciplined through guilt feelings. His confidence is forever destroyed
and he becomes the ubiquitous temporizer, the listless apathetic.

PART ONE. 101

‘The last principle is the only one worthy of intelligent parents: shame.
Ifa child does nor react in the proper way and carry out his ducies
toward parents and peers he should be taught to feel shame or lose
face as the Eastern people call it. The child feels that he has let himself
down when he fails to do the proper thing. Only constant and calm,
rational reproof can cause this Feeling in a kid, In other words, it takes
brains and persistence on the pare of the parent to shape the child's
thinking, Ie should be clear that becoming frantic and beside oneself,
beating and cussing is going to give the child a new experience and
leave an impression that may not be wholesome. Felix Greene wrote
that in all the time he spent in a certain country in the East he never
saw a child throw a tantrum, He asked one of the social workers there
about it, describing the features of a childish tantrum. The Eastern
social worker's shocked expression and complete ignorance of any such
things happening to the children caused Greene to investigate further
and deduce that they don't go through emotional breakdowns "because
they have no precedents from their parents.” Take care

George

AUGUST, 1967 26

Dear Robert,
‘The paper started one week ago, Saturday. Everything is all right. I'l
do as you say about the patience. Perhaps I expect too much from
people. Hospital and X rays any day now. I expect help from certain
people only, bue I'l ake your advice and look no more. OF course this
doesn't mean that I am going co stop helping others as much as T can,
T'll continue to give as good an example of how we should treat each
other as I can, but as you indicate I shouldn't expect this to influence
anyone else to treat me similarly.

Take care of yourself.
George
SEPTEMBER, 1967 1
Dear Robert,

Jon is about the same age as I was when we first moved out here. I
remember well my attitudes and confusion at that time, He can't be too

102 SOLEDAD BROTHER

much different since our development was forced along similar lines.
Of course he has had a slightly better chance or atmosphere to build
the things necessary for the changeover from man-child to man. That
school Mama was sending him to did him great harm but not irreparable
hharm since in his case you were on the job after school sowing pride and
knowledge of self and kind, and explaining the promise and problems
in acquiring self-decermination and control overall che circumstances
surrounding our existence. Of course you have been explaining that
this control must never be allowed to remain in the hands of strangers
‘or incompetents, ete, So I hope he is not as awed and confused as I was
then. Give him my regards. Tell him I said he is charged to take good
care of his mother and sisters, that since he has grown so big and strong
so soon, he should brace himself to his duties early. Tell him that I said
that life is serious and we must be careful, one misstep can cause us
“years of regeet and grief, and sorrow without relief”

Take care of yourself.
George

SEPTEMBER, 1967 12

Dear Robert,
Tam doing well, no new problems. Please say nothing else about the
leg to anyone. You could cause me trouble. I'l live. I stay in reasonably
‘good condition just for occasions like this. I can see about it if I get
four next year. You should know about protesting wich che mouth,
Te never avails us anything but grief. Ino longer do so in any form,
for ic indicates naiveté. It means that subconsciously one may still be
looking for justice or humaniey from places that we have ample proof,
of ie not existing, I worry about Penny and I would like to see her there
with you. I have not seen or heard from her since you were here last.
Perhaps she feels she doesn’t need or want any of us. Have you heard
from her? Perhaps it’s my fault. I push people away by expecting too
much of them. I probably used the wrong presentation with her and
frightened her. Or she may not care to hear about clean living and
high ideals. People tend to run like hell at the mention of sacrifice and
responsibility. Give everyone my regards and take care of yourself.

George

PART ONE. 103

SEPTEMBER, 1967 14

Dear Mama,
Thope this year’s birthday finds you well. I would like to be able to
give you things, and take you places, but I've been unfortunate, and
slow learning, But I have learned well. Pethaps next year I'll be able to
give you a villa in Tanzania. I'm fine; my work progresses well. Seems
that all I've predicted is now coming true, though, much sooner than I
thought, I must admit.

Take care of yourself.
George

SEPTEMBER, 1967 24

Dear Robert,
Received your letter. All is well here. You have everyone back there
with you except Delora now. That is good in a way. You have another
chance to teach them how to live, arrange their values and attitudes
so that they correspond with our situation, our aspirations, our newly
reestablished identity. Penny expressed the chought to me that since
you do not have much to say around there, you don’t care much about
them and theie litle problems, She expressed the feelings of all those
there who do nor understand you in saying this. Women and children
enjoy and need a strong hand poised above them. They need direction
and someone to show concern for them and you may have to make your
presence felt there, a litle anyway. OF course I'm not talking about
being cyrant, but just some rational, moderate, but persistent pressure
to the left. I imagine I'll really be able to get down to fighting weight
now. [cold you what happened to the noon meal. I really don't miss it
though.

Take care of yourself.
George

SEPTEMBER, 1967 30
Dear Robert,
Getting plenty of work done. How is your scholastic project going? Are

you still attending the night classes? I choughe that was a wonderful
idea. Speed reading and vocabulary power are Foremost in elevating the

104 SOLEDAD BROTHER

mind. They can be worked on in spare time, ten or ewenty minutes a
day. I consistently work on both: especially vocabulary, out of small
paperback pocketbooks sold in the canteen and in the prison bookstore,
But since I have much more study time than you, I go one hour or so
‘on each daily. There are dozens of these little books published today.
Every time I seea different one I try to make it part of my collection.

‘Are you well, my friend? I am getting thin as a rail, feel all right,
however. Give my regards to Jon and Penny.

Take care of yourself.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 3

Dear Georgia,
‘A thank-you note for money and letter. I ean always use money, but
discharge your obligations at home first. [ can do without. If I were
you, I would treat Pop a little better. He has been pretty good to usall,
‘when one considers the shocks and strains he has had to live with. As
a woman, you just do not (and I guess never will) understand what it
means to be a man in this particular situation here in the US. Women
just don’t suffer the mental mortification of defeat and emasculation
that we men do, Robert has lived with it for many years, erying to
rationalize i, justify it, pretend that it does not affect him, bue it has
affected him very deeply. Imagine how he must feel when his woman
‘won't even let him run the house. For you to ust outright countermand
his wishes on a matter concerning the education of his son must be a
Dieter dose for him to swallow indeed. After what he must accept from
the outside world everyday of his life, o come to his home and also be
made to carry water and cut wood and take orders is adding insult co
injury.

‘Though you may not see much evidence of it, Robert still harbors
the desire to be a man and assert himself. He is not completely dead
inside. The years and years of regeet and grief, discomfort, and defeat
he has endured since the depression years of his childhood, all the
forgetting and pretending and check-turning he has had to do, cannot
be denied. Ie lives with him, still jammed back in the dark corners
of his mind. I've seen it, Georgia, believe me, I've seen it in him and
in many others of his generation. One day in the near future these

PART ONE. 105

feelings of mass discontent must break their bounds. Ie’ just as natural
and predictable as the sunrise. I am ready now. When they are ready,
nothing, nothing will be able to countervail our march to victory. In
Jon’s case itis simply a matcer of what we need most and how can he be
best equipped to survive the crisis that now grips us. I think we need
tough, well-informed, and loyal additions to the ibe. Can he develop
these characteristics at this terrible place you advocate? You have been
living in the big city now for 25 years. Itis almost unbelievable that you
have not discovered that the guys who willbe training him there are 90
percent sex deviates (homosexuals, etc.) and 10 percent free-loading
incompetents who couldn'e get food and shelter any other way. I would
never make a charge like this unless I had firsthand evidence. I hope
that you were merely ignorant of these things. I hope that you have
not intentionally sold out Jon's bosom interests. Robert has sheltered
you from the world co some extent. You have not come in contact with
things he sees daily so let him have some say.

George

OCTOBER, 1967 11

Dear Robert,
I received the letcer with the money in itall right, hank you. I'm going
pretty good here, no problems, no new ones anyway. I went before a
formal two-man review committee here recently. They gave me at least
four more months to do here in the adjustment center. I guess we can
call this improvement of a sort since I’m usually told nothing. You say
Jon is having trouble wich math. And chat you feel i's just a matter of
his secling down co his work. I wondered when you mentioned this just
‘what it was thats keeping him from his studies. How does he spend his
time? Is there anyone there to help him with his studies? Of course, you
that all he has to do is apply himself co his work. At chis stage
of the schooling structure, nothing is really difficult. Math is never
difficult, since its laws are positive. All that needs to be done is take the
necessary time and learn the formulas and principles. OF course, if too
much time is spent in class on religious matters, the teacher is at fault,
not the student. In fact ifany time is spent on religious matters during
the school hours the student is being cheated.

Take care of yourself.
George

106 SOLEDAD BROTHER

OCTOBER, 1967 17

Dear Robert,
‘The time sipsaway from me. 'm surrounded here by fools, degenerates,
and phonies. I suffer a constant bombardment of nonsense from all
sides. There is no rest from it even at night. Twenty-four hours a day
all my senses must endure the shock of this attack from the lunatic
fringe. So I insert my earplugs, and bury myself in my thoughts and
my work. The days, even the weeks lapse one into the other, endlessly
into one another. Each day that comes and goes is exactly like the one
that went before. If am lax in my duties toward you, Forgive me. I am
living under strain. I am sorry to hear about your friend. The same
hhas happened co some of mine here. I think I know how you feel:
however, I try to chink of those things as releases. How was my leccer
to Jon received? Mama may have torn it up. If Jon wants to go to the
trouble of framing those parts that trouble him into a letter, I have a
fair understanding of math, No new problems here. Just waiting it out,
‘Time is on my side. I'm twenty-six now, and I'll be ewenty-six when I
leave here. Be it 40 years from today.

Take care.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 18

Dear Robert,
How is Penny and the little guy? I guess I miss them quite a bie. What
a difference their presence makes here. My language studies are coming
along well. I guess ifI don’t get out before January — and i's not very
likely chat I will — I'll go into Arabic next. With four languages plus
English I'll be able to communicate with three-fourths of the people
‘on earth. I am presently working on Spanish and Swahili. Spanish is
spoken by most peoples from Mexico to Chile in what is the fastest
‘growing population area in the world. Swahili is spoken by all of eastern
‘Africa I may find communication with these peoples important in my
work. All that remains is for me to learn Arabic and Chinese, Perhaps
T'll sare on these two next year, I've done well with the Spanish.

I trust you are well. Don’t work yourself too hard. You cannot get

rich on wages. I have had no response from Jon to my last two letters
‘What's happening? Has he forgotten his brother; it has been a long

PART ONE. 107

time, He was just a baby when first I came here to the concentration
camp. Its been seven years, one month now.

Take care of yourself.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 24

Dear Robert,
T'llbe considered for transfer again this week, they'll probably approve
Folsom for me this time. It is a maximum security prison like this, so
there will be no change in my fortunes. One prison is like the other,
‘except pethaps the minimum security places in the southern part ofthe
state where they have a less aggressive atmosphere where if one can get
around the local constabulary, che chances for parole are greater. That
is pare of the reason that the guy who was arrested with me went home
four years ago and I am still here. Right before I was forced into that
situation in Soledad and sent here, he was sent to Chino, But his Folks
hhad money to pass around.

No new problems here, the same old chings. I'm getting plenty of work
done with my time, I am not trying to lose weight, I’m not eating as I
should, bue we discussed that before. You forget things too fast. But
maybe that is good. I'm not sure. Perhaps if I could forget, I could
hhave some peace of mind. But I don't forget anything, wounds scar my
mind much worse than they sear my body. Bue I don't let such things as
food, warmth, comfort, and lack of material things cause me any great
distress. I'm doing as well as I can expect to, because I don't expect
anything. Anything good, that is

Take care of yourself.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 26

Dear Robert,
Jon tells me they have him studying Latin. I find this very depressing
No one has spoken Latin in fifteen hundred years! They are teaching
the poor kid a dead language! Wasting his precious time! His precious
talent! A great blunder is again being made regarding your offspring,
Robert.

108 SOLEDAD BROTHER

People only learn Latin these days so that they can read that thing they
call the bible in the Latin and sound mysterious. I's a lot of European
ritual, a lot of hocus-pocus from the datk ages of Europe. The time he
puts into that torally useless pursuit could be spent on math or science!

Take care.
George

NOVEMBER, 1967 2

Dear Robert,

I received both your letters today dated the twenty-ninth and thirtieth
‘True I may forget myself sometimes and I'll have to redouble my efforts
to control this. know it is wrong and I know the proper method. Ie is
the application of method that sometimes causes me trouble, Buc I'll
redouble my effort to get over this. Emotion has much to do with it,
Allof my past life has been victimized by my emotions. Ihave struggled
mightily with myself chese last couple of years in an attempt to erase all
emotion. The only method that can succeed is the clinical approach,
the analytical technique of treating our problems. Ic is said and with
some justification thatthe greatest batele is with oneself, so if can gain
‘victory here the real work shouldn't be too hard,

On the subject of injury, there is the real and the imagined. You have
made several references to the subject in the last month or two and I
hhave let chem pass. By telling me that Jon has no chip on his shoulder,
you attempred to make me feel alone and isolated in my attitudes. But
you are wrong in erying to second-guess me, because I have no chip on
my shoulder. I know che simplest way to handle an injury whether real
‘or fancied is to forget ie. I bear no one on earth any ill will, I have felt
the sting of the knout and I live in the shadow of the ovens. Iam the
object of the severest ridicule (coon, monkey, shoe, a shoe is something
to be walked on incidentally, buck, savage, and child), but even in the
face of all this I have not one chip on my shoulder. Aren't Ia uly
marvelous and forgiving person? Almost every day I have something
to forgive and forget. Perhaps most of this is fanciful and illusionary.
bur every day I have the opporcunity to practice this almost godlike
facility Uhave buile into myself, Buc then to be honest with myself, itis
not merely or solely due to strength of character that I am able to call
up just litele more forgiveness, Lalso have this thing going wich myself
about not wanting to get killed. I don't know about that getting-killed

PART ONE. 109

thing. Now it would be a great loss to me, but I feel that I could forgive
that too, Now I say this at the risk of seeming immodest but to Further
illustrate my healthy outlook on the matter in question, let me remind
you that in spite ofall Iam human and I have myself done things that
require forgiveness from others — I have transgeessed against my
fellows in moments of weakness and madness. It’s hard, my friend.
Because of my temperament its even harder. I hope I can make it.

Take care of yourself.
George

NOVEMBER, 1967 6

Dear Robert,
‘Are you well? The changes are as slow as ever here. No new problems,
however, except perhaps with my health. Ie may be failing. Headaches
all the time and a skin condition that started some time back. Look
ac that picture I sent you of me taken upon my graduation. You may
be able to see the discolored spots in my face. Well, the condition is
‘growing worse — itisall over my face now, huge discolored spots. 1look
like a leper. If you have a connection who is a dermatologist perhaps
you could pass me on some information on it. It is only on my face
now, but it is progressive. I is spreading, I'd like to know what to do
about it and what may be the cause. The cause, however, may be most
important. I've been thinking that it is probably the food. Quality and
«quantity. My knee has gone down some and is not too sore anymore. I
hope everyone there is well. Give my special regards to Penny and Jon.

Take care of yourself.
George

NOVEMBER, 1967

Dear Robert,
This last word from you in Jon’s presence convinces me that we can
never reconcile our differences. I never realized that I was a source of
‘embarrassment 0 you, I thought most blacks, especially those of our
economic level, understood, vaguely at least, that these places were
buile wich us in mind, just as were the project houses, unemployment
offices, and bible schools.

no SOLEDAD BROTHER

Perhaps later if we both live to see the outcome of all this, I will be able
to explain myself better, but for now you surely don’t need me and I
have never needed anyone. Life has failed me. People U have had a right
to expect something of, in the past, have failed me. And I fail myself
almost every day. But I suffer no lasting effects From any of this because
I derive my force and energy from no outside quarter. Your inability to
understand and suppore me puts me at a loss, but I cannot allow this
to influence my course. I must Follow my mind, There is no turning
back from awareness. If were to alter my step now I would always hace
myself I would grow old feeling that I had failed in the obligatory duty
that is ours once we become aware. I would die as most of us blacks
have died over the last few centuries, without having lived.

You have misjudged the depth of my feelings on these matters
‘They mean everything to me. If we could have found grounds for
compatibility within the framework of my ideals the purely mental
aspect of my job could have been less difficult. I anticipated failure
in this from the start, so I am not shocked or surprised now that the
last has been said and we find ourselves poles apart. I'll be all right
from here, Robert. I have the nervous equipment and I'l spend my
remaining time here checking my emotions and developing the clinical
approach. You owe me nothing. Anything you may think you owe
me I absolve you of entirely. Because we look a lot alike, because the
same blood flows in our veins, I thought we could perhaps pool our
resources, plan great things, produce some remarkable changes and
conclusions, and write a few pages of history. But I cannot see myself
as well as other people see me and pethaps you are justified in feeling
ashamed of me. The most important abutment of our relation has
disappeared: perhaps it never existed. This is certainly my loss, but I
cannot see any reason for us to communicate with each other again
from this day until such time as I can demonstrate the usefulness of my
ideals and methods. Please take care of yourself.

Respectfully,
George
DECEMBER, 1967 1
Dear Robert,

I guess there is something to be said for a person who does as he is
told, lives by the routine set up by his self-appointed bosses, ete. And

PART ONE. mn

‘of course we must learn to fight our own battles. This way we ean die
alone, one at a time. This is a very old and proven idea. It has worked
‘wonderfully up to now and that is why 1967 finds us all so secure and
well placed. My trouble is that I have expected too much of you. You're
already doing your best: what you feel is right. How can I expect more?

George

DECEMBER, 1967

Dear Robert,

mall right: no change here. They gave me a little job in here where I
am locked up but took ie back right away, I think to get a reaction, It
thas started to rain almost every day up here now and itis rather cool. It
is strange bue I think I prefer cool weather to warm.

Have you heard anything from my friend? I don’t trust many people
very far bue I have very strong feelings that this guy will not abandon
me or our ideas. Things muse be very difficul for him or he would have
hhad a lawyer up here for me by now, oF done something along that line.
Of course, we never really get to know anyone to an absolute degree,
bur I saw this guy in many different situations and he never showed
the slightest weakness or reservation or self-interest. We need people
like that. When we cannot even put confidence in them we're through,

Take care of yourself.
George

DECEMBER, 1967 13

Dear Robert,

Hope you are well. I received your note and al is normal here. No new
problems. I've got six months clean now, since June 8. Thatis not much
and surely not enough to satisfy my warders but by June of next year it
will be ewelve months clean. True!

How is Penny doing on the job? Post office isn’ ic? Tell her I miss

her and the child. Is that guy she married honoring his financial

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER

$‘And Frances, are you keeping up with the movements of the guy she tied up with. I'l be wanting to see him first thing upon my arrival there. It’s cold up here this year but since I don’t go out directly in it too very often it doesn't bother me much. Frances is supposed to be angry with me because I wouldn't lecher getin any of her silly cliches las time you brought her up here. I didn’t make things any better either when she wrote two months later decrying my supposed rudeness. When I explained to her that she was not supposed to hold any opinions other than those of her menfolk, she stopped ‘writing, Tell her that I feel no ill will coward her, bue when she hears us debating method and policy, she is supposed to be silent, listen, and try to learn something. Penny will sit and listen and try to understand, When she doesn’t understand she asks intelligent questions. I've ‘bummed across this country three times, seen everything eight times, now what am I going to do with some advice from a twenty-three-year- ‘old girl who has been sheltered from the real world al her life. Ieis terrible chat we have all been so divided. The social order is set up so as to encourage this, the powers that be don't want any loyal loving ‘groups forming up. So they discourage it in a thousand subtle ways. ‘And as itis said, when poverty comes in the door, love leaves by the window! Too bad! I give up! Blood is not thicker than water. I was ‘wrong ever to let my thoughts pass my lips. From now on you people's reactionary ideals are your own. I never want to discuss anything serious with you again, and if you don’t hear from me here too regularly iis because I have nothing to say. Take care of yourself. George DECEMBER, 1967 19 Dear Robert, I went to the board yesterday: they told me that if I kepe this next year clean and clear of disciplinary infractions I would have eighteen months clean next time I saw them, OF course I have not seen the official results yet (maybe Friday I will) but it was pretty clear that I got another year to do. PART ONE. 3$

T'llwrite again when I get the final word, Penelope wrote me aletcer last
‘week stating that you and Mama sent a box of stuff up here to me after
all, in spite of my asking you not co bother. I appreciate the sentiment
bur you should not have done it.I probably will not be allowed to have
it, You should know that Ihave to send a formal request from here, et
‘They won't send it back either — they will keep it. Things will be much
better between us when you start taking me seriously.

‘Take care of yourself. You'll be able to retire when I get out in “69,

George

DECEMBER, 1967 23

Dear Robert,
‘Thisis Saturday: there isso much noise on the tier that even my earplugs
are useless. Grown men are acting like high-school girls. The guards
have some kind of sports on the radio. Everyone is happy, emotion-
filled cries of joy come from every cell. They're trying to forget their
problems or pretend that they have none. It is easier that way, easier
than grabbing the bull by the horns. Music and sports. Their whole
life, pethaps a lice pimping or gambling. I got my official notice on
the board meeting.

‘They denied me another years I go back next December. Ie will be eight
yeats then,

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1968 1

Dear Robert,
Ie’ 5:40 A.M. All che noisemakers are asleep: they've worn themselves
‘out through the night making merry, laughing, singing, pretending. It
is strange indeed that a man can find anything to laugh about in here,
Bur everyone in here is locked up 24 hours a day. They have no past,
no future, no goal other than the next meal. They're afraid, confused
and confounded by a world they know that they did not make, that
they feel they cannot change, so they make these loud noises so they
‘won't hear what their mind is trying to tell them. They laugh to assure
themselves and those around them that they are not afraid, sort of like

4 SOLEDAD BROTHER

the superstitious individual who will whistle or sing a happy number as
he passes the graveyard.

Confinement in this small area all day causes a buildup of tension. The
unavoidable consequence is stupidity, a return to childish behavior,
overreaction. I refuse to let myself be punished with stuff like this
Locked in jail, within a jail, my mind is still free, I refuse ever t0 allow
myself to be forced by living conditions into a response that is not
commensurate with intelligence and my final objective.

‘This will apply even more on the other side of che wall, out there
‘where you are. What if there was nothing on earth that could be taken
from me which would result in my discomfort, What if a person was
so oriented that the loss of no material thing could cause him mental
disorganization? This is the free agent. He is nameless, faceless,
emotionless, loveless. He is without habit, without the weaknesses of
the flesh. He travels light and only in the company of those who like
/himself prize self-determination above baseball and beer. Only the free
agent can win for us the necessary control over the direction of our
unrewarding lives.

You should know that I only do what I think is best, and most
appropriate, I'm a man with few alternatives

George

JANUARY, 1968 6

Dear Robert,
Thope you ate in health, Have you been bothered by the sickness, flu,
‘Asian flu they call it. Everyone on the tier, everyone in the building
really, has had it, or still hast, excepe me. I have been lucky. I hope I do
not catch it. We have no medicines.

Thave both of your letters here: I did not send che forms requesting a
package because I didn’t wane you spending any money on unnecessary
things. If had money I would never buy anything like that for myself
I am completely indifferent about pleasure, temporary amenities: "a
crust of bread and a corner to sleep in, a moment to laugh and an hour
to weep in” — well, [don’t even want the moment. If that is all that I
hhave coming I don’t wanc it. I don't know who you have been talking
to about my condition here. Whoever they are, stop wasting your time,

PART ONE. us

‘They are only leading you on. I hope you have lost no money, but I
warned you about this before. It is clear that I must handle this thing
myself the best way that I ean.

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1968 16

Dear Robert,
Nothing new to report, same situation here. No progress. Went before
a couple of persons responsible for the administration of this unie last
week. They changed the rules to justify keeping me locked up another
six months until June atleast. There isa rule that reads: “If an inmate is
involved in an assault upon another inmate and a weapon is associated
in the incident the inmate responsible must do atleast one year locked
up in close confinement.” Well, I've done my year for the thing that
happened in January ‘67. Now I must do another for the affair in June
°67 where the only weapons involved were those used against me!
I think perhaps the time has come to get legal help for me, We can
discuss it when you come up next time. These things are noe being
handled properly. Or fairly. [am the only one still suffering the effects
of those ewo occurrences. Everyone else has been transferred to other
insticutions and isin the main population there. And I'm the only one
who didn’t write a writ at the time the thing took place. I tried to just
shrug it off, but I see that that does not work. They have accused me
of leading something when all che evidence points to the contrary. I
‘was the only one co cross the picket line during the strike or one of the
few. In June I never raised my hand against an official. In fact, in all the
seven years I've been in the prison here I have never attacked an official,
Thave difficulty leading myself, directing my own affairs. Ac the very
least I need a transfer. I cannot get fair treatment otherwise.

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1968 31
Dear Robert,

I seriously believe that you have incurable middle-class attitudes, but
nonetheless you may be right. Regarding the blacks “not letting me,

6 SOLEDAD BROTHER

that is” I'll have to wait and rake the situation in for myself, though.
Ifyou happen to be correct about that, I’m buying me a little sailboat
and heading for the Indian Ocean area; be a bum, no wife, no kids, no
‘competition, bananas, coconuts, pineapples, fish, and sunshine. [could
never bear what you have borne. I hope you arrived home without
incident. I heard the weather was pretty bad.

almost got sucked into some more foolishness yesterday. All the blacks
tileing at windmills again. Mindless, emotional, childish abandon,
‘without a thought of winning, Justan attempe to prove their manhood
to themselves, to any who may be watching. The result, further
‘humiliation and a month in a dark hole, I'm still in my cell. I had to
tum my back on them when they wouldn't listen. Never, never will
T take part in any foolishness. They have me locked up with a bunch
‘of 20-year-old cretins who don’t know anything about the ways of the
world, hate books, can’t think, and won't listen. Things are not getting
any better. They are, if anything, getting worse. Bitter experience
seems to be bringing out the worst in us instead of our best. Instead
of growing thoughtful and determined, they get more emotional and
mindless. You swallow a camel and gag on a nut: you accept a certain
condition and treatment with apparent ease, but balk at the suggestion
of returning the same.

Ie doesn’t matter a great deal to me either way: On an individual basi, I
will always make out. I see this world just as itis, he whole thing, and
‘most important I see myself in relation to it. So I will be able to spring
in any direction in which my mind tells me the rewards are greater.

I'm going to frame a letter soon to you discussing the social contract,
and where the individual stands in relation to the state. None of it
will be original. It will be che accepted dialectics of all those past and
present who are in position to know. You don’ seem to know why you
pay taxes and what you should expect in the way of returns. Ie should
be clear that when one contributes to any enterprise, he has a return
‘coming, and itis equally clear that when I place or allow an individual
‘or group of individuals to administrate and regulate affairs that involve
my bosom interest, these affairs must be handled in a judicious manner,
‘When they are not, it is my right to replace these individuals any way
that I can,

Take care of yourself.
George

PART ONE. uy

FEBRUARY, 1968 8

Dear Robert,
I think you have gotten stuck in the mud somewhere down the road.
‘There has never been any question as to whether or not we will be
allowed to work. There has never been any question in my mind about
the folly of one of us attempting to make himself acceptable to the
established standard so that he will be colerated,

‘Am I for sale and at such a price? Can true self-determination be won
‘working for wages and salaries? What are the chances of the employee
‘one day owning the manufacturing plant?! What do [lose by allowing
myself to be programmed, regimented, and assimilated. Has any people
cever been independent that owned neither land nor tool? Isn’t what
you are calling for, you and the people who wrote the article, more of
the same, the hewing of wood and che carrying of water?! Do I want to
identify wich a loser and a fool? Can I help myself by helping one who
islooked upon as the wretched of the earth? This i the question, Don't
get sidetracked by specious argument.

I know the answer to all the above questions, but I plan to keep it to
myself for now. And of course we are talking about groups of people,
‘our masses (not to be confused in any way with my personal chances
for success. I know how to look out for me as an individual).

Tageee with what you say about brains, nothing could be clearer. Every
‘mass movement in history has been led by one person or a small geoup
of people. Although everyone is born with a brain only a few choose
to use it. The difference between successful and unsuccessful mass
movements is in che people who lead them. Successful ones are led
by persons gifted with a delicate balance of both mental and physical
forcefulness. Brains are useless without the nervous equipment and the
muscle required to execute their orders.

Talso agree with what you say about the Chinese, They are poor. They
‘went through the same thing we went through for the same reason (a
skin problem), and they suffered it atthe hands of the same wretched
force. It may be a while yee before they get over the last hundred
years, but, and I know you agree, they are wonderful and aggressive,
industrious people, They will make out. What I like most aboue them

ns SOLEDAD BROTHER

is their willingness co always help thei brothers in Africa and Asia
‘They understand the need and power of ethnic solidarity. When they
look in the mirror they see themselves, when they look at us they see
their fathers and brothers. Brother, brother is the way we'll calli.

Jon is well, hope. Can you imagine how foolish a stranger would be
trying to curn me against Jon? I have no love for strangers, regardless of
the face that they own the sweatshop I am forced to labor in.

George

FEBRUARY, 1968 12

Dear Robert,
Congratulations on the birthday. I may not be so lucky, but my values
are a little different from yours. Iam concerned with living fully, living
‘well, rather than living long. And since I have a measure of control over
the former, and none whatever over the latter, this makes sense to me.

T've been to Mexico, I have also been all over the US. I've spent several
days in the neighborhood where you were born... That neighborhood
is far poorer than anything I saw in Mexico. But since Mexico is a
colony of the US. also (just as our communities are). all Ican make of
this face thar blacks here are worse off than Mexican nationals in that
the US. colonial masters think more of Mexicans.

So your taxes do all the things you say including some you omitted,
such as school-educational matters, prisons, police wages, armies,
H-bombs, spy ships. gas chambers, Tucker's farms, etc. Bu it is very
curious to note who benefits by it all. Which streets get lighted best?
Which child goes to school half a day in a trailer, or to a school that
is so crowded and understaffed that he might as well not go forall the
attention he gets? The police stopped me 5 times (5 different cars) in
the space of 3 blocks in Los Angeles once. All che brush wars the US.
thas fought in che last 20 years were against men of color around the
world! T could go on all week about how your tax money is being used,
but lec ie suffice for me to say it is not being used to help you or yours.
You are getting no recurn on your investment. This is what taxes are
supposed to be all about, an investment in the community, the society.
pooling of each individual’s resources so that the administration can be
financed, so that the administration can perform the jobs which must
be done to ensue public welfare, and the jobs which no individual can

PART ONE. ns

do well alone. Now ie follows that if everyone pays, everyone should
{get proper returns, The streetlights should be the same in Watts and
Bel Ait Ie seems that some dereliction of duty has indeed taken place.

George

FEBRUARY, 1968 19

Dear Robert,

‘Too bad about Jon: I suggested upon your last visit that he may be
{getting too much TV. Anyway, you are absolutely correct in that these
are his crisis years. You had better give him something good in the
way of purpose, identity, and method, It should be taken for granced
that he is getting nothing along this line in school: if anything, these
things are being trained out. .. so that he will be a good Negro, an
individual, a nonperson, an intellectual dependent. Ifyou do not know
the definition of “purpose” “identity” and “method.” it is already too
late for Jon. I do not want to be addressed as George any longer. You
will please respect my wishes enough to use my middle name from this
day on. I won't respond to any other. My work goes well here. I am in
health. [hope you are well.

Take care of yourself.
Lester

MARCH, 1968 6

Dear Robert,

I received the money today. Thanks. I got the forms off too. [hope you
told them about the life thing. If not, please do i right away. I hope
also my age was passed along as a reminder. People would look at you
and think that I would have to be in my teens.

Africa is a most wonderful continent. They have everything in the way
‘of human and natural resources. Oil in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,
and Nigeria. Copper. diamonds, cobale, and gold in Zambia. There are
large deposits of iron ore in Liberia, a whole mountain of iin fact. You
name it, and its Found in some part of Africa. In the savanna area south
of the Sahara Desere and all the way south to the Cape, you find the
most fertile farmland in the world. Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are
all just like a big park. The temperature never fluctuates more than 5

120 SOLEDAD BROTHER

degrees the whole year around. Every evening during the winter months
there isa light rain to settle the dust. Eighty to 85 the whole year. The
five oldest cities in the world are located in Africa. The oldest language
is one spoken in Africa: Mande. The oldest relic of man’s prehistoric
‘existence was found in Africa, 25 million years old. You find all kinds
‘of black types: with wide noses, thin noses, aquiline noses: all types of
bhai: all shades of skin from the lightest ivory to blue black. You should
be more specific about what you want to know because it would take
a month, and a letter the size ofa telephone book, to delineate all the
resources of Africa

Speaking just for me I would like Tanzania on the East coast if had to
choose a spot to settle. Julius Nyerere isan enlightened and intelligent
leader who identifies with the Eastern world. The country isdeveloping
fast, and has unlimited potential in mining, agriculture, and light
industry. Its problem, as with all the African states, is the absence of
capital to expand the economy at a rate which will realize the rising
expectations of the people and close the gap with the Western world

‘Tanzania has invited the Eastern societies to help them instead of the
US. and Western Europe, so they will be better off. China charges no
interest on loans, When the Chinese set up a factory, they hire Africans
and train African managers and leave. The US. is motivated by the
profit-and-loss ching. They leave U.S. managers and claim 90 percent
of the gross as their just share of the profits. They say it’s their reward
for helping to develop the country. Some African leaders go for this:
Julius does not. Does it seem stupid of China to lend without incerest,
and build without raking over or capitalizing? Must be love,

Lester

PART ONE. 1

Blood in My Eye was completed only days before the
author died from bullet wounds during an alleged escape
attempt from San Quentin Prison, California. Arrested
at the age of eighteen for allegedly taking part in the
robbery of a gas station netting $70, George L. Jackson
was sentenced to one year to life in prison. At the time of
his death he had served eleven years behind prison walls,
seven of those years in solitary confinement. This book
testifies to how those years were spent, and why.

Written with the memory of his slain brother, Jonathan,
constantly before him, it is an apocalyptic vision of
America. It speaks to the poor, the jailed, and the
disenfranchised throughout the world. Jackson's message
to his revolutionary brothers is clear: “People are already
dying who could be saved, generations more will die or
live poor butchered half-lives if you fail ro act. Discover
your humanity and your love in revolution, Pass on the
torch, Join us, give up your life for the people.”

Blood in My Eye takes up where Soledad Brother left off, and

introduces the reader to the life force that was George L
Jackson.

CHIABC.TUMBLR.COM

Selste

ra Sa
ye SE roy

Layout by Chicago Anarchist Black Cross, 2018.
‘To request a catalog, write us at
Chieago ABC
1321 N. Milwaukee Ave.

PMB 460
Chicago, IL. 60622

‘To download electronic copies of our zin:

visit us at
chiabe.tumblr.com

[ chicagoanarchistblackcross@riseup.net ]
SOLEDAD
BROTHER
Part One

GEORGE JACKSON
To THE MAN-CHILD, TALL, EVIL, GRACEFUL, BRIGHT-
EYED, BLACK MAN-CHILD — JONATHAN PETER JACKSON
— WHO DIED ON AUGUST 7, 1970, COURAGE IN ONE
HAND, ASSAULT RIFLE IN THE OTHER; MY BROTHER,
COMRADE, FRIEND — THE TRUE REVOLUTIONARY, THE
BLACK COMMUNIST GUERRILLA IN THE HIGHEST STATE
OF DEVELOPMENT, HE DIED ON THE TRIGGER, SCOURGE
OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS, SOLDIER OF THE PEOPLE: TO
THIS TERRIBLE MAN-CHILD AND HIS WONDERFUL
MOTHER GEORGIA BEA, TO ANGELA Y. Davis, my
‘TENDER EXPERIENCE, I DEDICATE THIS COLLECTION
OF LETTERS; TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR ENEMIES
I DEDICATE MY LIFE,

Contents
September 23, 1941-August 21, 1971
George Jackson

Foreword
Jonathan Jackson, Jr

Recent Letters and an Autobiography
George Jackson

Lecters: (1964 ~ 1968)

20

44
September 23, 1941 — August 21, 1971
George L. Jackson

In 1960, a the age of eighteen, George Jackson was accused of stealing
$70 from a gas station in Los Angeles. Though there was evidence of
his innocence, his court-appointed lawyer maintained that because
Jackson had a record (two previous instances of petty crime), he should
plead guilty in exchange fora light sentence in the county jal. He did,
and received an indeterminate sentence of one year to life. Jackson
spent the next ten years in Soledad Prison, seven and a half of them in
solicary confinement. Instead of succumbing to the dehumanization of
prison existence, he transformed himself into the leading theoretician
‘of the prison movement and a brilliant writer. Soledad Brother, which
contains the letcers that he wrote from 1964 to 1970, is his testament.

Inhistwenty-cighth year, Jackson and two other lack inmates —Fleeta
Drumgo and John Cluchette — were falsely accused of murdering
a white prison guard. The guard was beaten to death on January 16,
1969, a few days after another white guard shot and killed three black
inmates by firing from a tower into the courtyard. The accused men
‘were brought in chains and shackles to two secret hearings in Salinas
County. A third hearing was about to take place when John Clucherte
managed to smuggle a note to his mother: “Help, I'm in trouble.”
With the aid of a state senator, his mother contacted a lawyer, and so
commenced one of the most extensive legal defenses in US. history.
According to their attorneys, Jackson, Drumgo, and Clutcheete were
charged with murder not because there was any substantial evidence
of their guilt, but because they had been previously identified as black
militants by the prison authorities. If convicted, they would face a
mandatory death penalty under the California penal code. Within
weeks, the case of the Soledad Brothers emerged as a political cause
célébre forall sorts of people demanding change ata time when every
American institution was shaken by Black rebellions in more than one
hhundred cities and the mass movement against the Vietnam War.

‘August 7, 1970, just a few days after George Jackson was transferred to
San Quentin, the case was catapulted to the Forefront of national news
when his brother, Jonathan, a seventeen-year-old high school student
in Pasadena, staged a raid on the Marin County courthouse with a
satchelful of handguns, an assault rifle, and a shorgun hidden under

6 SOLEDAD BROTHER
his coat. Educated into a political revolutionary by George, Jonathan
invaded the court during a hearing for three black San Quentin
inmates, not including his brother, and handed them weapons. As he
lefe with the inmates and five hostages, including the judge, Jonathan
demanded that the Soledad Brothers be released within thirty minutes,
In the shootout that ensued, Jonathan was gunned down. Of Jonathan,
George wrote, “He was free for a while. I guess that’s more than most
of sean expect.”

Soledad Brother, which is dedicated to Jonathan Jackson, was released
to critical acclaim in Franceand the United States. with an introduction
by the renowned French dramatise Jean Genet, in the fall of 1970.
Less than a year later and just ewo days before the opening of his trial,
‘George Jackson was shor to death by a tower guard inside San Quentin
Prison in a purported escape attempt, “No Black person.” wrote James
Baldwin, “will ever believe that George Jackson died the way they tell
us he did”

Soledad Brother went on to become a classic of Black literature and
political philosophy, selling more than 400,000 copies before it went
‘out of print ewenty years ago. Lawrence Hill Books is pleased to reissue
this book and to add to ita Foreword by the author’s nephew, Jonathan
Jackson, Je, who isa writer living in California

PART ONE.
Foreword
Jonathan Jackson, Jr

Iwas born eight and a half months after my father, Jonathan Jackson,
‘was shot down on August 7, 1970, at the Marin County Courthouse,
when he tried co gain the release of the Soledad Brothers by taking
hostages. Before and especially after chat day, Uncle George kept
in constant contact with my mother by writing from his cell in San
Quentin, (The Department of Corrections wouldn’e put her on the
visitors’ list.) During George’s numerous trial appearances for the
Soledad Brothers case, Mom would lift me above the crowd so he could
see me. Consistently, we would receive a letcer a few days later. For a
single mother with son, alone and in the middle of both controversy
and not a little unwarranted trouble with the authorities, those
messages of strength were no doubr instrumental in helping her earry
‘on, No matter how oppressive his situation became, George always had
time to lend his spirit to the people he cared for.

Ayearand two weeks after the revolutionary takeover in Marin, George
‘was ruthlessly murdered by prison guards at San Quentin, Both he and
my father left me a great deal: pride, history, an unmistakable name,
My experience has been at once wonderful and incredibly difficult. My
life is not consumed by the Jackson legacy, but my charge isan accepted
and cherished piece of my existence. Ie is out of my responsibility to
my legacy that I have come to write this Foreword to my uncle’s prison
writings.

‘Today I read my inherited letters often — those written from George
to my mother with a dull pencil on prison stationery. They are things
of beauty, my most valuable possessions, passionate pieces of writing
that have few rivals in the modern era. They will remain unpublished.
However, the letters of Soledad Brother demonstrate the same
insight and eloquence — the way George's writings make his personal
‘experience universal isthe mainstay of his brilliance.

‘When this collection of letcers was first released in 1969, it brought
1 young revolutionary co the forefront of a cempest, a tempest
characterized by the Black Power, free speech, and antiwar movements,
accompanied by a dissatisfaction with the status quo throughout the
United States. With unflinching directness, George Jackson conveyed

8 SOLEDAD BROTHER
an intelligent yet accessible message with his trademark style, rational
rage. He illuminated previously hidden viewpoints and feelings that
disenfranchised segments of the population were unable to articulate:
the poor, the victimized, the imprisoned, the disillusioned. George
spoke in a revolutionary voice that they had no idea existed. He was
the prominent figure of true radical thought and practice during the
period, and when he was assassinated, much of the movement died
along with him. But George Jackson cannot and will not ever leave.
His life and choughts serve as the message — George himself is the
revolution,

‘The reissue of Soledad Brother at this point in time is essential. It
appears that the nineties are going to be a telling decade in US. history.
‘The signposts of systemic breakdown are as glaringly obvious as they
were in the sixties: unrest manifesting itself in inner-city turmoil,
‘widespread rise of violence in the culture, and international oppression
to legitimize a state in erisis. The fact that imprisonment in California
hhave more than tripled over the last decade, supported by the public,
is merely one sign of societal decomposition, That systemic change
‘occurred during the sixties isa myth. The United States in the nineties
faces strikingly analogous problems. George spoke to the issues of his
day, but conditions now are so similar that this work could have been
written last month. It is imperative that George be heard, whether
by the angry but un-channeled young or by the cynical and worldly
mature, The message must be carried farther than where he bravely left
iin August of 1971

Over the past ewenty-five years, why has George Jackson not been
an integral part of mainstream consciousness? He has been and
still is underexposed, reduced to simplistic terms, and ultimately
misunderstood. Racial and conspiracy theory aside, there are rational
reasons for his exclusion, They stem not only from the hard-line
revolutionary aspects of George’ philosophy. but more importancly
from the nature of the political system that he existed in and under.

Howard Zinn has pointed out in A People’s History of the United
States that “the history of any country, presented as the history of a
family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most
‘often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and
slaves, capitalists and workers, dominatorsand dominated.” US. history
is essentially chat type of hidden history. Without denying important
mitigating factors, the United States of today is strongly linked to the

PART ONE. °
values and premises on which it was founded. That is, it isa settler
colony founded primarily on two basic pillars, upheld by che Judeo-
Christian tradition: genocide of indigenous peoples and slave labor in
support of a capitalist infrastructure. Although the Bible repeatedly
cexalts mass slaughter and oppression, Judeo-Christian morality is
publicly held to be inconsistent with them. This dissonance, evident
‘within che nation’s structure from the beginning, informs the states
first function: to oversimplify and minimize immoral events in order
to legitimize history and the state's very existence simultaneously.

Ironically, tradicional Judeo-Christian morality is a perfect vehicle for
genocide, slavery, and territorial expansion. As a logical progression
from biblical example, expansion and imperialism culminated in the
United Sates with the concept of Manifest Destiny, which held that
i was the colonists’ inherent right to expand and conquer. Further it
‘was a duty, the “white man’s burden.’ to save the “natives” to attempt
to convert all heathens encountered. Protestant Calvinism provided a
set of ethics that it perfectly with the colonists’ conquests. Max Weber,
in his definitive study on religion, The Sociology of Religion, wrote,
“Calvinism held chat the unsearchable God possessed good reasons
for having distributed the gifts of forcune unevenly”: it “represented as
God's will [the Calvinists)] domination over the sinful world. Clearly
this and other features of Protestantism, such as its rationalization of
the existence ofa lower class," were not only the bases for the formation
of the United States, but still prominently exist roday. “One must go to
the ethics of ascetic Protestantism,” Weber asserts, “to find any ethical
sanction for economic rationalism and for the entrepreneur” When a
nation can't admit to the process through which i builds hegemony,
how can anything but delusion be a reality? “The monopoly of truth,
including historical ruth,’ stated Daniel Singer inalecture at Evergreen
State College (Washingcon) in 1987, “is implied in che monopoly of
power:

Clearly, objective history is an impossibility. This understood, the
significant problem lies in how the general population defines the
term; history implies chat cruch is being told. Ie is an unfortunate fact
that history is unfailingly written by the victors, which in the case of

1 Called bootstrap ideology this tenet holds tha all the poor need to do is “pull
themselves up by their bootstraps tobe materially succesful Accordingly, those
who do nor do so deserve tobe i their situation and are considered unworch.

10 SOLEDAD BROTHER
the United States are not only the original imperialists, bur the majority
of the “founding fathers. dedicated to uniting and strengthening the
existing mercantile class among disjointed colonies. There can be no
doube that from the creation of this young nation, history as a created
and perceived entity moved further and further away from the objective
ideal. Genocide, necessary for “the development of the modern
capitalist economy.” according to Howard Zinn, was rationalized as a
reaction to the feat of Indian savages, Slavery was similarly construed.

‘The personalization of history, the process by which we construct
heroes and pariahs, is a consequence ofits dialectical nature. Without
fail, an odd paradox is created around someone who, by virtue of his
‘rer actions, becomes prominent enough to warrant the designation
“historical figure.” There is a leap on the part of the general public,
sparked by the media, to another mindset. Sensational deeds are
glorified, horrible acts reviled. A few points are selected as defining
characteristics. The media, conforming to their restrictions of
concision (which make accuracy nearly impossible to attain), reiterate
these points over and over. Schools and textbooks not only teach these
points but drill chem into young minds, Howard Zinn comments that
“this learned sense of moral proportion, coming from the apparent
objectivity of the scholar, is accepted more easily than when it comes
from politicians at press conferences. I is therefore more deadly”

‘A few tidbits, factual or not, incomplete and selective, are used to
describe the entirety of a person’s existence. They become part of
mainstream consciousness. We therefore know that Lincoln freed the
slaves, Malcolm X wasa blackextremist,and Hitler wassolely responsible
for World War II and the Holocaust. All half-truths go unexplained,
all fallacies go unchallenged, as they appear to make perfect sense to
the everyday, non-critically thinking American, The paradox has been
created: The more famous a person becomes, the more misunderstood
he or she is. This accepted occurrence is incredibly counterintuitive:
the public should know more, not less, about a noteworthy individual
and the sociopolitical dynamics surrounding him or her.

‘This historical mythicization is not, for the most part, a consciously
created phenomenon. The media don't go out of their way to mislead
the public by constructing false heroes and emphasizing the mundane,
Fewer “dimly lit conferences” take place than conspiracy theorists
believe. It is the existing political system that is responsible for the
information that reaches the general public. The state's control of

PART ONE. n
information created che system, and it continually re-creates it,
Propagated by schooling and the media, information that reaches the
public is subject to three chief mechanisms of state control: denial,
self-censorship, and imprisonment.

Denial is the easiest control mechanism, and therefore the most
common. If events do not follow the state’s agenda or its ecumenical
ideology and might bring unrest, they are denied. Examples are
plentiful: prewar state terrorism against the people of North and South
‘Vietnam and later the bombing of Cambodia: government funding and
military aid to che Nicaraguan Contras: and suppore of UNITA and
South Africa in the vietual destruction of Angola, among many others.

Denial goes hand in hand with self-censorship. The media emphasize
certain personal characteristics and events and de-emphasize others, in
‘a pattern that supports US. hegemony. The information that reached
the public after the US. invasion of Panama in 1989 is telling, It was
not until much later, after the heat of controversy, that the average
citizen had access to the scope of the devastation. The effectiveness
‘of self-censorship in this ease was maximized, as the full details of the
Panama invasion were patchwork for years

‘While we may assume that the media have an obligation to accurately
convey such an event to the public, the media in fact perpetuate the
{government's position by engaging in their own self-censorship. Noam
Chomsky points out in Deterring Democracy, “With a fringe of
‘exceptions — mostly well after the tasks had been accomplished — the
media rallied around the flag with due piety and enthusiasm, funneling
the most absurd White House rales to the public while scrupulously
refraining from asking the obvious questions, or seeing the obvious
facts”

Denial and self-censorship create a comfort zone for the US. citizenry,
generally uncritical and willing to accept digestible versions of
historical personalities and world events. The reasoning behind denial
and self-censorship: do not make the public uncomfortable, even if that
means diluting, sensationalizing, or lying about the truch, Ultimately,
when denial and self-censorship may not be sufficient for control of
information, the state resorts to imprisonment. All imprisonment is
political and as such all imprisonments carry equal weight. Society does,
however, distinguish two categories of imprisonment: one for breaking
law, the other for political reasons. A difference is clear: American

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER
Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier, serving a federal sentence for
his supposed role at Wounded Knee, is considered a different type of
prisoner than an armed robber serving a five-to-seven-year sentence.

State policy reflects instieutional needs. When the state as an
insticution cannot tolerate an outside threat, real or perceived, from
an individual or group, the consequences at its command include
isolation, persecution, and political imprisonment. All may occur in
‘greater or lesser form, depending on the degree of threat

Political incarceration removes threats to the political and economic
hegemony of the United States. Even though in 1959 George Jackson
initially went co prison as an “everyday lawbreaker” with a one-year-
to-life sentence, it was his political consciousness that kept him
incarcerated for eleven years. In 1970 George wrote:

International capitalism cannot be destroyed without the extremes
of struggle. The entire colonial world is watching the blacks inside
the US. wondering and waiting for us to come t0 our senses. Their
problems and struggles with che Amerikan monster are much mote
difficult than they would be if we actively aided them. We are on the
inside. We are the only ones (besides the very small white minority
lee) who can get at che monster’s heart without subjecting the world to
nuclear fire. We have a momentous historical role to act out if we will

‘The whole world forall time in the future will love us and remember us
as the righteous people who made it possible for the world to live on. IF
wwe fail through fear and lack of aggressive imagination, then the slaves
of the future will curse us, as we sometimes curse those of yesterday. I
don’t wane to die and leave a few sad songs and a hump in the ground as
my only monument. I want to leave a world that is liberated from trash,
pollution, racism, nation-states, nation-state wars and armies, from
pomp. bigotry, parochialism, a thousand different brands of untruth,
and licentious usurious economics

Nothingis more dangerous toa system that depends on misinformation
than a voice that obeys its own dictates and has the courage to speak
‘out. George Jackson's imprisonment and further isolation within the
prison system were clearly a function of the state’s response to his
‘outspoken opposition to the capitalise structure.

Political incarceration is a tangible form of state control. Unlike
denial and self-censorship, imprisonment is publicly scrutinized. Yet

PART ONE. B
public reaction to political incarceration has been minimal. The US.
‘government claims it holds no political prisoners (denial), while any
notice given to protests focused on political prisoners invariably takes
the form of a human interest story (self-censorship).

‘The efficacy of political incarceration in the United States cannot be
denied, Prison serves notonly asa physical barrier, buta communication
restraint. Prisoners are completely ostracized from society, with
little oF no chance to break through. Those few outside who might
be sympathetic are always hesitant to communicate or protest past a
certain point, fearing their own persecution or imprisonment. Also,
deep down most people believe that all prisoners, regardless of their
individual situations, rally did do something “wrong.” Added to that
prejudice, society lacks a distinction between a prisoner's actions and
his or her personal worth: a bad act equals a bad person. The bottom
line is that che majority of people simply will not believe that the state
‘openly or covertly oppresses without criminal cause. As Daniel Singer
asked at the Evergreen conference in 1987, “Is it possible for a class
which exterminates the native peoples of the Americas. replaces them
by raping Africa for humans it then denigrates and dehumanizes as
slaves, while cheapening and degrading its own working class — is it
possible for such a class to create a democracy, equality and to advance
the cause of human freedom? The implicit answer is, "No, of course

How does a person — inside or outside prison — confront the culeural
mindsets, the layers of misinformation propagated by the capitalist
system? Sooner or later, what can be called the “radical dilemma”
surfaces for the few wanting to enter into a structural attack/analysis
of the United States. Culeurally, educationally, and politically, all of
us are similarly limited by these layers of misinformation: we are all
products of the system. None of us functions from a clean slate when
considering or debating any issue, especially history as it pertains to
the United States. George Jackson struggled against the constraints
of denial and self-censorship. to say nothing of his physical and
communicative distance from society. Political prisoners are inherently
vulnerable to an either/or situation: isolating silence or elimination,
For George, his vociferous revolutionary attitude was either futile or
self-exterminating. He was well aware of his situation. In Blood in My
Eye, his political treatise, he wrote:

u SOLEDAD BROTHER
I'm in a unique political position. I have a very nearly closed future,
and since I have always been inclined to get disturbed over organized
injustice or terrorist practice against the innocents — wherever — I
‘ean now say just about what I want (I've always done just about that),
‘without Fear of self-exposure. I can only be executed once.

George was equally aware that revolutionary change happens only
when an entire society is ready. No amount of action, preaching, or
teaching will spark revolution if social conditions do not warranc it. My
father’s case, unfortunately is an appropriate indicator. He attempted
revolutionary act during a reactionary time: elimination was the only
possible consequence. The challenge for a radical in today’s world isto
balance reformist tendencies (political liberalism) and revolutionary
action/ideology (radicalism). While reformism entails a legitimation
of the status quo as a search for changes within the system, radicalism
posits a change of system, Because revolutionaries are particularly
vulnerable, a certain degree of reformism is necessary to create space,
space needed to begin the laborious task of making revolution,

‘George's statement "Combat Liberalism” and the general reaction to it
typify the gulf between the two philosophies. George was universally
misunderstood by the left and the right alike. As is the case with
most modern political prisoners, nearly all of his support came from
reformists with liberal leanings. Ie seems that they acted in spite of,
rather than because of, the core of his message.

‘The lefts attitude toward COINTELPRO is a usefal illustration,
COINTELPRO, the covert government program used to dismantle
the Black Panther Party, and later the American Indian Movement,
is typically cited by many leftists as a damning example of the
government's conspiratorial nature. Declassified documents and ex-
agents’ testimonies have shown COINTELPRO to be one of the
most unlawful, insidious cells of government in the nation’s history.
COINTELPRO, however, was really a symptomatic, expendable
entity: a small police force within a larger one (FBI), within a branch
‘of government (executive), within the government itself (liberal
democracy), within the economic system (capitalism). Reformists in
radicals’ clothing unknowingly argued against symproms, rather than
the roots, of the entrenched system, Doing away with COINTELPRO
for even the FBI would not alter the structure that produces the
surveillance/elimination apparatus.

PART ONE. 15
In George's day, others who considered themselves lefe of center, oF
even revolutionary, concerned themselves with inner-city reform
issues, mostly black ghettos. The problem of and debate about inner
cities still exists. However, recognition of a problem and analysis of
that problem are two very different challenges. The demand to becter
only predominantly black inner-city conditions is unrealistic at best. In
the capitalist structure, there must be an upper, middle, and especially
1 lower class. Improving black neighborhoods is the equivalent of
gheteoizing some other segment of the population — poor whites,
Hispanics, Asians, ete. Nothing inerinsic to the system would change,
only superficial alterations that would mollify the liberal public. As
Chomsky asserts in Turning the Tide:

Determined opposition to the latest lunacies and atrocities must
continue, for the sake of the victims as well as our own ultimate survival.
Butt should be understood as a poor substitute for a challenge to the
deeper causes, a challenge that we are, unfortunately, in no position to
mount at the present though the groundwork can and must be laid
Failure to understand the radical, encompassing viewpoint in the
sixties led to reformism. In effect, the majority of the lefe completely
deserted any attempt at the radical balance required of the politically
conscious, leaving only liberalism and its narrow vision to flourish,

Nobody comprehended the radical dilemma more fully than George
Jackson. Indeed, he developed his philosophy not out of mere
happenstance, but with a very conscious eye upon maintaining his
revolutionary ideology. He writes in Blood in My Eye:

Reformism isan old story in Amerika. There have been depressions and
socio-economic political crises throughout the period that marked the
formation of the present upper-class ruling circle, and their controlling
lites, But the parties of the left were too committed to reformism to
exploit their revolutionary potential.

George’s involvement with the prison reform movement should
therefore be seen as a matter of survival. Unlike the reformist left,
prison oppression was directly affecting him. His balanced reform
activities — improving prisoners’ rights while speaking out against
prison asan entity — were required to make living conditions tolerable
‘enough for him ¢o continue on his revolutionary path. Simply, he did
what he had to do to survive — created space while simultaneously
pursuing his radical cheory.

6 SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘The reform George Jackson did accomplish was and still is incredible,
transforming the prison environment from unlivable to livable hell,
from encampments that he called reminiscent of Nazi Germany to at
leasta scaled-down version of the like. With his influence, these changes
‘occurred not only in California, but throughout the nation. Only now
is his influence beginning to slip. with reactionary politics bringing
about torture and sensory deprivation facilities such as Pelican Bay
‘State Prison in California, as well as the reintroduction for adoption of
the one-to-life indeterminate sentence, This type of sentence is fertile
‘ground for state oppression, as itis up to a parole board to decide if
an inmate is ever to be let go. A prison can easily and effectively create
situations thac transform a one-to-life into a life sentence. (Tellingly,
the indeterminate sentence is being promoted notby the right, but by a
California senator formerly associated with mainstream liberal causes.)

Politically, George Jackson provided us all with a radical education, a
viable alternative to viewing not only the United States bu the world
as a political entity. He gave the disenfranchised a lens through which
they could clearly see thei situation and become more conscious about
it, He wrote in April 1970:

Ieallfallsinto place. Isee the whole thing much clearer now,how fascism
thas taken possession of this country, the interlocking dictatorship from
county level on up to the Grand Dragon in Washington, D.C.

Crucially, George’s treatment is a concrete, undeniable example of
political oppression. Race is more times than not the easy answer to
a problem. Among people of color in the United States, the quick fix,
“blame iton whitey” mentality has become so prevalent that itshorteuts
thinking. Conversely, stereotypes of minorities act as simple-minded
tools of divisiveness and oppression. George addressed these issues in
prison, setting a model for the outside as well: “I'm always telling the
brothers some of those whites are willing to work with us against the
pigs. All they got to do is stop talking honky. When the races start
fighting, all you have is one maniac group against another.” On the
surface, race has been and is still being put forth as an overriding issue
that needs to be addressed as a prerequisite for social change. In fact,
although it seems to loom as a large problem, race as an issue is again
‘a symptom of capitalism, OF course, on a paltry level and among the
relatively powerless, race does play a part in social structure (the racist
cop, the bigoted landlord, etc.) pitting segments of the population
against cach other. But revolutionary change requires class analysis that

PART ONE. 7
dives appropriate actions and eliminates race as a mitigating factor.
Knowing these socioeconomic dynamics, George Jackson was first
and foremost a people’ revolutionary, and he acted as such at all times
‘without compromise. His writings clearly reflect his belief in class-
based revolutionary change.

Considering the many structural elements affecting him, it is easy to
sce why George and his message have been misinterpreted. The quick
takes on him are abundant: its assumed that he was imprisoned and
‘oppressed because he was black, because he had publicized vies with
the Black Panther Party and was a well-known organizer within
the prison reform movement. Although George became a “prison
celebrity” a status thae certainly didn’t help him in terms of acquittal
and release, ignorance ofthe actual forces responsible for his prolonged
imprisonment is inexcusable. The radical viewpoint is absolutely
indispensable when regarding both George’s life circumstance and
philosophy. His life serves not as a mere individual example of prison
cruelty, but as a scalding indictment of the very nature of capitalism.

In these times, there are two very different ways to be born into
privilege. First and most obvious in che system of capital is to be
born into wealth, Second, and not precluding the firs, is to have an
intellectual, politically conscious base fom which to grow as a person
philosophically and spiritually. Radical figures in modern society —
Lenin, Trotsky, Ché Guevara, my father, Jonathan Jackson, and my
uncle George Jackson — have the capability of providing this base
through their examples and writings

‘Those not born into privilege can achieve a politically conscious base
in different ways. No veils separate the lower class from the realities of
everyday life. They have been given the gift of disillusion. Bourgeois
lifestyle, although perhaps sought after, isin most cases not attainable.
Daily survival is the primary goal, as it was with George. Of course,
when it finally becomes more attractive for one to fight, and perhaps
die, chan to live in a survival mode, revolution starts to become a
possibility. Not a riot, not a government takeover by one o another
‘group, but a people’ revolution led by the politically conscious.

‘This consciousness doesn’t simply appear: Individuals muse grow and
work into it, bt isan invaluable gift to have insight into and access to
an alternative to the frustration, a goal on the horizon.

18 SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘The nineties are an unconscious era. The unimportant isall-important,
the essential neglected, What system than capitalism, what time period
than now. is better suited to naturally create the scape-goat, the seldom-
heard political prisoner, misunderstood in his cultof personality
status, held back in a choke hold from society? It is not only our tight,
bur our duty, co listen to and comprehend George Jackson's message.
To not do so is to turn our backs on one of the brilliant minds of the
twentieth century, an individual passionately involved with liberating
not only himself, but all of us.

Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our
situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are
dying who could be saved, chat generations more will die or live
poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done,
discover your humanity and your love in revolution, Pass on the
torch. Join us, give up your life for the people.

George Jackson
Jonathan Jackson, J.

‘San Francisco
June 1994

PART ONE. 19
Recent Letters and Autobiography
George Jackson

JUNE, 1970 10

Dear Greg?
I probably didn’t work hard enough on this but I'm pressed for time
all the time.

1 could play the criminal aspects of my life down some but then it
wouldn't be me. That was the pertinent part, che thing at school and
‘home I was constantly rejecting in process.

All my life I pretended with my folks, it was the thing in the street
that was real. I was certainly just pretending with the nuns and priests,
I served mass so that I could be in a position to steal altar wine, sang
in the choir because they made me. When we went on tour of the
rich white catholic schools we were always treated very well — fed —
rewarded with gifts. Old Father Brown hated me but always put me
down front when we were on display. I ean’ say exactly why, I was the
ugliest, skinniest litle misfit in the group.

Black men born in the US. and fortunate enough to live past the age of
eighteen are conditioned to accept the inevitability of prison. For most
‘of us, itsimply looms as the next phase in a sequence of humiliations
Being born a slave in a captive society and never experiencing any
“objective basis for expectation had the effect of preparing me for the
progressively traumatic misfortunes that lead so many black men to the
Peon gate Las prepared for prion, equed only minor pci
adjustments.

Ie always starts with Mama, mine loved me. As testimony of her love,
and her fear for the fate of the man-child all slave mothers hold, she
attempted to press, hide, push, capcure me in the womb. The conflicts
and contradictions that will follow me to the tomb started right chere
in the womb. The feeling of being captured . .. this slave can never
adjust co i, ie’ a thing that I just don’t favor, then, now, never.

I've been asked to explain myself, “briefly.” before the world has done
‘with me, Ic is difficult because I don't recognize uniqueness, not as its

2 The editor who asked forthe author's autobiography:

20 SOLEDAD BROTHER
applied to individualism, because it is too tightly tied into decadent
capitalist culture, Rather I've always strained to see the indivisible thing
cutting across the artificial barricades which have been erected to an
‘older section of our brains, back to the mind of the primitive commune
that exists in all blacks. Bue then how can I explain the runaway slave
in cerms that do not imply uniqueness? I was captured and brought to
prison when I was 18 years old because I couldn't adjust. The record
that the state has compiled on my activities reads like the record of ten
men, It labels me brigand, thief, burglar, gambler, hobo, drug addict,
‘gunman, escape artist, Communist revolutionary, and murderer.

Iwas born as the Great Depression was ending. Ie was ending because
the second great war for colonial markets was beginning in the US. I
pushed out of the womb against my mother’s strength September 23,
1941 — [felt free.

My mother was a country gitl from Harrisburg, Illinois, My father was
born in East St. Louis, Iilinois. They mee in Chicago, and were living
‘on Lake Street near Racine when I was born. It was in one of the oldest
sections of Chicago, part ghetto residential, part factory. The el train
passed a few yards from our front windows (the only windows really),
‘There were factories across the street and garage shops on the bottom
level of our lat I ele right in the middle of chings.

ur first move up the social scale was around the corner to 211 North
Racine Street, away from the el train. I remember every detail of
preschool days. I have a sister 15 months older than myself, Delora,
a beautiful child and now a beautiful woman, We were sometimes
allowed to venture out into the world, which at che time meant no
further than fenced-off roof area adjoining our little three-room
apartment built over a tavern. We were allowed out there only after the
city made its irregular garbage pickups. The roof area was behind the
tavern and over an area where people deposited their garbage. But, of
‘course, I went out when I pleased.

Superman was several years old about then, I didn’t really confuse
myself with him but I did develop a deep suspicion that I might be
Suppernigger (ewenty-three years ahead of my time). I tied a tablecloth
around my neck, climbed the roof’s fence, and against my sister’s tears
‘would have leaped to my death, down among the garbage bartels, had
she not grabbed me, tablecloth and all, and kicked my litele ass.

PART ONE. a
Seeing the white boys up close in kindergarten was a traumatic event.
I must have seen some before in magazines or books but never in the
flesh, I approached one, felt his hair, scratched at his cheek, he hie me
in che head with a baseball bat. They found me crumpled in a heap just
‘outside the school-yard fence.

‘After that, my mother sent me to St. Malachy catholic mission school.
Te was siting right in the heart of the ghetto area, Washington and
Oakley streets. All of the nuns were white: of the priests (there were
five in the parish) I think one was near black, or near white whichever
you prefer. The school ran from kindergarten to 12th grade. [attended
for nine years (ten counting kindergarten). This small group of
missionaries with their silly costumes and barbaric rituals offered
the fall range of Western propaganda to all ages and all comers. Sex
‘was never mentioned except with whispers or grimaces co convey
something nasty: You could get away with anything (they were anxious
to make saints) but getting caught with your hand up a dress. Holy
¢ghosts, confessions, and racism,

‘St. Malachy’s was really ewo schools. There was another school across
the street that was more private than ours. “We" played and fought
‘on the corner sidewalks bordering the school. “They” had a large
sgrass-and-tree-studded garden with an eight-foot wroughtiron fence
bordering ic (co keep us out, since it never seemed to keep any of them
in when they chose to leave). “They” were all white. “They” were driven
to and from school in large private buses or their parents’ cars. “We”
‘on the black side walked, or when we could afford it used the public
buses or streetcars. The white students’ yard was equipped with picnic
tables for spring lunches, swings, slides, and other more sophisticated
gadgets intended to please older children. For years we had only the
very crowded sidewalks and alley behind the school. Years later a small
‘gym was buile but it just stood there, locked. Ie was only allowed to be
used for an occasional basketball game between our school and one of
the others like i from across the city’s various ghetto areas.

Delora and I took the Lake Street streetcar to school each morning,
and also on Sundays when we were forced to attend a religious
function. I must have fallen from that thing a hundred times while it
‘was in motion. Each time Delora would hang on to me, trying to save
me, but I was just too determined and we would roll down Lake Street,
books and all, miraculously avoiding the passing cars. The other black
children who went to public school laughed at us. The girls had to wear

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER
uniform, the boys wore white shirts. I imagined that the nuns and
priests were laughing too every time they told one of those fantastic
lies. I know now that the most damaging thing a people in a colonial
situation ean do is to allow their children to attend any educational
facility organized by the dominant enemy culture.

Before the winter of my first-grade year, my father, Lester, prepared a
fifey-gallon steel drum to store oil for our little stove. As I watched,
he cleaned the inside with gasoline, When he retreated from his work
temporarily for a cigarette he explained to me about the danger of the
{gas fumes. Later when he had completed work on the barrel I sneaked
back our co the roof with my sister Delora trailing me like a St. Bernard.
Thad matches and the idea of an explosion was irresistible, As soon as
iy sister realized what I was going to do, she turned her big sad eyes
‘on me and started crying. I lita match as I moved closer and closer to
the barrel. The I lit the whole book of matches. By now Delora was
convinced that death was imminent for us both. She made a last brave
cffore co stop me but I was too determined. I threw the matches across
the last few feet. Delora shielded my eyes with her hand as the explosion
‘went off. She still carries her burns from that day’s experiences. I was
injured around the lower face but carry no sign of it. Our clothes were
burned and ripped away. I would probably be blind if not for this sister.

My parents had two more children while we were hanging on there at
North Racine, Frances and Penelope. Six of us in the litle walk-up,
‘The only thing that Ican think of that was even slightly pleasant about
the place was the light. We had plenty of windows and nothing higher
about us to block off the sun. In “49 we moved to a place in the rear on
‘Warren near Western that was the end of the sun, We had no windows
that opened directly on the street, even the one that faced the alley was
blocked by a garage. Ie was a larger place but che neighborhood around
the place was so vicious that my mother never, never allowed me to go
‘out of the house or the small yard excepe to get something from one of
the supermarkets or stores on Madison and return immediately. When
wanted to leave I would either go by a window, or throw my coat out
the window and volunteer to take out the garbage. There was only one
door. Ie was in the kitchen and always well guarded.

I spent most of the summers of those school years in southern Illinois
‘with my grandmother and aunt, Irene and Juanita. My mother, Georgia,
called it removing me from harm’s way. This was where my mother
‘grew up and she trusted her sister Juanita, whose care I came under,

PART ONE. 2
completely. I was the only man-child and I was the only one to get
special protection from my mother. The trips to the country were good
for me in spite of the motive. I learned how to shoot rifles, shorguns,
pistols. I learned about fishing. I learned to identify some of the food
plants that grow wild in most areas of the US. I could leave the house,
the yard, the town, without having to sneak out of a window.

Almost everyone in the black sector of Harrisburg is relative of mine.
‘loyal. righteous people: I could raise a small army from their numbers.
Thad use of any type of rifle or pistol on those trips downstate and
‘everyone owned a weapon. My disposition toward guns and explosions
is responsible for my firse theft. Poverty made ammunition scarce and
so... [confess with some guilt that I liked to shoot small animals, birds
rabbits, squirrels, anything that offered itself as a target. I was a little
skinny guy: scourge of the woods, predatory man. After the summer
I went back up north for school and snowball (sometimes ice-block)
fights with the white kids across the street,

don’t remember exactly when I met Joe Adams, it was during the early
years, but I do recall the circumstances, Three or four of the brothers
‘were in the process of taking my lunch when Joe joined them. The bag
‘was torn, and the contents spilled onto the sidewalk, Joe scrambled for
the food and gor all of it. Butafter the others left laughing, he returned
and stuffed itall into my pockets. We were great friends From then on it
that childish way. He was older by a couple of years (two or three years
means a lot at that tender age). and could beat me doing everything,
I watched him and listened with John and Kenny Fox, Junior, Sonny,
and others sometimes. We almost put the block’ businessmen into
bankruptcy, My mother and father will never admic it now, I'm suse,
bur I was hungry and so were we all. Our activities went from stolen
food to other things I wanted, gloves for my hands (which were always
cold), which I was always wearing out, marbles for che slingshots,
{games and gadgets for outdoorsmen from the dime store. Downtown,
wwe plundered at will. The city was helpless to defend against us. But I
couldn't keep up with Joe. Jonathan, my older brother, was born about
this time.

My grandfather, George “Papa” Davis, stands out of those early years
more than any other figure in my total environment. He was separated
from his wile by the system. Work for men was impossible to find in
Harrisburg, He was living and working in Chicago — sending his wage
back to the people downstate, He was an extremely aggressive man,

u SOLEDAD BROTHER
and since aggression on the part of the slave means crime, he was in
jail now and then. I loved him. He tried to direct my great energy into
the proper form of protest. He invented long simple allegories that
always pictured the white politicians as animals (jackasses, toads, goats,
‘vermin in general), He scorned the police with special enmity. He and
my mother went to geeat pains to impress on me that it was the worst
form of niggerism to hook and jab, cut and stab at other blacks.

Papa took me to his little place on Lake and fed me, walked me through
the wildest of the nation’ jungles, pointing up the foibles of black
response to crisis existence. I loved him. He died alone in southern
Ilinois che fifth year that I was in San Quentin, on a pension that after
rent allowed for a diet of litele more than sardines and crackers.

‘After Racine Street we moved into the Troop Street projects, which
in 1958 were the scenes of the city’s worst riots. (The cats in those
projects fell out against che pig with heavy machine guns, 30s and 50s
that were equipped with tracer ammunition.)

My troubles began when we were in the projects. Iwas eaught once or
twice for mugging but the pig never went much further than co pop
ime behind the ear with the “oak stick” several times and send for my
mortified father to carry me home.

My family knew very little of my real life. In effece, I lived two lives,
the one with my mama and sisters, and the thing on the street. Now
and then I'd get caught at something, or with something thac I wasn't
supposed co have and my mama would fall all over me. I left home a
thousand times, never to return, We hoboed up and down the state, I
did whae I wanted (all my life I've done just that). When it came time
toexplain, lied.

Thad a giel from Arkansas, finest at the mission, but the nuns had
convinced her that love — touching fingertips, mouths, belies, legs
— was nasty. Most of my time and money went to the other very
loose and lovely girls I met on the stairwells of the projects’ 15-story
buildings. Thae was our hangout, and most of the time that’s where
wwe acted out the ritual. Jonathan, my new comrade, just a baby chen,
was the only real reason that I would come home at all: a brother to
help me plunder the white world, a father to be proud of the deed — I
‘was a fanciful litle cat. But my brother was too young of course. He's
‘only seventeen now while I'm twenty-nine chis year. Any my father, he

PART ONE. 25
‘was always mortified. I stopped attending school regularly, and started
getting “picked up” by che pigs more often. The pig station, a lecture,
and oak-stick therapeutics. These pickups were mainly for “suspicion
‘of or because I was in the wrong part of town. Except for once or
twice I was never actually caught breaking any laws. There just wasn’t
any possibility of a policeman beating me in a footrace. A target that’s
really moving with evasive tacties is almost impossible to hi with a
short-barreled revolver. Through a gangway with a gate that only a few
can operate with speed (it's dark even in the day) up a stairway through
a door. Across roofs with seven- to ten-foot jumps in between (the pig
is working mainly for money, bear in mind, I am running for my life).
‘There wasn't pig in the city who could “follow the leader” of even the
most timid ghetco gang,

My father sensed a need to remove me from the Chicago environment
so in 1956 he transferred his post-office job to the Los Angeles area,
He bought an old “49 Hudson, threw me into it, and the two of us
‘came Wese with plans to send for the rest of the family later that year. I
knew nothing of ears. It was the first car our family had ever owned. I
watched my father with great interest as he pushed the Hudson across
the two thousand miles from Chicago to Los Angeles in ewo days. Iwas
certain that I could handle the standard gearshift and pedals. I asked
hhim co let me try upon our arrival in Los Angeles that first day. He
dismissed me with an “Ah — crazy nigger lay dead” look. We were to
stay with his cousin Johnny Jones in Watts until the rest of the family
could be sent for. He went off with Johnny to visit other relatives, I
stayed behind with the keys and the ¢ar. I made one corner, down one
street, waited for a traffic light, firmed my jaw, dry-swallowed — took
off around the next comer, and ended the turn inside the plate-glass
window and front door of the neighborhood barbershop. Those cats
in the shop (Watts) had become so immune to excitement that no one
hardly looked up. I tied to apologize. The brother that owned the shop
allowed my father to do the repair work himself. No pigs were called to
settle this affair between brothers. One showed up by chance, however.
Thad co answer a court summons later that year. But the brother
sensed that my father was poor, like himself, with a terribly mindless,
displaced, irresponsible child on his hands, probably like his own, and
didn’t insist upon having the gun-slinging pig from the outside enemy
culture arbitrate the problems we must handle ourselves.

26 SOLEDAD BROTHER
My father fixed the brother's shop with his own hands, after buying
the materials. No charges were brought against me for the damages.
My father straightened out the motor bed, plugged the holes in the
radiator, hammered out some of che dents and folds from the fender,
bought a new light, and taped it into place on the fender. He drove that
car to and from work, to the supermarkets with my mother, to church
‘with my sisters, for four years! Ie was all he could afford and he wasn't
the least bit ashamed of the fact. And he never said a word to me about
it, I guess he was convinced by then that words wouldn't help me. U've
been a fool — often.

Serious things started to happen after our settling in L.A, but chis
{guy never abandoned me. He felt shame in having to bail me out of
encounters with the law but he would always be there. I did several
months in Paso Robles for allegedly breaking into a large department
store (Golds on Central) and attempting a hijack. I was 15, and full
‘grown (I haven't grown an inch since then). A cop shot me six times
point-blank on that job, as I was standing with my hands in the ait.
‘After the second shor, when I was certain that he was trying to murder
me, I charged him. His gun was empry and he had only hi me twice by
the time I had closed with him — “Oh, get chis wild nigger off me.” My
mother fell away from the phone in a dead faine when they informed
her that I had been shot by the police in a hijack attempt. I had ewo
comrades with me on that job. They both got away because of the
exchange between the pigs and me.

Since all black are thought of as rats, che third degree started before I
‘was taken to the hospital. Medical creatment was offered as a reward
for cooperation. Ac first they didn’t know I had been hit, but as soon
as they saw the blood running from my sleeve, the questions began.
‘A bullet had passed through my forearm, another had sliced my leg, I
sat in the back of the pig car and bled for ewo hours before they were
convinced that lockjaw must have set in already. They took me to that
little clinic at the Maxwell Street Station. A black nurse or doctor
attended. She was young, full of sympathy and advice. She suggested,
since I had strong-looking legs, that instead of warring with the enemy
culture I should get interested in football or sports. [told her that if she
could manage to turn the pig in the hall fora second I could escape and
perhaps make a new start somewhere with a football. A month before
this thing happened a guy had sold me a motorcycle and provided a
pink slip thae proved to be forged or changed around in some way: The

PART ONE. 7
bike was hot and I was eaughe with i. Taken together these two things
‘were enough to send me to what California calls Youth Authority
Corrections. I went to Paso Robles.

‘The very first time, it was like dying, Just to exist at al in che cage calls
for some heavy psychic readjustments. Being captured was the first
of my fears. It may have been inborn. It may have been an acquired
characteristic buile up over che centuries of black bondage. It is the
thing I've been running from all my life. When it caught up co me in
1957 I was fifteen years old and not very well-equipped to deal with
sudden changes. The Youth Authority joints are places that demand
complete capiculation; one must cease to resist altogether or else

‘The employees are the same general types found lounging at all prison
facilities. They need a job — any job: the state needs goons. Chino
‘was almost new at the time. The regular housing units were arranged
so that at all times one could see the lockup unit. Ie think they called
ie “X", We existed from day to day to avoid it. How much we ate was
strictly controlled, so was the amount of rest. After lights went out,
no one could move from his bed without a flash of the pigs’ hand-
light. During the day the bed couldn't be touched. There were so many
compulsories that very few of us could manage to stay out of trouble
even with our best efforts. Everything was programmed right down
to the precise spoonful. We were made to march in military fashion
everywhere we went — to the gym, to the mess hall, co compulsory
prayer meetings. And then we just marched. I pretended that I couldn't
hear well or understand anything but the simplest ditections so I was
never given anything bue the simplest work. I was lucky: always when
my mind failed me I've had great luck to carry me through.

All my life Pve done exactly what I wanted to do just when I wanted, no
rmore, perhaps less sometimes, but never any more, which explains why
Thad to be jailed, “Man was born free. But everywhere he isin chains.”
I never adjusted. I haven't adjusted even yet, with half my life already
spent in prison. I can’ truthfully say prison is any less painful now than
during that first experience. In my early prison years I read all of Rafael
Sabatini, particularly The Lion's Skin, “There once was aman who sold
the lion’ skin, while the beast still lived, and was killed while hunting
hhim” This story fascinated me, It made me smile even under the lash.
‘The hunter bested, the hunted stalking the hunter. The most predatory
animal on earth curning on its oppressor and killing it. At the time,
this ideal existed in me just above the conscious level. It helped me to

28 SOLEDAD BROTHER
define myself, but it would take me several more years to isolate my real
‘enemy. I read Jack London’, “raw and naked, wild and free’ military
novels and dreamed of smashing my enemies entirely. overwhelming,
vanquishing, crushing them completely, sinking my fangs into the
hhunter’s neck and never, never letting go.

Capcare, imprisonment, isthe closest to being dead that one is likely to
experience in this life. There were no beatings (for me at least) in this
youth joint and the food wasn’t too bad. I came through it. When cold
to do something I simply played the idiot, and spent my time reading,
‘The absentminded bookworm, I was in full revolt by the time seven
‘months were up. I went to school in Paso Robles and covered the work
required for 10th-year students in the California school system, and
centered Manual Arts for the 11th year upon my release. After I got
‘out I stopped in Bakersfield, where I planned to stay no more than
a week or two. I met a woman who fele almost as unimpressed with
life as I did. We sinned, I stayed. I was 16 then, just starting to get
my hefe, but this wonderful sister, so round and wild, firm and supple,
mature... in one month she reduced my health so that I had to take
to the bed permanently. I was ill for eleven days with fevers and chest
pains (something in the lungs). When I pulled out of ie I was broke. Vd
collected a few friends by that time. Two of them would try anything.
Mat and Obe. We talked, borrowed a car, and went off

‘A few days later we were all three in county jail (Kern County) on
suspicion of committing a number of robberies. Since the opposition
cleans up the books when they find the right type of victim, they
accused us of a number of robberies we knew nothing about. Since they
had already identified me for one, I copped out to another and cleared
Mat and Obe on that count. They “allowed” Obe to plead guilty to
‘one robbery instead of the three others they threatened him with,
‘They cleared Mat alrogether. Two months after our arrest Mat left the
county jail free of charges.

1 was in the “time tank” instead of the felony tank because they had
‘only ewo felony anks (that was the old county jail) and they wanted
to keep the three of us separated. After Mat left, a brother came into
the time tank to serve 2 days. The morning he was scheduled to leave
T went back to his cell with a couple of sheets and asked him if he
‘would aid me in an escape attempt. He dismissed me with one of those
looks and a wave of the hand. I started tearing the sheet in stripes, he
watched. When I was finished he asked me, “What are you doin’ with

PART ONE. »
that sheet?" I replied, “I’m tearing it into these strips.” “Why you doin’
that?” “I'm making rope.” “What-chew gonna do with ah rope?” “Oh
— I'm going to tie you up with i

‘When they called him to be released that morning, I went out in his
place. I've learned one very significant thing for our struggle here in the
US. all blacks do look alike to certain types of white people. White
people tend to grossly underestimate all blacks, out of habit. Blacks
have been overestimating whites in a conditioned reflex. Later, when
was accused of robbing a gas station of seventy dollars, I accepted a
deal — I ageced to confess and spare the county court costs in return
for a light county jail sentence. I confessed but when time came for
sentencing, they tossed me into the penitentiary with one to life
‘That was in 1960, I was 18 years old. I've been here ever since. I met
Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Engels, and Mao when I entered prison and they
redeemed me. For the first four years I studied nothing but economics
and milicary ideas. I met black guerrillas. George “Big Jake" Lewis,
and James Carr, W.L. Nolen, Bill Christmas, Torry Gibson and many,
many others. We attempted to transform the black criminal mentality
into a black revolutionary mentality. As a result, each of us has been
subjected co years of the most vicious reactionary violence by the state,
Our mortality rate is almost what you would expect to find ina history
‘of Dachau. Three of us were murdered several months ago by a pig
shooting from 30 feet above their heads with a milicary rifle.

1am being tried in coure right now with two other brothers, John
Clutcherte and Fleeta Drumgo, for the alleged slaying of a prison
guard. This charge carries an automatic death penalty for me. I can't
get life. I already have it. When I returned to San Quentin Prison last
‘week from a year in Soledad Prison where the crime I am charged with
took place, a brother who had resisted the logic of prolecarian-people’s
revolutionary socialism for the black man in America sent me these
fines in a note:

“Without the cold and desolation of winter there could not be the
warmth and splendor of spring! Calamity has hardened my mind, and
tured it to steel!! Power to the People”

George

30 SOLEDAD BROTHER
APRIL, 1970

Dear Fay.’

On the occasion of your and Senator Dymally’s tour and investigation
into the affairs here at Soledad, I detected in the questions posed by
your team a desire to isolate some rationale that would explain why
racism exists at the prison with “particular prominence.” Of course
the subject was really too large to be dealt with in one tour and in
the short time they allowed you, but it was a brave scene. My small
but mighty mouthpiece, and the black establishment senator and his
team, invading the state’s maximum security row in the worst of its
concentration camps. I think you are the first woman to be allowed to
inspece these facilities. Thanks from all. The question was too large,
however. It’s tied into the question of why all these California prisons
vary in character and flavor in general. Is tied into the larger question
‘of why racism exists in this whole society with “particular prominence,”
tied into history. Out of it comes another question. Why do California
joints produce more Bunchy Carters and Eldridge Cleavers than those
‘over the rest of the country?

understand your attempe to isolate the set of localized circumstances
that give to this particular prison’s problems of race is based on a desite
to aid us right now, in the present crisis. There are some changes that
could be made right now that wouldalleviate some of the pressuresinside
thisand other prisons. Bur to get at the causes, you know, one would be
forced to deal with questions at the very center of Amerikan political
and economic life, at the core of the Amerikan historical experience.
This prison didn’t come to exist where it does just by happenstance.
Those who inhabie it and feed off is existence are historical products.
‘The great majority of Soledad pigs are southern migrants who do not
‘want to work in the fields and farms of the area, who couldn't sell cars
for insurance, and who couldn't tolerate the discipline of the army.
‘And of course prisons ateract sadists, After one concedes that racism is
stamped unalterably into the present nature of Amerikan sociopolitical
and economic life in general (the definition of fascism is: a police
state wherein the political ascendancy is tied into and protects the
interests of the upper class — characterized by militarism, racism, and
imperialism), and concedes further that criminals and crime arise from
material, economic, sociopolitical causes, we can then burn all of the

3 Mrs. Fay Stender, che author's lawyer.

PART ONE. 31
criminology and penology libraries and direct our attention where it
will do some good.

The logical place to begin any investigation into the problems of
California prisons is with our “pigs are beautiful” Governor Reagan,
radical reformer turned reactionary. For a real understanding of the
failure of prison policies, itis senseless to continue to study the criminal,
All of those who can afford to be honest know that che real victim, that
poor, uneducated, disorganized man who finds himself a convicted
criminal, is simply the end result of a long chain of corruption and
mismanagement that starts with people like Reagan and his political
appointees in Sacramento. After one investigates Reagan's character
(what makes a turncoat) the next logical step in the inquiry would bea
look into the biggest political prize of the state — the directorship of
the Department of Correction.

Al other lines of inquiry would be like walking backward. You'll
never see where you're going. You must begin with directors, assistant
directors, adule authority boards, roving boards, supervisors, wardens,
captains, and guards. You have to examine these people from director
down to guard before you can logically examine their product. Add to
this some concrete and steel, barbed wit, rifles, pistols, clubs, the tear
gas that killed Brother Billingslea in San Quentin in February 1970,
while he was locked in his cell and the pick handles of Folsom, San
Quentin, and Soledad.

To determine how men will behave once they enter the prison it is
of first importance to know that prison. Men are brutalized by their
environment — not the reverse.

1 gave you a good example of this when I saw you last. Where I am
presently being held, they never allow us to leave our cell without first
hhandcuffing us and belting or chaining the cuffs to our waists. This
is preceded always by a very thorough skin search, A force of a dozen
‘or more pigs can be expected to invade the row at any time searching
and destroying personal effects. The attitude of the staff coward
the convicts is both defensive and hostile. Until the convict gives in
completely it will continue to be so. By giving in, I mean prosteating
‘oneself at their feet. Only then does their attitude alter itself to one
of paternalistic condescension. Most convicts don’t dig this kind of
relationship (though there are some who do love it) with a group of
individuals demonstrably inferior to che rest of the society in regard to

32 SOLEDAD BROTHER
education, culture, and sensitivity, Our ces are so far from the regular
dining area that our food is always cold before we get it. Some days
there is only one meal that can be called cooked. We never get anything
bur cold-cut sandwiches for lunch, There is no variety to the menu.
‘The same things week after week. One is confined to his cell 23% hours
1 day. Overt racism exists unchecked. Ic is not a case of the pigs trying
to stop the many racist attacks: they actively encourage them,

‘They are fighting upstairs right now. Ies 11:10 A.M. June 11. No black
is supposed to be on the tier upstairs with anyone but other blacks but
— mistakes take place — and one or ewo blacks end up on the tier with
9 oF 10 white conviets frustrated by the living conditions or openly
‘working with the pigs. The whole ceiling is trembling. In hand-to-hand
‘combat we always win: we lose sometimes if the pigs give them knives
‘or zip guns. Lunch will be delayed today, the tear gas or whatever itis
drifts down co sting my nose and eyes. Someone is hurt bad. I hear the
meat wagon from the hospital being brought up. Pigs probably gave
them some weapons. But I must be fair. Sometimes (not more often
than necessary) they'll set up one of the Mexican or white conviets
He'll be one who has not been sufficiently racist in his attitudes. After
the brothers (enraged by previous attacks) kick on this white convict
‘whom the officials have set up, he'll fall right into line with the rest.

I was saying that the great majority of the people who live in this area
‘ofthe state and seck their employment from this institution have overt
racism as a traditional aspect of their characters. The only stops that
regulate how far they will carry this thing come from the fear of losing
employment here as a result of the outside pressures to control the
violence. That is © Wing, Max (Maximum Security) Row Soledad —
in pare anyway.

‘Take an individual who has been in the general prison population for
1 time, Picture him as an average conviet with the average twelve-year-
‘old mentality, he nation’s norm. He wants out, he wants a woman and
a beer. Lets say this average convict is white and has just been caught
attempting to escape, They may put him on Max Row. This is the worst
thing that will ever happen to him. In the general population facility
there are no chains and cuffs. TVs, radios, record players, civilian
sweaters, keys to his own cell for daytime use, serve to keep his mind off
his real problems, There is also a recreation yard with all sorts of balls
and instruments to strike or thrust at. There is a gym. There are movies
and a library well stocked with light fiction, And of course there is

PART ONE. 33
work, where for 2 of 3 cents an hour convicts here at Soledad make
paper products, furniture, and clothing. Some people actually like his
work since it does provide some money for the small things and helps
them to get through their day —withoue thinking about their real
problems

‘Take an innocent con out of this general population setting (because a
pig “thought” he may have seen him attempting a lock). Bring him to
any part of O Wing (the worst part of the adjustment center of which
Max Row isa part). He will be cuffed, chained, belted, pressured by the
police who think that every convict should be an informer. He will be
pressured by the white cons to join their racist brand of politics (they
all go under the nickname “Hitler’s Helpers’). If he is predisposed to
help black he will be pushed away — by black. Three weeks is enough.
‘The strongest hold out no more than a couple of weeks. There has been
‘one white many only to go through this © Wing experience without
losinghis balance, without allowing himself to succumb to the madness
of ribald, procrusive racism.

Ie destroys the logical processes of the mind, a man’s thoughts become
completely disorganized. The noise, madness streaming from every
throat, frustrated sounds from the bars, metallic sounds from the walls,
the steel trays, che iron beds bolted to the wall, the hollow sounds from
a cast-iron sink or toilet,

‘The smells, the human waste thrown at us, unwashed bodies, the rorcen
food. When a white con leaves here he’s ruined for life. No black leaves
Max Row walking. Either he leaves on the meat wagon or he leaves
crawling licking a che pig’ feet. Ironic, because one cannot get a parole
to the outside prison directly from O Wing, Max Row. Its positively
not done. The parole board won't even consider the Max Row case. So
‘aman licks at the feet of che pig not for a release to the outside world
but for the privilege of going upstairs to O Wing adjustmene center.
‘There the licking process must continue if a parole is the object. You
can count on one hand the number of people who have been paroled
to the streets from O Wing proper in all che years that the prison has
existed. No one goes from O Wing, Max Row straight to the general
prison population. To go from here to the outside world is unthinkable,
‘Aman must go from Max Row to the regular adjustment center facility
upstairs. Then from there to the general prison population. Only then
can he entertain thoughts of eventual release to the outside world.

ot SOLEDAD BROTHER
One can understand the depression felt by an inmate on Max Row. He's
fallen as far as he can into the social trap, relief is so distant that is very
«easy for him co lose his holds. In two weeks that tee average man who
may have ended up on Max Row for suspicion of attempted escape isso
brutalized, so completely withoue holds, that he will never heal again.
Ie’s worse than Vietnam, He's dodging lead. He may be Forced to fight a
duel to the death with knives. Ifhe doesn’t sound and act more zealous
than everyone else he will be challenged for not being loyal to his race
and its polities, fascism. Some of these cons support the pigs’ racism
‘without shame, the others support it inadvertently by their own racism,
‘The former are white, the latter black. But in here as on the street black
racism is a forced reaction. A survival adaptation,

‘The picture thae I have painted of Soledad's general population facility
may have made it sound not too bad at all. That mistaken impression
would resule from the absence in my description of one more very
important feature of the main line — terrorism. A frightening,
petrifying diffusion of violence and intimidation is emitted from the
offices of the warden and captain. How else could a small group of
armed men be expected to hold and rule another much larger group
except through fear?

‘We have a gym (inducement to throw away our energies with a ball
instead of revolution). But if you walk into this gym with a cigarette
burning, you'te probably in trouble. There is a pig waiting to trap you.
‘There's sign "No Smoking.” If you miss the sign, trouble. Ifyou drop
the cigarette to comply, trouble. The floor is regarded as something
of a fire hazard (I’m not certain what the pretext is). There are no
receptacles. The pig will pounce. You'll be told in no uncertain terms
to scrape the cigarette from the floor with your hands. Ie builds from
there. You have a gym but only certain things may be done and in
specified ways, Since the rules change with the pigs’ mood, itis really
safer for a man to stay in his cell.

You have work with emoluments that range ftom nothing to three
cents an hour! Bur once you accept the pay job in the prison’s industrial
sector you cannot get out without going through the bad conduct
process. When workers are needed, it isn’t a case of accepting a job in
thisarea. You take the job or you're automaticaly refusing to work, even
if you clearly stated that you would cooperate in other employment,
‘The same atmosphere prevails on the recreation yard where any type
‘of minor mistake could result not in merely a bad conduct report and

PART ONE. 35
placement in adjustment center, but death. A fistfight, a temporary,
trivial loss of temper will bring a fusillade of bullets down on the darker
of the ewo men fighting,

You can’t begin to measure the bad feeling caused by the existence of
‘one TV set shared by 140 men. Think! One TY, 140 men. If there is
more than one channel, what's going to occur? In Soledad’s TV rooms
there has been murder, mayhem, and destruction of many TV sets.

‘The blacks occupy one side of che room and the whites and Mexicans
the other. (Isn't it significant in some way that our numbers in prison
are sufficient to justify che claiming of hal of all these facilities?)

‘We have aside, they have a side. What does your imagination envisage
‘out of a hypothetical situation where Nina Simone sings, Angela Davis
speaks, and Jim Brown “splits” on one channel, while Merle Haggard
yodels and begs for an ass kicking on another. The fight will follow
immediately after some brother, who is less democratic than he is
starved for beauty (we did vote but they're 60 co our 40), eurns the
station to see Angela Davis. What lines do you think the fighting will
be along? Won't it be Angela and me against Merle Haggard?

But this situation is tolerable at lease up to a point. Iewas worse. When
Tentered the joint on this offense, they had half and we had half, but
‘out half was in the back.

In a case like the one just mentioned, the white conviets will start
passing the word among themselves that all whites should be in the
TV room to vote in the “Cadillac cowboy.” The two groups polarize
‘out of a situation created by whom? Its just like the outside, Nothing
ac all complicated about it. When people walk on each other, when
disharmony isthe norm, when organisms start fallingapartic isthe fault
of these whose responsibility itis to govern. They're doing something
‘wrong. They shouldn't have been trusted with the responsibility. And
long-range political activity isn’t going to help that man who will die
tomorrow or tonight. The apologists recognize that these places are
controlled by absolute terror, but they justify che pig’ excesses with
the argument that we exist outside the practice of any civilized codes
of conduct. Since we ate conviets rather than men, a bullet through
the heat, summary execution for fis-fighting or stepping across a line
is not extreme or unsound at all. An official is allowed full range in
violent means because a convict can be handled no other way.

36 SOLEDAD BROTHER
Fay, have you ever considered what type of man is capable of handling
absolute power. I mean how many would not abuse it? Is there any
way of isolating or classifying generally who can be trusted with a gun
and absolute discretion as to who he will kill? I've already mentioned
that most of them are KKK types. The rest, all the rest, in general,
are so stupid that they shouldn't be allowed to run their own bath. A
responsible state government would have found a means of weeding
‘out most ofthe savage types that are drawn to gunslinger jobs long ago.
How did all these pigs gee through?! Men who can barely read, write,
or reason, How did they get chrough!!? You may as well give a baboon
‘gun and set him loose on us!! Irs the same in here as on the streets
‘out there, Who has loosed this thing on an already suffering people?
‘The Reagans, Nixons, the men who have, who own. Investigate them!!
‘There are no qualifications asked, no experience necessary. Any foo!
‘who falls in here and can sign his name might shoot me tomorrow from
4 position 30 feet above my head with an automatic military rifle!! He
could be dead drunk, It could really be an accident (a million to one
ic won't be, however), but he'll be protected still. He won't even miss
a day's wages.

‘The textbooks on criminology liketo advance the idea that prisonersare
mentally defective. There is only che merest suggestion that the system
itself is at fault. Penologists regard prisons as asylums. Most policy is
formulated in a bureau that operates under the heading Department
of Corrections. But what can we say about these asylums since none
of the inmates are ever cured, Since in every instance they are sent out
of the prison more damaged physically and mentally than when they
centered. Because that is the reality. Do you continue to investigate
the inmate? Where does administrative responsibility begin? Perhaps
the administration of the prison cannot be held accountable for every
individual act of their charges, but when chings fly apare along racial
lines, when the breakdown can be traced so clearly to circumstances
even beyond the control of the guardsand administration, investigation
‘of anything outside the tenets of the fascist system itself is Futile.

Nothing has improved, nothing has changed in the weeks since your
team was here, We're on the same course, the blacks are fast losing the
last of their restraints. Growing numbers of blacks are openly passed
‘over when paroles are considered. They have become aware that
their only hope lies in resistance. They have learned that resistance is
actually possible. The holds are beginning to slip away. Very few men

PART ONE. 37
imprisoned for economic crimes or even crimes of passion against the
‘oppressor feel chat they are realy guilty. Most of today’s black convicts
hhave come to understand that they are the most abused vietims of an
unrighteous order. Up until now, the prospect of parole has kept us
from confronting our captors with any real determination. But now
with the living conditions of these places deteriorating, and with
the sure knowledge that we are slated for destruction, we have been
transformed into an implacable army of liberation. The shife to the
revolutionary antiestablishmene position that Huey Newton, Eldridge
Cleaver, and Bobby Seale projected as a solution to the problems of
“Amerika’s black colonies has taken firm hold of these brothers’ minds,
They are now showing great interest in che thoughts of Mao Tse-
tung, Nkrumah, Lenin, Marx, and the achievements of men like Che
Guevara, Giap, and Uncle Ho.

‘Some people are going to get killed out ofthis situation that is growing.
‘That is not a warning (or wishful thinking). I see it as an “unavoidable
consequence” of placing and leaving control of our lives in the hands
‘of men like Reagan,

“These prisons have always borne a certain resemblance to Dachau and
Buchenwald, places for the bad niggers, Mexicans, and poor whites.
Bur the last ten years have brought an increase in the percentage of
blacks for crimes that can clearly be traced to political-economic
causes. There are still some blacks here who consider themselves
criminals — but not many. Believe me, my friend, with the time and
incentive that these brothers have to read, study, and think, you will
find no class or category more aware, more embittered, desperate, oF
dedicated to the ultimate remedy — revolution, The most dedicated,
the best of our kind — you'll find them in the Folsoms, San Quentins,
and Soledads. They live like there was no tomorrow: And for most of
them there isn’, Somewhere along the line they sensed this. Life on the
installment plan, three years of prison, three months on parole: then
back to stare all over again, sometimes in the same cell. Parole officers
have sent brothers back to the joint for selling newspapers (the Black
Panther paper). Theie official reason is “Failure to Maintain Gainful
Employment, ete

We're something like 40 to 42. percent of the prison population.
Pethaps more, since I'm relying on material published by the media
‘The leadership of the black prison population now definitely identities
with Huey, Bobby, Angela, Eldridge, and antifascism. The savage

38 SOLEDAD BROTHER
repression of blacks which can be estimated by reading the obituary
columns of the nation’s dailies, Fred Hampton, etc., has not failed to
register on the black inmates. The holds are fast being broken. Men
who read Lenin, Fanon, and Che don’t riot, “they mass” “they rage.”
they dig graves

When John Clutchette was first accused of this murder he was
proud, conscious, aware of his own worth but uncommitted to any
specific remedial action, Review the process that they are sending this
beautiful brother through now. Ie comes at the end of a long train of
similar incidents in his prison life. Add co this all of the things he has
witnessed happening to others of our group here. Comrade Fleeta
spent eleven months here in O. Wing for possessing phocography
taken from a newsweekly. Ie is such things that explain why California
prisons produce more than their share of Bunchy Carters and Eldridge
Cleavers.

Fay, there are only ewo types of blacks ever released from these places,
the Carters and the broken men.

‘The broken men are so damaged that they will never again be suitable
members of any sort of social unit. Everything that was still good when
they entered che joint, anything inside of them that may have escaped
the ruinous effects of black colonial existence, anything that may have
been redeemable when they first entered the joint — is gone when they
leave.

‘This camp brings out the very best in brothers or destroys them entirely
Bur none are unaffected. None who leave here are normal. If I leave
here alive, 'll leave nothing behind. They'll never count me among the
broken men, but I can’t say that I am normal either. I've been hungry
too long. I've gotten angry too often. I've been lied to and insulted too
many times. They've pushed me over the line from which there can be
no retreat. I know that they will nor be satisfied until chey've pushed
me out of this existence altogether. I've been the victim of so many
racist attacks that I could never relax again. My reflexes will never be
normal again. I’m like a dog that has gone through the K — 9 process.

‘This isnot the first attempt the institution (camp) has made to murder
ime, It is the most determined attempt, but not the first. I look into
myself at the close of every one of these pretrial days for any changes
that may have taken place. I can still smile now, after cen years of

PART ONE. 39
blocking knife thrusts and pick handles, of anticipating and faceless
sadistic pigs, reacting for cen years, seven of them in Solitary. [can still
smile sometimes, but by the time this thing is over I may not be a nice
person. And I just lit my seventy-seventh cigarette of this 21-hour day.
'm going co lay down for ewo or three hours, pethaps I'll sleep.

Seize the Time.

JUNE, 1970 12

‘You know I had a visie yesterday from an old friend, Joan. They told her
she couldn't come back again, an economy move. It costs the state too
much to supervise my half-hour visits, so T'll be held incommunicado
i seems. They turned my sister away today. Someone is going to have
to come up with some guts. These fools must be stopped. Absolute
power in the hands of idiots! It makes me think of Rome and England.
Do you know where the barbarians and guerrillas are going to come
from to destroy Imperial Amerika, from the black colonies and these
concentration camps. The three of us are the only conviets in this joint
who have to accept half-hour visits, with a special guard, handcuffed
and chained. Now it seems we won't even get that. My sister, my
brother can’t visit me in what could be the last days of my life! Well,
‘one good thing comes from this experience: no question remains in the
minds of any member of my family as to where their energies would
best be spent. My father will have a whole den of Panthers there to feed

‘With each attempe the pigs made on my life in San Quentin, I would
send an SOS out to my family. They would always respond by listening
and writing letcers tothe joint pigs and Sacramento rats, but they didn't
entirely accept that I was telling them the truth about the pig mentality
I would get dubious stares when I told them the lieutenants and the
others who propositioned some of the most vicious white convicts in
the state: “Kill Jackson, we'll do you some good.” You understand, my
father wanted to know why. And all [could tell him was that I related
to Mao and couldn't kowtow. His mind couldn't deal with it.I would
use every device, every historical and current example I could reach to
explain to him that there were no-good pigs. But the task was too big,
I was fighting his mind first, and his fear of admieting the existence
‘of an identifiable enemy element chat was oppressing us because that
‘would either commie him to attack that enemy or force him co admit
his cowardice. I was also fighting the establishment's public relations

40 SOLEDAD BROTHER
and propaganda machine. The prisons all use the clean, straight faces,
or the old, harmless-looking pigs to work in areas where they must
come in contact with free people. And these pigs are never allowed
to use their tusks. Regarding the racism, my father would remind me
that there were black pigs too. But, ofcourse, that means nothing at all,
‘They simply work around the blacks when necessary. One guard or two
guards working together is all that’s needed to murder any con in the
joint. Bue i isnt really necessary to work around the black pigs. They'll
all cooperate or turn their heads.

‘The black cop could be a large factor in preventing our genocide.
But no help can be expected from that quarter. The same stupidity
and desperation chat brought him co the gates prevents him from
interceding. The job, the wage means too much to him. Often he
feels compelled to prove himself, prove that he is loyal to the force,
prove that he is not prejudiced in favor of us, prove that he is honest,
His honesty prevents him from dealing in contraband as every white
pig does. Look, I was in San Quentin for seven straight years. I knew
‘everything that was brought in and by whom. The white pig actually
considers it his privilege to supplement his income by bringing in and
selling narcotics, weapons, and, of course, pornography. The black pig
is afraid, too unsure of his position to be dishonest.

‘This same fear will cause him to show more zeal in the “club therapy”
sessions than even the whites manage. If che victim is black, he’s going
to get so mad that the white pigs will have to stand back and let him
swing. If they don’t have murder planned for that session, they'll have
to pull that nigger off of you. A pig — isa pig, Ieall falls into place. Isee
the whole thing much clearer now, how fascism has taken possession of
this country. che interlocking dictatorship from country level on up to
the Grand Dragon in Washington, D.C.

‘The solidarity between the prison here and the court in Salinas,
between the judge and geand jury. the judge and the D.A. and other
city officials. The institution has effectively cut me off from any relief
‘The unmeck have taken over this whole county, the state, the entire
country. They work together, to the same end, effective control

1 knew of these links before this, long before this, but seeing it in
‘operation is pretty frightening. What force binds them together? I'm
referring to the intermediary, the physical thing, not the ideal. What
is i that really ties that fat rat with a chain of department stores to a

PART ONE. 41
uniformed pig? The fat rat wants the country and world policed, made
safe for his business to expand, But how does he sell the ideal to the man
‘who must do the policing? Money is the bond I think. They're in i for
the money, these pigs and skinny rats, The fascist ideal doesn really
take hold until one gets into the upper levels of the power pyramid
‘Then any ideal that preserves becomes attractive

People’s government would decentralize this power that they hold over
us — these men must be stopped.

Power to the People.
George

JUNE, 1970 13

Dear Fay,
No one here knows about the scheduled court heating, They say we're
not going. The prison doesn’t like moving us, so somehow they have
managed to arrange with the judge to leave us out of our own trial! Or
pretrial. Can they try usin absentia (is that the term?2)? Some bull (pig
| mean) just said that the judge under no circumstances wants us in his
court. In that case they shouldn't mind dropping the whole thing or
sending us to another county for trial. Berkeley perhaps. But as you've
said more than likely it'll be Orange County.

‘Why do we accept this sore of thing? We have numerical superiority —
bur they have guns and money. And then the righteous don’t like to cut
throats, so we languish in misery.

‘When you finally get me out of this mess, you'll have to send me away
somewhere for a while, somewhere like Cuba or China or Tanzania, so
that I can reorient myself. My understanding had been strained to the

JUNE, 1970 14

I don’t think we can afford to be nice much longer, the very last of
our protection is eroding from under us. There will be no means of
detecting when that last right is gone. You'll only know when they start
shooting you. The process must be checked somewhere between now
and then, or we'll be fighting from a position of weakness with our

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER
backs against the wal. (I chink we still have the advantage now.) We
‘of the black colony know about that kind of action, fighting off of the
wall. Ies nor the best way to get down,

Tes getting tighter here, they're taking our visits. It looks as if chey’te
stopping our court appearances. They also made a mistake concerning
‘our “money draw” this month. This means we'll be without the little
things even.

You may never read this letter either, our mail is being held back,
returned, thrown away somewhere. Nice people aren't they? They richly
deserve anything we can do to them. This man who just passed my cell
counting, he'll never listen to reason. His mind isn’t constructed that
‘way. While we reason with him in ideals and ideas, he isn‘ listening.
He is thinking about which rule he'll quote co dismiss us. When he
walks away, you'll see the little code book protruding from his ass
pocket. Thav’s where he carries his mind, in his ass pocket. When we
attack the problem with incelleccualism we give away the advantage we
have in numbers

I'm with Bobby! We are going to have to kick him where he keeps his
brain, in the region of the ass.

Power
George

PART ONE. 4B
Letters: 1964 — 1968

JUNE, 1964"

Dear Mother,
‘Are you well? I think of you often and would write more regularly than
1 do if I could but find the time. The things that I am working on
demand a great deal of time. I guess this is so because itis my lot to have
no one to help me.

Mama, and I mention this without vanity, I have made some giant
steps toward acquiring the things that I personally will need if am
to be successful in my plans; aside from the factual material acquired
from books and observations there is, as you know, a certain quality
of character needed to perform the thing that I have in mind. I
have completely repressed all emotion; have learned to see myself in
perspective, in true relation with other men and the world, I have
«enlarged my vision so that I may beable co think ona basisencompassing
not just myself, my family, my neighborhood, but the world. I have
completely arrested the susceptibility to think in theoretical terms, or
give credence to religious, supernatural, or other shallow unnecessary
things of this nature that lock the mind and hinder thinking

When a man docs something or possesses something tha is
complementary to his character, it is virtually impossible for him to
hide this thing, keep it to himself, keep from telling it to those he
‘wishes to impress; this is natural egoism, the need for attention and
flattery asserting itself I have quietly removed this need: neglect and
loneliness have no effect whatever on me anymore. I feel no pain of
mind or body, and the harder it gets the betcer I like it. 1 must rid
myself of all sentiment and remove all possibility of love. Though I
‘owe allegiance to no one other than myself clearly understand that my
facure rests with the black people of the world. Lam trying in every way
possible co adjust my thinking habits so that their ways of life won't
seem as strange and alien to me as these people over here would have
it, After I am finished with myself, an observer who could read my

4 All previous letters were acidentaly destroyed, They were described by the
author as “extremely bitter”

a“ SOLEDAD BROTHER
thoughts and watch my actions would never believe that I was raised in
the United States, and much less would he believe that I came from the
lowest class, the black stratum of slave meneality’

Thave been meaning to ask you how Delora was doing with her husband
in jail. I sincerely hope she is not finding it too hard, but life on the
treadmill can be expected to be hard: if you will send me her address
and ask her if she wants to write me, I will send the necessary forms to
her. Hang on, I'm going to make everything all right.

Your son,
George

SEPTEMBER, 1964

Dear Mother,
T went up yesterday and I'll have to say that it does not look too
hopeful. I chink my black brother crossed me, the one you mec when
you were here last. They made mention of my going to school. One of
them told me in so many words to bring back a diploma. Maybe this
‘was his meaning, maybe not. I will not know for sure until my official
results come in on Friday of this week. I'l write you again then,

Lavera® came to see me this weekend, and said she will come again
next weekend. I will tell her Saturday what I got atthe board: she can
contact you. But there is no need for that much disquiet; if I should
sget an immediate release there would still be weeks of formalities to
go through.

‘Weave birthdaysthis week. Though [have oseall of my sentimentality,
T know you people still cling to the old, so I'll observe the social
amenities by wishing you health on your birthday. Really though, is it
not silly the little pat phrases, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, ete.?
‘They (the Europeans) have reduced all life to a very dull formula. All
natural feelings have been lost.

5 During his early years in prison, the author explained to the editor that he
had completely lost faith in American blacks and thei ability to become a erly
revolutionary force. The only thing he waned was to get out of prison and fight
for Roberto in Angola or Lumumba in the Congo.

6 The author's mother’ niece

PART ONE. 45
Thave work here in my cell to do, see you soon.

Love,
George

DECEMBER, 1964

Dear Father,
1 guess you are right in what you say about Mother’ position. If she
‘wishes to occupy the corner set aside for usin this society and be happy
with such then lee it be. I merely speak of better and different things
in a society geeater (in my humble opinion) and more conducive to
advancement for people of my kind. Always bear in mind that though
I may sound intolerant and pressing at times, all I say is by way of
discourse and nothing by way of advice. You see I understand you
people clearly. You are afflicted by the same set of principles that has
always governed black people's ideas and habits here in the US. I know
also how we arrived at this appalling state of decadence. You see, my
father, we have been “educated” into an acceptance of our positions
as national scapegraces. Our acceptance of the lie is consciously based
‘on the supposition that peace can and must be preserved at any price.
Blacks here in the US. apparently do not care how well chey live, but
are only concerned with how long they are able to live. This is odd
indeed when considering that it is possible for us all co live well, but
‘within the reach of no man to live long! My deepest and most sincerely
fele sympathies go out to all of you who are not able to resolve your
problems because of this fundamental lack of spirit. The morass of
illusionment has claimed your souls completely. I do not care about
the other millions of blacks here in the land of tears, cheie fate is of
their own choosing: but because you and the others of our family have
always been close to me whatever successes I wring from the eternal foe
you will share, Until I do this I know itis expecting too much for you
to be impressed with the ideals I pue forward. Ie’ always been this way
imagine. One has to be shown the fruits and feel the rewards of a new
or different ching before perceiving its merits.

In the airmail letcer you sent it is not altogether clear to me what you
‘were trying to say, so I wont leap co any conclusions but let me state
that I have a singular incapability, which is my strongest point, my first
principle. I could never in this existence betray my kind. Love of self
and kind is the first law of nature, my father. What N. did to me in

46 SOLEDAD BROTHER
1958 I can never forgive.” Ican understand why she betrayed me to the
whites and can even explain why she thought herself right in doing so,
bur I can’t forgive her because she has not made any effore to change
her completely backward sympathies. It is the same thing today with
her as it was yesterday. She would betray me a second time if allowed
it, You know that [love my mother dearly for many reasons, she always
(chrough your labor of course) provided for me materially the best
she knew how, but she failed me bitterly in matters of the mind and
spirit. My education she put in the hands of the arch-foes of my kind,
This is a betrayal of the worst kind, because of this I’ve had to learn
everything I now know on my own by trial and error. I have almost
arrived but look at the cost. I would not be in prison now if she hadn't
bbeen reading life through those rose-colored glasses of hers, or if you
would have had time and the wisdom to tell me of my enemies, and
how co get the things I needed without falling into their traps. She
kept telling me how wrong I was and making me feel guilty. All ofthis I
now understand, but again cannot forgive because she is still doing this
same sort of thing!

I got the nuts and cake today thanks, socks and handkerchiefs also,

Take cate.
Son

DECEMBER, 1964

Dear Father,
Everything was in order, concerning the package that is. They brought
ie right in front ofthe cell and opened it

Mama sent me a card with a picture of some white people on the front
of it. I guess she just can’t perceive that I don’t want anything to do
with her white god.

7 "ln 1958 Leseaped from Kern County Jil and Foughe the pigs ll the way back
‘to the midwestern area of my birth, 45 smokeles in hand. [ose chem aleogeth-
«erin Chicago. The pigs gave up on me after about three months, Lended up in
Harrisburg to await che return of my mother's half-brother, Amide Walker. Iwas
hoping that he would help me get out of the country. While I was waiting for
hen, my aunt discovered ehrough my family in California cha Lwas on the run
from the lave She turned in my name and Iwas recaprured.”

PART ONE. a7
1 am still confined to this cell. It is nine by four. I have left it only
twice in the month P've been here for ten minutes each time, in which
I was allowed to shower. Did I tell you? They have assured me that I
have not been given a bad-conduct report. Ie is just that they felt I was
about to do some wrong. Its always suspicions. What I was supposed to
have done or was about to do, never, never what they caught me doing
as it should be. The last time I was in a cell like this three months,
from February to May (1964) for reasons chat are nor altogether clear
yet! I have had no serious infraction in almost three years now. You
kknow I had at least $125 on me when I was arrested in 1960 and they
took it. [assume it was to cover the $70 that was missing as the result
of the robbery. So I'm thinking that I shouldn't owe them too much
more. You know in fact I’m fast awakening to the idea that I may not
‘owe anyone anything and that they even might owe me. I have given
four-and-a-half years of life, during which I have had to accept the
unacceptable, for $70 that I didn’t ake — I protest. I protest.

If you knew how much I protested, how seriously I felt about the
matter, you and Mother and anyone who has a natural affinity with me
‘would surely be trying to convince me that you were on my side.

‘The events of the Congo, Vietnam, Malaya, Korea, and here in the US.
are taking place all for the same reason. The commotion, the violence,
the struggles in all these areas and many more spring from one source,
the evil and malign, possessive and greedy Europeans. Their abstract
theories, developed over centuries of long usage, concerning economics
and sociology cake the form that they do because they suffer under the
mistaken belief chat a man can secure himself in this insecure world
best by ownership of great personal, private wealth. They attempt to
impose their theories on the world for obvious reasons of self-gain,
‘Their philosophy concerning government and economies has an
underlying tone of selfishness, possessiveness, and greediness because
their character is made up of these things. They can’t see the merit in
socialism and communism because they do not possess the qualities
of rational chought, generosity, and magnanimity necessary to be part
of the human race, part of a social order, part of a system. They can
not understand that “From each according to his abilities, to each
according to his needs” is the only way men can live together without
chaos. There is a species of fly chat lives only four hours. Ifone of these
flies (June fly I believe they are called), ifone of these flies was born at
twelve o'clock midnight in darkness and gloom, there would be no way

48 SOLEDAD BROTHER
possible for him in his lifetime to ever understand the concept of day
and light. This is the case with the Europeans.

‘They are small men with their petty intrigues and prejudices. “In
shallow men the fish of small choughts cause much commotion, in
magnanimous oceanic minds the whales of inspiration cause hardly a
ruffle” (Mao Tse-tung).

George

FEBRUARY, 1965,

Dear Mother,
I promised myself that I wouldn’e write you again from here. I only
take pen in hand when feeling moves me to do so. My feeling seems
to be wasted on you. You know beyond question what my feelings
are, I never think of anything trite or inconsequential anymore. I've
forgotten the feeling of joy. I've long since had my last smile wrung
unceremoniously from my hollow soul. I write home to you people,
my people, the closest of my kind for understanding and advice. 1
attempt to advise you in areas of which experience has made me better
informed. I get no understanding. If I followed the advice I receive it
would only serve to enslave me further to this madness of our times
My advice falls upon deaf ears!

‘This is my reason for not wanting to write. What can I say further? It
is clear you don't love me when you refuse to aid me the only way you
can, the only way I expect! By telling me Iam right and that I have your
blessings. You sce I am being frank: though I care about your feelings,
I care more for your well-being. There are things brewing now that
could ruin you completely if, when they break, you are in sympathy
with wrong, Robert is the same way, he pretends or he may earnestly
not feel the effects of the circumstances I attempe to explain. He is
sympathetic to wrong. But I ean overlook him more readily because
of his almost complete lack of mental training. His past experiences
have been very limited regarding the stimulus of academic learning,
he is innocent. But not so with you, though your exposure was not all
that ieshould have been, you are equipped with the basic Fundamentals
needed to guide one to the truth, should ie be truth one favors. When
T consider my own experience bought at the cost of these terrible
years, supplemented in love and concern by your own experience and

PART ONE. 9
learning, what am I to think bue that something is radically wrong,
that I am being betrayed and have been betrayed. The question is one
‘of grave proportions to me, I cannot stress this point too clearly. mean
to make sure this doesn’t happen to me again or to my seed. Ifa person
doesn't stand with me, he stands against me to my way of thinking.

I feel that you have failed me Mama. I know that you have failed me,
1 also know that Robert has never held an opinion of his own. You
have influenced his every thought ever since you have known him. You
have always had che running of things. You have done him a disservice.
You are doing Jon a disservice now. You are a woman, you think like
bourgeois woman. This is a predatory man’s world. The real world
calls for a predatory man’s brand of thinking. Your way of viewing the
world is necessarily bourgeois and feminine. How could I, Robert, Jon,
‘or any of che men of our kind accomplish what we must as men if we
think like bourgeois women, or let our women think for us. This is
‘whar’s happening all over this pare of the world! Robere should have
been stronger, should have had more time and Freedom of movement.
So should Grandfather, and Great-Grandfather. Bue they didn'e and
ic isn’ their fault. The cruelest and most suppressive treatment has
always fallen to che males because they have not that tender defense
the woman is born with. So understand me once and forall. speak no
further on the mattet. You conceived and Robert sited a man. Nothing
can turn me from my resolve. Make no further atcempts. I am going
to give my all co this thing, and ifthe victory isto fall to me, you and
people like you must stand beside me, not lean or lie on me.

Robert tells me you are sick. I am writing to ask about the nature of
your illness. know a hope will not aid you any, bur by whatever gods
there be I hope and wish you well. There is much sickness and tears
to come, some will fall ro me also I guess, but my condition can only
improve from where I stand now.

Fare you well.
Son

FEBRUARY, 1965 25

Dear Mother,

Your letter reached me late for some unknown reason. Has your health
improved? I think you should relax; all has not been said or done yer.
You are a litle confused now for understandable reasons: things will

50 SOLEDAD BROTHER
be made clear before long. I should be out of here this year. I have
complied with all of their demands: group counseling, school, clean
conduct record, I go to board next time they meet. You could start
‘writing leeters to the Adult Authority now, the more the better. You
know what to say: that I was young then and you see a vast change in
my character now. Also say that you can and will help me with a place

1 asked Robert to send me some shoes. Check with him on it. They
hhave to be sent from Sears by the salesman, cost no more than $25, have
the price or sales slip in the box, and in the way of type and size I want
some old folks’ comforts with high tops, 9 — B. Nothing else, my feet
need therapy in the worse way. Soon as you can on this, I want to get rid
‘of these corns and sores before I get out.

I'm glad you weren’ta singer or dancer. Pop was wise in that. The image
held ofthe blacks in chis part ofthe world is that we are proficient in but
‘one or two areas only, the service trades or the physical entertainment
fields (singers, dancers, boxers, baseball players).

‘Would you like to support the theory that we are good for nothing
bur to serve or entertain our captors? In the society of our fathers and
in the civilized world today, women feel it their obligation to be ever
yielding and obedient to their men. Life is purposely made simple for
them because of their nature, and they are happy. When the women
‘outnumber the men in the black societies, the men take as many wives
as they can afford, and care for chem all equally. In the white for
some nebulous reason the men can take only one ... the rest are left
to become prostitutes, nuns, of lesbians. In the civilized societies the
women do light work, bear children, and lend purpose to the man’s
existence. They train children in the ways of wisdom that history has
shown to be correct. Their job is to train the children in theie early life
tobe men or women, not confused psychories! This isa big job, co train
and propagate the race!! Is this not enough? The rests left to the men

government administration, the providing of means of subsistence, and
defense, or maintenance of life and property against any who would
deprive us of it, as the barbarian has and is till attempting to do. The
white theory of “the emancipated woman” isa false idea. You will find
it, as they are finding it, the factor in the breakdown of the family unit,
Mama, all chis struggle is unnecessary. Let's not ereate an atmosphere
‘of competition among ourselves as they have done. Life is too short.
‘There is too much for us to restore to its proper order and we are too

PART ONE. 31
wise. What do you chink made the white guy write thar life is “a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” — he felt
frustrated and stupid.

Son

MARCH, 1965 12

Dear Mama,
‘The things you speak of are uppermost in my mind and my heart. 1am
not too manly or sophisticated to say that I love you and all the rest
with a devotion and dedication that will continue to grow until I pass
from this existence. Anything that will please you, and that falls within
human accomplishment, I will carry out. I say this with confidence
because of my certainty that you would never ask me to please you by
surtendering my mencal liberty and self-respect: I wouldn't want to live
‘were these, my last evo real possessions, to be lost.

‘Any confidence you put in me, Mama, will be well placed. This is not
mere talk, my ego is nowhere involved. If we are to surmount these
barriers standing between us, and finally work things around to our
advantage, on a few points we must be agreed. You must listen to me.
T've been trying to say something, Stop closing my voice off from your
mind! My hair has started to turn gray and I'm beginning to look like
an old man, My best efforts up to now have all fallen far shore of their
intended goals. I know, however, just as sure as day follows night that
I will win the last round. That is the one I always win, the important
‘one, I feel that you understand the situation bercer than most who live
‘on your level. From your last letter, I know you are intelligent enough
to understand. I have it before me now and I glean much to indicate
that this isso, But chere is much that has escaped your understanding,
and itis quite reasonable that this be true. You have no way of learning
and bettering. However, if you will honor my humble voice, I would
vvery much like to pass on to you just a thoughe or ewo Ihave had. All
that Task is chat you hear me, and think about what I say. Do nor just
read over the lines. Think of what I say in relation to things past, and
the vague possibility that is our future. I’m not just another convict
‘or "Negro." I'm one who really loves you and who has been observing
with a practiced eye and an almost photographic memory. But first let
ime clear up one other incidental thing. Robert has never said anything
unattractive or beliteling about you. Each of his letters expresses almost

32 SOLEDAD BROTHER
total grief for the condition of your health. He blames me even, then
himself, bue never the right people. He feels he has failed you, me, and
all che others, and he keeps trying to learn ifLalso blame him. OF course
Ido not blame him or you, or myself I place the blame for the social
ills chat have caused us discomfort and unhappiness squarely upon the
shoulders of those responsible: the people in control!

Ieis mainly on chis subject hat I am going to speak now. To getit across
Tam going to write two letters, this one and another sheet also tonight,
‘This should be read first for the idea to follow in logical order. Lam
going to do exactly as you say concerning the show of good conduct
here. I have never raised my hand against any man, since I've been an
adule that is, except in self-defense, but there has been an element of
aggressiveness in the way that I have handled these incidents. I'l have
to always defend my person, but I promise you hae unless there is a
direct threat to my existence I will never have another bit of trouble
here. Understand though that you do not live in the real rip-and-tear
world. You have escaped it by surrendering your self-determination
and freedom of thought in a tranquilizing conformity to the wishes
‘of whoever may hold the strings. Consequently you do not know how
hard itis to live in peace even for a short period with people who defy
violence, and vilify peace and harmony.

George

MARCH, 1965 12

Dear Mama,
will try what you advised. [know it to be the bese way at this point in
the litele game. But should I fail you are not co say, "George is no good.”
‘You must try to understand that now, just asin the past, there are other
considerations and influences that enter into the course of events that
tum our lives one way or the other. Have you ever wondered how you
and I and all our kind lost cheir identiey so fast? The last blacks were
brought into this country only 75 to 80 years ago, three generations at
most. This is too short a time for us to have lost as much as we have,
No other people have completely been divorced from their own as we
have in such a shore period. I don’t even know my name. Have you

8 California prison regulations limi che length of convict eters to both sides of
‘one standard 81 by 11 ruled sheet.

PART ONE. 33
ever wondered about this? The answer is found in the fact chat we lost
control of the circumstances surrounding our lives. We were alienated
from our sources, isolated, and remolded to fit in certain forms, to
fill a specific purpose. No consideration was or has ever been given
to our being anything other than what we were originally intended to
be (I ask for electronics or drafting and I'm told to be practical). You
must realize, understand fully, that we have little or no control over
‘our lives. You must then stop giving yourself pain by feeling that you
failed somewhere, You have not failed. You have been failed, by history
and events, and people over whom you had no control. Only after you
understand this can you then go on to make the necessary alterations
that will bring some purpose and value to your life: you must gain some
control! I have said this to Robert a hundred times bue it makes no
impression at all. He writes back in the same vein as he did the time
before I said anything. He just doesn’t have the mental equipment. Will
you look deeper and think on the matter and then explain to him? I was
born knowing exactly nothing. I had no one, no one, to teach me the
things of real value, The school systems are gauged to teach youth what
to think, not how to think. Robert never had the time to say even hello,
and ncither of you really knew anything to give my anyway, because
your parents knew nothing. Do you see where the cycle brings us, to
the real source of the trouble, the alienation and the abandonment, the
pressure from without, the system and its supporters? I didn’t know
either. So we must look to the people whose responsibility i isto see to
i that the benefits of society pass down to all concerned for an answer.
Ifa good god exists then they are the ones who must make an appeal
to him for forgiveness: forgiveness for relinguishment and dereliction
of duty! I don need god, religion, belief, ete. I need control, control
of the determining factors relating to the unquestioning support and
loyalty of my mother, father, brothers, sisters. You need Robert and
Teed him and he needs you. We all need each other. The standards
and emotions we have used in the past to regulate our relations defy
all nature and run contrary to all known precedent. When did blood
‘cease to be thicker than and more binding than all else? We must look
to each other and destroy the barriers placed between us with trust,
and love, 1am committed and I will do all that I have to. Lam equal to
anything that is requited, Help me when you can, the only way you can,
by erying to understand.

I don't wane a package this year: save the money: save all you can. I
am living very badly now and just to stay alive is an ordeal, bue I see

5 SOLEDAD BROTHER
something better: It is vague, and is a possibility at best, but I know a
place, a refuge where people love and live.

George

MARCH, 1965 16

Dear Father,
T've been going through final examinations at school. Had to use all of
my available time in study and have not been able to write like I should,
but forgive me. They are over now and I did well. I go before the board
next week. I didn't know about L’s husband. That is too bad. She seems
to be extremely unlucky in that area. She told me that the last husband
she had was worse. Since that is the case I can feel nothing against her,
but as you said, she should have explained. People are odd indeed,
about money that is. The best method of testing a person’s character
is through money. The shocks and strains of this money-mad society
are enough to ruin the purest of minds. Men are so deeply engaged in
making a living that their very existence is shaped and dominated by
the system of production. I'm throughly tired already, Pop. When I
brain what I need to work with, nothing could stop me from going
hhome. That is where I will invest my money, resources, and talents. My
labor shall be expanded where it will be appreciated. My taxes will go
to an order and system of government that will in turn protect me and
my interests I shall not, 2s longas I call myselfa man, compromise with
tyranny. There area few things that mean more to me than life. Though
T must think of and plan for tomorrow, I cannot, I must not surrender
for tomorrow all that I possess today. I can repair this loss, chis morbid
depression that owns a litele more of my mind each day that passes. The
paleand almost indistinguishable glow of the future may yet materialize
to disperse the gloomy stupor that has encompassed me completely.
have been purposely kepr ignorant, I have been taught what to think,
instead of how to think. I have been subjected to the ordeal of hunger,
thirst, name-calling, and other uncountable indignities. Danger comes
even from those of my own kind. Their lack of response and unyielding
adherence to ineffectual thought and action is an obstacle to my plans.
I may yet surmount it, but only if I follow my call. I must obey the
dictates of my mind.

Give my regards to all.
Son

PART ONE. 55
MARCH, 1965 30

Dear Father,
Thaven’e read anythingor studied in aweek now. Ihave been devotingall
my time to thought. [trust you are all in health. I think of my personal
past quite often. This is uncomfortable sometimes but necessary.
1 try not to let my past mistakes bother me too much, though some
seem almost unpardonable. IF it were not for the few intermixed little
victories, my confidence in my ability would be iereparably shaken.

‘Though I know Iam a victim of social injustice and economic pressure
and though I understand the Forces that work to drive so many of our
kkind to places like this and to mental institutions, I can’t help but
know that I proceeded wrong somewhere. I could have done a lot
worse. You know our people react in different ways to this neoslavery,
some just give in completely and join the other side. They join some
christian cule and cry out for integration, These are the ones who
doube chemselves most. They are the weakest and hardest to reach with
the new doctrine. Some become inveterate drinkers and narcotic users
in an attempt to gain some mental solace for the physical depravity
they suffer. I've heard them say, “There's no hope without dope.” Some
hire on as a janitor, bellboy, redcap, cook, elevator boy, singer, boxer,
baseball player, or maybe a Freak at some sideshow and pretend that
all is as well as is possible. They think since it's always been this way
ie must always remain this way: these are the fataists, chey serve and
entertain and rationalize.

‘Then there are those who resist and rebel but do not know what,
who, why, or how exactly they should go about this. They are aware
bur confused. They are the least fortunate, for they end where I have
ended. By using half measures and failing dismally to effect any real
improvement in their condition, they fall victim co the full fury and
might of the systems repressive agencies. Believe me, every dirty trick
‘of deception and brutality is employed without shame, without honor,
‘without humanity, without reservation to either convert or destroy a
rebellious arm. Believe me, when I say that I begin to weary of the sun
Tam by nature a gentle man, I love the simple things of life, good food,
‘good wine, an expressive book, music, pretty black women. I used to
find enjoyment in a walk in the rain, summer evenings in a place like
Harrisburg, Remember how I used to love Harrisburg. All of this is
sgone from me, all the gentle, shy characteristics of the black men have
been wrung unceremoniously from my soul. The buffets and blows of

56 SOLEDAD BROTHER
this have and have-not society have engendered in me a flame that will
live, will live to geow, until it either destroys my tormentor oF myself
You don’t understand this but I must say it. Maybe when you remember
this ten or twenty years from now you'll comprehend. I don’t chink of
life in the same sense that you or most black men of your generation
think of it i is not important to me how long I live, I think only of
how I ive, how well, how nobly. We think if we are to be men again we
must stop working for nothing, competing against each other for the
little they allow us to possess, stop selling our women or allowing them
to be used and handled against cheir will stop letting our children be
educated by the barbarian, using their language, dress, and customs,
and most assuredly stop turning our cheeks.

George

APRIL, 1965 18

Dear Father,

Did you get my letter of April 11, last Sunday? I fear you may not have
gotten that letter since therein I set down some important matters in
an almost too direct manner. I did so thinking that if ie was allowed
to go through, you would have in your possession knowledge of the
singular events that seem to rush upon me menacing and evil from all
directions at once. You would have this information in as complete a
form as the space of that single page allows, or if they had sent it back
‘or destroyed it, nothing, This was logical in that I wanted you to know
immediately. It is best to have such matters done, and related, and over
with, Here in my position you know I'm not supposed to be critical,
nor am I supposed to attempt to convey what goes on in here. So please
acknowledge my letter. [have from you only the letters you wrote on
April Land April 2, Have you sent others?

‘They are sending me to Folsom soon, so they told me. The assault
charge was referred to the distri attorney. He will in curn refer it to
the grand jury, which will chen bring what they call legal proceedings
against me, Let me say here that all of this is a well-thought-out effort
to frighten me and maybe even do me whatever harm they can without

9 All of Jacksons correspondence had to passthrough the rigors of prison censor
ship. Mach oft was completely destroyed or mutilated, Only his ae leters to is
lawyer passed through uncensored.

PART ONE. 37
alarming or shocking those around me, you included, too much. I guess
they want to show me and those around me here how powerless | am
in their hands, Bue they must do this without giving rise to feelings of
total insecurity on the part of the litle people which could serve as
stimulus to some act which would lead toward changing conditions
for circumstances that threaten not just our well-being but our very
existence. Thus if I or any of my kind should suffer the final hure, it
‘would be by accident, heart attack instead of poisoning, malnutrition
instead of beating, suicide by hanging instead of being shot, or legal
proceedings instead of foul play.

Bur I have much to say about any matter that concerns me in spite of
their wishes. Fear, the emotion that stiffens and inhibits the minds of
‘most men, causing them to be incapable of acting in their defense at
the moment of tial, is totaly lacking in me. I could look upon my total
ruin with as detached an unconcern as Ilook upon theirs. The payment
for life is death. I have written many a page in the book of life in spite
‘of my limited years, and I intend to write many more. I'll come out
of this as I have everything else. I'll see Ghana yet. Folsom is a becter
prison than this. There will be found many older inmates who are more
stable and less inclined to mind others’ business, I can also obtain a
parole faster chere or a transfer to some minimum security camp. On
the assaule charge I don’t think they will convict me. Maybe won't even
try me. The D.A. has to accept the case, and then the geand jury must
be convinced to accept what evidence they may concoct against me.
Give Mother my regards,

Fare you well.
Son

MAY, 19652

Dear Mother and Father,

am still in isolation. Nothing has changed since I wrote you last,
Robert."” You have a remarkable method for relieving yourself of
unpleasane or weighty problems that can almost be admired, were it just
a lite less chancy and notso slow. You seem to just ignore the matter or
pretend ic doesn’t exist, hoping maybe others wich more time or brains

10 The author's fathers name is Robert Lester Jackson. The author addresses him
cither as Robert ot Lester depending on mood o circumstance

58 SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘or perhaps more to lose will work something out. I have tried several
times over the last few years to adopt this means of rationalization for
my own relief, [tried ic at the start of this last attack upon my well-
being. Like you, I go to bed each night hoping that the morrow will
bring about the needed change. I simply force all my awareness, all my
many and monumental problems, from my remembrance. Without
plans or forethought, without a hint of uneasiness, I go to bed each
night, hoping, trying to avert the storm that is now coming on. I find
each morning, as I found this one, freighted with possibilities of my
‘own disaster. I still see the poverty among plenty. feel the curse of total
insecurity I still feel cramped within this cloud of ignorance which has
been placed about me purposely to make me act against my interests
My bed is just as hard as it was when I went to sleep, my clothing just
as coarse and inadequate. Here in the isolation cell the picifully light
breakfasts are just che same, I went supperless to bed the night before.
Each morning if I can find or beg a piece of soap I wash myself. This
is indeed counted as good fortune. But I mustn’t complain. Ie is un-
American to do so. Like the rest of you I should be completely lacking
in feeling for myself. I should smile and sing. Perhaps I should thank
the lord in spite of the fact that I have had not one moment's mental
‘gratification in all my ewenty-three years. I find no relief in baseball
and basketball games on the TV. The charges they bring against me
now could cost me my life, the last of my possessions, the only thing
they have heretofore left me with. But now that I think of it, I have
always been forced to fear for my life, o this is nothing new. It merely
more direct.

One of you send me twenty-five dollars as soon as you can after reading
this. Iwill get our of isolation nexe week and be locked up in segregation
(slightly better than this because we can draw money or articles from
the prison store). I want co buy some envelopes, and books that I will
be needing, Important because I have nothing. Have lost everything. If
you can get it here soon enough I will be allowed to draw ie chis month,

Well, I've heard it said that the darkest hour falls just before dawn, so
brace myself to my tasks, never doubting in my ability to struggle
‘on. [feel no defeat could overcome me, and fear no evil bue fear itself
perhaps. I have removed this emotion from my mind completely, and I
languish in misery, waiting, This is a big part of the battle: waiting for
the correct moment and then having the courage and wit to move when
the time is right. The living condition, though bad, have no effect upon

PART ONE. 59
ime physically. Bue how much longer will this last for me in and out
of prison, for you in and out of debe, for the others of our kind who
suffer jail, mental institutions, and the like. How long will we be forced
to live this life, where every meal is an accomplishment, where every
movie or pair of shoes i a fulfillment, where circumstance never allows
‘our children co develop past a mental age of sixteen. I've been patient,
bur where I'm concerned patience has its limits. Take it too fat, and it’s
cowardice.

George

JUNE, 1965 9

Dear Father,
‘We can spend twenty-five dollars a month here at the canteen for toilet
articles, a few dry goods, and food. Bue we can spend any amount
through the mail on such things as books, typewriters, correspondence
courses in all the liberal arts. spend what you have sent me on books.
Many that are of interest and value to me cannot be obtained here in
the library.

Anything that you send me in the way of finances isa good investment,
the returns will be forthcoming after the successful conclusion of the

Mao Tse-tung, leader of the Chinese Communist party, has written
many works on polities and war. Please ascertain the exact titles of his
works and who they are published by and how much each costs. Also
the price of the Encyclopedia Africana by William Du Bois. How many
volumes are there in the set? Who publishes them? Ie is very important
that I have the publisher's name and address, because if I come by the
money to purchase these books I need the exact titles and publishers.
To read and study the major works of these ewo authors would be the
climax of my education, and education in itself. Du Bois was amere Foo!
in his earlier days: but right at che close of his eveneful life he gave up
this life of toil, deprivation, and tears to join his own kind, He left the
United States, went to Ghana, and wrote the Encyclopedia Africana,

Ic is difficult, very difficule to get any facts concerning our history

and our way of life. The lie, half-truths, and propaganda have won
total sway over the facts. We have no knowledge of our heritage. Our

0 SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘economic status has reduced our minds to a state of complete oblivion,
‘The young black who comes out of college or the university is as
ignorant and unlearned as the white laborer. For all practical purposes
he is worse off than when he went in, for he has learned only the
attitudes and ways of the snake, and a few well-worded lies. The ruling
culture refuses to ler us know how much we did to advance civilization
in our lands long ago. It refuses to recognize and appreciate our eraft
and strength and allow us some of the fruits of our labor. All this has
lefcan emptiness in our lives, a void, a vacuum that must soon be filled
by hostilities. Iam most certainly committed, until the day I’m sent to
the warrior’ rest. By the ruling culeute’s acts of greed and barbarism
the uncommitted will soon learn that compromise with such an enemy
is impossible, Our two fortunes move along a collision course, I'm
prepared in every aspect, I have nothing, I can lose nothing!

George

JUNE, 1965

Dear Mother,
Even though I have plenty of time now, I don’t write more regularly
because of my studies. I get involved in some aspect of the subjects that
interest me and before Ican extract myself che lights are going off and
itis twelve oelock. You know the last thing we discussed just before
you people lefe me when you were up here last, well I've decided to go

My life here is slowly becoming one of complete alienation. I talk
to fewer conviets every day. Just one lieutenant here has tried to do
anything for me. He got me out of segregation twice last year. The die
is cast now though, I guess, thumbs down on me. My future is about as
sound as a three-dollar bill. I chank whatever forces there are working
for me that I'm still able to write you. I'm joking of course, it isn’t that

Nothing will help me now chough but patience and I have developed
plenty. There is nothing left to: me now but to await whatever may
‘come. Igo back to the board October or is it December. Nine months
from March would be December. Yes! Pethaps the fog will lift and
I will see some ray of hope by then. You know the thing which they
have locked me up for now could mean spending my next few years in

PART ONE. 61
confinement here, Iewould be merely a flight from reality to think that
T could get a date this year. I would be happy though co just know how
ong I will be held, even if i was 10 years. Id feel better knowing.

Take care of yourself.
Son

JUNE, 1965

Dear Father,
One of those tall ultra-bright electrical fixtures used to illuminate the
walls and surrounding area at night casts a direce beam of light in my
cell at night. (I moved to a different cell last week). Consequently I
have enough light, even after the usual twelve oclock lights-our, to
read or study by. I don’t realy have to sleep now if I choose not to,
‘The early hours of morning are the only time of the day that one can
find any respite from the pandemonium caused by these the most
uncultured of San Quentin inmates. I don't let the noise bother me
‘even in the evenings when it rises to maddening intensity, because I
try to understand my surroundings. I've asked myself, as I do about
all the other aspects of life, why — why do white cons act and react
as if they were animals of a lower order than we black men (some
blacks get foolish also bue we dont refer to them as “men”)? Why just
because they look like shaved monkeys must they also act like chem?
Ie’ frayed nerves, caused by the harsh terms that defeat brought when
they went against che system, the same system that runs this place. I
must ask myself why did they go against che system and why are the
terms so harsh? Could it be that a man will most always pursue his
interests, system or no? But why should so many people’s interests lie
‘outside the system? Why doesn‘ the system encompass the needs and
requirements of all of, o be realistic, the majority. We now come to
the part of the question around which the whole contention pivots:
Why are the terms so harsh, the price of defeat so high? What is it
that causes a man co become power-mad, to deify exploitation and
mendacity and vilify the compatible, harmonious things of nature,
‘how many times have you heard that “everyone should help fight the
evils of communism,’ ete.?

George

a SOLEDAD BROTHER
JULY, 1965
Lester,

I write this leeer to inform you that the people who hold me here read
that letter sent them. They read it and smiled with satisfaction and
triumph. You are under a grave illusion, I must now admit. You didn’t
think they would inform me of it, did you? But you are in serious error,
‘They let me read it. Apparently every petty official in the prison has
read it all to my embarrassment. For it sounded like something out of
Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Ie didn’c just cause me embarrassment. It also has caused me to be put
ina cell chat has the lock welded closed, Can it possibly be? Is it within
the scope of feasibility that you did not know that to tell these people I
1was "bent on self-destruction” (co use your reference) would cause me
hharm? Ate you so feeble of mind as to “report, after a visit with me,
that I am bene on violent self-destruction and think it would cause me
no harm!

have always respected and loved you people, and hated myself, cried
Dieter tears of remorse, when, because of circumstances and conditions,
which I didn’t understand, Ilet you down, Even after I discovered the
true cause of my ill, when I found that this social order had created,
through its inadequacies and its abandonment of our interest, the basis
for my frustrations, I forgave you for not preparing me: for not warning
me, for pretending that this was the best ofall possible worlds. forgave
you for misleading me. I forgave that catholic school thing. I tried
to understand your defeat complex and your loyalty co institutions
contrary to the blacks interest.

T've traveled widely over this country and some in Mexico. I've met
and have had exchanges with hundreds of thousands of people. I've
read extensively in the fields of social-economic and political theory
and development, all of this done against serious resistance from ail
sides. Bue because I knew one day that I would find what I'm after,
and answer some of the questions that beset my mind with confusion
and unrest and fear, I pushed ahead in spite of the foolish conformity
that I saw in you people. Now I have arrived at a state of awareness that
(because of the education system) few Negroes reach in the US. In my
concern for you, I try to share the benefits of my experience and my
observations, but am rewarded by being called madman. Thank you

PART ONE. 63
for the vote of confidence you displayed in that letter to the warden
T'll never forget it! All my younger life you betrayed me, Like I said,
1 could forgive. At first you may not have known any better, but over
the last ewo years I've informed you of many things. I've given you my
best and you have rejected me for my enemies. With this last act, you
have betrayed my bosom interest, even though I warned you not o say
anything av all. I will never forgive you this. Should we live forever I'l
never trust you again. Your mind has failed you completely. To take
sides against your son! You did it in ‘58 and now again. There will not
be a third time. The cost to me is too great. Father against son, and
brother against brother. This is truly detestable. You are a sick man,

George

JULY, 1965

Dear Father,

Tam perplexed and hard pressed in finding a solution or reason that
will adequately explain why we are so eager to follow Charlie. Why
wwe are so impressed with his apparent know-how. A glance at his
history shows that it has been one long continuous war. At no time in
European history has there been a period of peace and harmony. Every
‘moment of his past has been spent in the breakdown of civilization by
causing war, disruption, disease, and artificial famine, You send me a
date from the moment he emerged from his cave-dwelling days and U'l
tell you which of his tribes were at war, either on us or on themselves.
‘The whole of the Western European’s existence here in the US. has
been the same one long war with different peoples. This is the only
thing they understand, the only thing they respect — the only thing
they can do with any dexterity. Do you accept this miscreane as the
architect of the patterns that must guide your future life! IF so, we
must part company, and it is best we do so now, before the trouble
begins. Bur please stop and think so that you ean turn yourself around
in time, so that che developments to come won't shock you so badly.
Thave not wasted my time these last three or Four years. I speak with
some authority and people ate listening. People like me are going to be
shaping your tomorrows. So just sit back, open your mind, and watch,
since you can’t marshal the fundamentals to help me.

‘Yes, my friend, I remember everything, the reason that Delora and
Thad to spend that summer and winter in Harrisburg is known and

ot SOLEDAD BROTHER
remembered by me. I remember the garbage right under the side and
back of our place on Racine, Mama having to wash and wring clothes
by hand, carrying Penny and Jon while some fat redheaded mama sat
‘on her behind. I remember how strange people looked to me when I
finally had to be sent to Skinner School. You never knew why I was
almost killed the first day I went, but I do. I remember how the rent
and clothes for us children kepr you broke and ragged. All of us hungry,
if not for food — the other things that make life bearable. After you
and Mama settled down you had no recreational outlets whatever.
‘And everyone on Warren Blvd. knows how you would beat me all the
way home from our baseball games in the alley. Robert, can you see
how absurd you sound to me when you speak on “the good life” or
something about being a free adult? I know you have never been free.
know that few blacks over here have ever been free. The forms of slavery
merely changed at the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation from
chattel slavery to economic slavery. If you could see and talk to some
of the blacks I meet in here you would immediately understand what
T mean, and see that I'm right. They are all average, all with the same
backgrounds, and in for the same thing, some form of food getting.
About 70 to 80 percent ofall crime in the US. is perpetrated by blacks,
“the sole reason for this is that 98 percent of our number live below the
poverty level in bitter and abject misery”! You must take off your rose-
colored glasses and stop pretending. We have suffered an unmitigated
‘wrong! How do you think I fele when I saw you come home each day
a litele more depressed than the day before? How do you think I felt
‘when I looked in your face and saw the clouds forming, when I saw you
ook around and see your best efforts go for nothing — nothing. lean
count the times on my hands that you managed to work up a smile.

George

JULY, 1965

Dear Father,

‘Well I guess you know that I'm aware that this is not the bese of all
possible lives. You also know that I thank you for trying to cushion
the shocks and strains that history has made it our lot to have to
endure, But che make-believe game has ended now. I don’t think it
necessary for me to burden myself with listing strains we've endured
‘You are intelligent enough to know. At each phase of this long train of
tyrannies, we have conducted ourselves in a very meek and civilized

PART ONE. 65
manner, with only polite please for justice and moderation, all to no
avail. We have shown a noble indisposition to react with the passion
that each new oppression engenders. But any fool should be able
to see that this cannot be allowed to continue. Any fool should be
able to see that nature allows no such imbalances as this to exist for
ong. We have petitioned for judicial redress. We have remonstrated,
supplicated, demonstrated, and prostrated ourselves before the feet
of our self-appointed administrators. We have done all that we can do
to circumvent the eruption that now comes on apace. The point of
no return in our relationship has long been passed. I know what must
and will take place so I follow my ends through to thei most glorious
conclusion. Don’t make me waste my time and energy winning you to
4 position that you should already support with all your sympathies.
‘The same forces that have made your life miserable, che same forces
that have made your life senseless and unrewarding, threaten me and
all our posterity: I know the way out. Ifyou cannot help. sit back and
listen, watch. You are charged with the responsibility of acknowledging
the truth, my friend, and supporting it with whatever means, no matter
how humble, are in your power. I am charged to right the wrong, lift
the burden from the backs of future generations. will not shrink from
my duties. I will never falter or waver before the task, but we will go
forward — to resolve this conflict once and forever. OF all che twenty
thousand known years of advanced civilization, the years that are now
coming on will be the most momentous.

George

AUGUST, 1965

Dear Father,
Although I'm still beeween the lif-death cycle, I feel alot better. How
is the ceeth situation with you?

1 know you stay pretty busy and have a very bad memory, but try to
remember to answer this question in your next letter, You told me once
when I was at home there never to sleep more than six hours a day.
You said that four was really enough. Why did you say this? On what
authority? Experience or just something you read? What would be the
cffects of getting too much sleep?

T've been carrying out some very interesting experiments with myself
in here. I quite definitely do not believe in a strict regimen. By strict

66 BLOOD IN MY EYE
I mean absolute patterns for thinking and living, But I cannot help
feeling there is a judicious mean somewhere. I have been forced to seck
the judicious mean, due to the circumstances that history has thrown
me into here — now. You see it isn’t as simple as you implied. “Thinking
and reading” won't fill a ewenty-four-hour day. I have something real
deep running through me, a burning thing of the mind. I have observed
myself pass into a state of anger over something that happened as far
away as Rhodesia or the Union of South Africa. And I didn't sleep for
two days when those children and women were being murdered down
there in your part of che world last week. I've told myself uncountable
times that anger is an emotion, a degenerative emotion, unnecessary
and controllable, but I couldn't control ie until a few days ago when I
‘observed myself being consumed by the force of my own weight. So, my
friend, I starced conducting these experiments with myself

Why can't I rid myself of the sorrow and emotion that awareness
hhas brought me? I get rid of the self-destructive force of error and
ignorance only to be ton and miserable by what I discover. It happened
that I knew all along that some imbalance did exist, or I'll say a few
imbalances existed, that disallowed me from progressing further in my
development. I put my head in my hands and wondered why do I make
myself sick, why can’t I overcome this, maybe I’m just human after all?
believe chat is whae got it! Lam what Iam, and that’ all Iam. I knew
this morbid depression must have some human explainable cause, an
imbalance somewhere. The mind and body cannot be separated, a
physical imbalance can precipitate effects that could eventually lead
to some mental imbalance. Too much sleep, too little, the wrong kind
of food, too much, too little, oo much reading in the wrong position,
too much study, or too long an application to one subject, results in
imbalances, conflicts, struggles. I was looking for a solution from one
direction only, when no event, no effect in nacute, has a single cause.
Ies a collection of causes! So I look at myself and I discover new ways
‘of knowing myself, seeing and placing myself in the vast scheme.
‘The struggle is almost over, my friend, complete and harmonious
development can be mine, everyone's. Only one-fourth of the sorrow
in each man's life is caused by outside uncontrollable elements, the rest
is self-imposed by failing to analyze and act with calmness

George

PART ONE. or
AUGUST, 1965

Dear Father,
T'vebeen on five hours sleep a day and one-and-one-half hours exercise.
‘The rest of my time is divided proportionally between my work and
‘what little pleasure Lean make for myselfin here. This isn’t too much to
speak of, a lite light fiction, or the radio, The experiment seems to be
bringing me some benefits: the tenseness that brings about emotional
unrest has lefe.

Thope you are not too uncomfortable with your teeth being worked on
will have to have mine worked on also when I leave here. The longer I
‘wear these shoes you sent me the more comfortable they become. You
should try some. Of course I haven't too far to walk in here, but I make
the best of what I have. I do my best thinking on my feet, so I walk this
lietle ten feet I have rather diligently sometimes.

1 was just thinking yesterday how far I have fallen from glory, how very
much of my “physical” freedom they have taken from me (I still have
mental freedom). realized how few ofthe pleasures of life [have tasted
‘Trouble, difficulties, and sorrow have pervaded these twenty-four years.
‘Twenty-four years without one moment’s mental gratification, For us it
is always tomorrow: tomorrow we'll have enough money to eat better:
tomorrow we'll be able to buy this necessary article of clothing, to pay
that debr. Tomorrow, it never really gets here. “To every one who has
will more be given ... but from him who has not, even what he has
will be taken away” I like this life, I can never reconcile myself to it, or
rationalize the face that I have been basely used, hated, and repressed as
if ie were the natural order of things. Life is at best a nebulous shadow,
vague contingency, the merest of possibilities to begin with, But men
in general (myself most emphatically included), being at best complete
and abject fools, have rendered even what small possibilities there were
to love and learn null and void! Bue I refuse to excite myself about my
past, or our fucure. I have simply taken up a task and I am preparing
myself for its execution. I absolutely refuse to give way to emotional
involvement or any undisciplined or dogmatic belief. Life is too
uncertain, and dogmas and beliefs are the product of this sick man who
now transgeesses against us and the world. IfI can bend circumstances
to my will I succeed. IFnot — I'm off the cycle

‘You know that the US. power elite, the7 percent who own and run this
country and influence the policies of the rest of the European world,

68 SOLEDAD BROTHER
want to attack and destroy China in the next four or five years. China
hhas become too strong and it is influencing the rest of the Afro-Asian
world too heavily with anti-Western philosophy (self-determination
and economic independence). All that stands in the way of the power
elite is a few dissenting factions which are daily being won over, and
having their opinions molded for them by the communications media,
and, second, the domestic unrest and near-revolutionary atmosphere
in the black slums of al che large US. cities. Do you add well? Can you
see what may be in the making? They cannot attack China unless the
blacks here in the USS. support their war effore. What if some black
voice denounced the war? Many blacks would go for this. What would
happen if large numbers of blacks refused to fight or make weapons, or
‘even say attempted to subvere the US. war effort? Remember the Jews
‘of Germany! From what I observe in here, where they don't have to
hide their contempt, we're moving toward this eventuality.

George

SEPTEMBER, 1965 6

Dear Father,
This is abour six leecers I've written in two weeks. Did you get my
answer to your last one? In the future I will put che exact date on them
and doubie-check with you on them. You say you got none of these
recent letters? When they stop them, they usually send them back to
me, I can’t say exactly what happened, but I guess these things are to
be expected

I mentioned in one of those other letters that I went before one of
these committees last month made up of the top officials here. They
informed me that I “can forget about the board transfer or the main
population facilities here in the prison.” These were their words. So,
mmy friend, I'll be in this litele cell for a while yer. [hope you note that
all this is done without any proof, and without allowing me to face my
accuser. But I guess these things are to be expected.

I want you to send me a portable typewriter and of course the carrying
cease. We can have them here, and I can use one to build my spelling and
vocabulary. Ie will give me something to do in here. Send a lesson book
also. A used one will be all right. Although they sell ribbons here you
will have to send a couple of rolls because I have no way of buying any.

PART ONE. 9
T've had to secure permission to send out for the typewriter, of course,
Ie took over a month to have ie approved, so send it as soon as you are
able,

‘They just urned the lights out I's 12:15 (A.M., Tuesday). Take it easy

George

SEPTEMBER, 1965 12

Dear Mama,
Robert tells me that you are not well. 'm sorry to hear this, but I guess
we're all lucky co have lived as long as we have. The many years you
spent without proper clothing for the cold wet weather back East, with
improper food, not enough food, and lack of expert medical attention,
is enough misfortune to leave the strongest person ill.

You need to see a specialist. IF we were not blacks and consequently
poor, you would be able to enjoy the benefits of science. But you are
probably seeing some disinterested, half-trained parasite who knows
rho more about yourailment or the curing of i than I do, Robert doesn’t
make enough in ewo years to allow you to get the best attention (that
is, here in our present surroundings). His scope doesn't extend any
farther than the boundaries of the U.S. Those lies and the propaganda
he reads in Life, Reader's Digest, and Look, have completely undressed
his mind. I feel very sorry forall of you. I'm locked in a cell 24 hours a
day, but I still know my potential, I still feel my strength, I still chumb
my nose at the caveman, Because my mind is still my own, no one can
lie to me anymore. I know where my interest lies

For now though, I’m going to be a good boy, as Robert and most of the
blacks we see around us are all good boys. I’m going to smile, and I'm
going to pretend to accept the small compensations they hand out in
return for our soul and our freedom. I'm going to be a good boy and
«eat what is put before me. I’m going to do this so chat I'll stay alive long
enough to take care of you. You deserve alot better than you have had
and more than you will have. You don’t know it but there is a becter
life, regardless of whae the Reader’s Digest says. Believe me there is a
better life

Take care of yourself.
George

70 SOLEDAD BROTHER
OCTOBER, 1965 3

Dear Robert,
Thave the typewriter in my possession here, so all is well. They didn’t,
however, produce the instruction book or paper. They’ let me have
the two extra ribbons. I can get an instruction book. Paper isn’t too
much ofa problem. All things considered, it turned out very well. You
can take a chance if you care to on the shorthand book. Put it in an
envelope like you say, but also write a letter stating right in the front,
in the firs lines, chat it is a shorthand book. Mail che leeter and the
book together. I'they don’t chink it’s some kind of eryprogram we have
going, ic may be allowed or overlooked, but you can‘ just leave it up to
them to figure out whar it is. That would be asking for too much, Just
read in the Monitor that "6 parts of insecticide to one billion parts of
‘water wil kill most all marine animals in salt water or fresh"! Be sure to
ook into the course on speed reading, It costs sixty cents. I know itis a
‘great help. I would be nice for me to have someone to talk to.

‘Take care, and keep your eyes open,
George

NOVEMBER, 19657

Dear Robert,
Nothing has changed. I’m still losing. I’m alive though, so there’s still
the possibility. . How is Georgia? Don't tell her anything about my
condition." It isn’t necessary for you to reveal to her all that I tll you.
She doesn’t need to know. It can only worry her needlessly. [hope you
are well,

George

NOVEMBER, 1965 13

Dear Mother,
Tam alive and well, and am at present working my way through the
adjustment center here. It is an overall improvement in my condition,
‘The prospects of getting out or getting a transfer to a more habitable
prison are now better.

1 The author had been putin isolation afer being charged by the prison authori
‘es with assault with a deadly weapon,

PART ONE. a
I will relish che transfer part. Al of che officers here have preconceived
notions about my patterns of behavior now. Consequently it is
somewhat hard for me to avoid falling under suspicion for almost every
misdeed perpetrated by a black. But no matter, if I do have to stay here
Tam determined to circumvent che litle raps.

I sincerely hope your health is improving, oratleast becomingno worse,
1 feel awful disconcerted that I am unable to tender any assistance,
However, I feel this inability is only temporary. I intend to surge back
with a tenacity uncontainable in its relentlessness.

Fortune must soon smile on me because sincere effort is always
rewarded, Nature allows no such imbalances as this. I am assured and
completely self possessed in the knowledge that all contradictions and
conflicts must one day be resolved. Give my love to all the women
there, please take care of yourself

Love,
George

DECEMBER, 1965 23

Dear Mother,
I got the food you sent me today: it was very nice, and fills areal need
almost didn’t getit though. You see we are supposed to send outa slip
to the correspondent when we wish someone to send us somethingand
you are supposed to send the package with this slip you get from me
as proof that you are an authorized correspondent. I didn't send a slip
‘out this year because of the trouble it might involve for you, and the
money could possibly have been better placed. I hope your health is
improving. Lam doing quite well in that respect all chings considered
‘You may not know me when you next see me. I find a few new gray
hairs every time I look in the mirror. If live to be thirty, [guess i will
be all white.

T'll sare writing Jon a couple of letcers a week. If you would like me to,
lec me know. I would tell him as much of the truth asis advisable in one
of these letters, bur if you don’t feel that what I represent is correct for
him, chen I'l refrain, How old is he now?

1 guess I'll be getting a transfer, or going out to the main population
soon. A couple of months more of this and I think they will let up on

n SOLEDAD BROTHER
me, About parole, [can’t say, but [am notalone. I don’t feel so distressed
when I look around me and see others like myself experiencing the
same thing. The uniformity of our condition seems to lend support
to each of us. I don’t think the administrators fully understand. 1
hhave the strangest feeling that they may not understand how this
atmosphere they foster nurtures a mindless, hopeless mass. Ie is suicidal
incompetence. The strong can afford to be incompetent or wrong
sometimes without loss of face. Even the mightiest and most capable
‘of men are only human, But he who attributes to himself omnipotence
must never be wrong. For once a weakness is found, no matter how
small, in one who claims omnipotence he is completely exposed. The
fall from omnipotence ends only with insignificance, May this New
‘Year coming be your year, our year. Take care.

Love,
George

DECEMBER, 1965 29

Dear Robert,
‘The photographs were nice, Penny sent me one of her baby also. I
thought him very beautiful. Send me her address, also send Delora’s
Delora looks wel. Tell her I love her and that the baby looks just like
het. She has two babies now hasn't she? I’m an uncle three times.

Jon should be the main concern now. By now you should have seen
‘enough to know how to proceed with his development. He doesn't
ook too healthy to me. He looks thin, pale, and soft. Those weights
‘would improve his circulation and make his veins stand out. If he
works out in the backyard in the sun every evening in a year, he could
be a paragon. He needs that and he needs to be told the truth. He can
{get these things only from you. That school won't teach him anything
except possibly a few Latin prayers, but if you haven't caught on yet,
nothing I can say inthis letter will help. Don't forget I've been over the
road he is straining on now. Maybe i isa litle different now with him.
You can afford to give him bikes and baseball gloves, but the loose-
living thing is going to seem awfully exciting to him in a few years when
the compares it against che artificial world of those catholics. I'm doing
allright here I guess. You take it easy.

George

PART ONE. 2
JANUARY, 1966 1

Dear Robert,
I received your geatifying letter. Was it an expression of your love, an
indication of your gracious sympathy for the position we were both
born into, and that Lam presently feeling the cramping convulsions of
I got the money. IfI feel like a burden to you, itis bese thac we suspend
‘exchanges until I've struggled on back to my feet. You probably don't
feel chat you owe me anything, and I guess you don't since you have
accepted the values and customs of these people we live among. In that
light, Lowe to you the unquestionable honor of my struggle within this
‘American dream.

‘What can I say to you, my friend? I've been wondering if it would be
best to lie to you and hide myself, say only what I know so well that
you like to hear. I hesitate to do this because you have been lied to
so much already. To add to this may be my last and greatest and most
unpardonable crime against you. You are the older ofthe two of us. You
are a man in your way and there is much merit in the manner you have
conducted yourself these last 25 years. To have lived through the period
of your ealy youth is in itself a qualifier for respect. The following
shocks and strains were surely enough to drive the strongest man to
distraction. All the honor that you are due I freely give. However,
we, the humble representatives of the future generations, have at our
disposal all the accumulated knowledge and experiences of all past
sgenerations to build our thoughts. I have made no mark as yet to be
sure, but why is it that we cannot communicate? What is it thae bars
our efforts to exchange thoughts and ideas? The faule could lie in my
presentation. If so, I will make every effort to correct my deficiency
because it isto the interest of us both that we meet on the same level.
Can you understand that a meeting of the minds will have to precede
any advancement of our combined fortunes? The question is whether
‘we will be able ro overcome the malicious efforts and forces that divide
us and be able to put group interests before personal petty prejudice
and preconceived notions. Or will we all end by turning our backs on
cach other and going our way in anger?

I'm tired, my friend, real tired. I've gota pain deep in my stomach and
'm tired pretending that the obvious doesn’t exist and that this is the
best of all possible lives. Iris not, and ifa concentrated effort isn’t made
to finally learn and use the lessons set forth in history, unthinkable
chaos will result!

74 SOLEDAD BROTHER
I know that ie probably will not come true, but may this be your year,
‘our year to realize the promise that being born a man brings.

George

FEBRUARY, 1966 23

Dear Mama,
Thave been hoping that you would write and acknowledge my las letter.
Thope it doesn’t worry you too much that I will not be considered for
release for some time yet. It worries me enough. I hope your health
{gets no worse atleast. I'll be with you as soon as I can, I've got some
clean time in now already and plan to do as well for the rest of this year
so that in December they will let me go. They have promised me this
anyway. I don’t put any confidence whatever in what they say, but the
hope remains.

Tam in the main population now. I was released from the adjustment
center lockup today (because of good conduct) and have a good
program set up for me, one conducive to parole consideration. I have
learned something by the experience: never again to look for mercy,
never again to expect or hope for justice, never to look for quarter
‘without strings being attached. The last illusion has been shattered: I
know the way from here: ask no quarter of fae and give none,

‘That thing you mentioned concerning Frances has had me perturbed
for a week. Some just are nor going to make it, some of us have just
slipped too far to ever get back. This guy, I promise you, will be sorry
1 Tong, long time. Right here at this juncture of time we as a people
have nothing, absolutely nothing but each other, some fresh air, the
blue and gold of day and silver at night, a clean conscience, and the
promise of cloudless days to come. But some do not enjoy these things
‘enough, don’t understand the nature of our circumstances and commit
unpardonable crimes, unnatural crimes that must in the end bar
them from partaking in the benefits of the liberation that is planned
for tomorrow. In the end a requiem will be sung over the whole vast
complex of disorder.

Please inform me of any new developments there. Help Jon to become
aman, Fare you well.

George

PART ONE. 75
MARCH, 1966 3

Dear Mama,
Always good to hear from you, though it makes me sad to know that
you are not well. Just hold on chough and circumstances will cake a
definite vurn for the better, no ifs or ands about this. The way lies open
for us. I'm nor just talking or hoping. I know there isa becter life for
us. Lknow what there is to be had and of al there is to be had I plan to
claim for us the lion’s share.

You are right of course in what you contend. The black woman has in
the past few hundred years been the only force holding us together and
holding us up. She has absorbed the biggest part of the many shocks
and strains of existence under a slave order. The men can think of
nothing more effective than pimping, gambling, or petty theft. I've
heard men brag about being pimps of black women and taking money
from black women who ate on relief. Things like this I find odious,
disgusting — you are right, the black men have proven themselves to
be utterly detestable and repulsive in the past. Before I would succumb
to such subterfuge I would scratch my living from the ground on hands
and knees, or die in a hail of bullets! My hat goes off to every one of
you, you have my profoundest respect. I have surrendered all hope
‘of happiness for myself in this life to the prospect of effecting some
improvement in our circumstances as a whole. Ihave a plan, I will give,
and give, and give of myself until ic proves our making or my end. The
men of our group have developed as a resule of living under a ruthless
system a set of mannerisms that numb the soul. We have been made the
floor mat of the world, but the world has yer to see what can be done
bby men of our nature, by men who have waiked the path of disparity, of
regression, of abortion, and yet come out whole. There will be a special
page in the book of life for the men who have crawled back from the
‘grave. This page will tell of utter defeat, ruin, passivity, and subjection
in one breath, and in the next, overwhelming victory and fulfillment.

So take eare of yourself, and hold on.

Love,
George

76 SOLEDAD BROTHER
MARCH, 1966 20

Dear Mama,
We have to order books from a bookstore owned by one of the staff
here. Ic is contrary to insticution policy for someone to send us books
from outside. This is the rule, the law, so I guess it eannot be helped
Sieuations of this type are what this country is built on, the wonderful
system chat made ie great.

I've read as much St, Augustine as I could stomach. Ifyou don't know
about him and Jerome, Leibniz, and the rest of that lunatic feinge yet,
my love, you are hurting. Why do you say things like that to me? You
know how I feel about those people. You know that I am completely
aware ofall of them. [can never be deceived again by them. [know their
awesome capacity for evil, I'm victim of it now. That Pope Pius XIL, the
{guy you lec us pray for, gave Mussolini his blessing as he was about to
‘embark upon his misadventure in Ethiopia. I could give you thousands
‘of examples ofthis type. Ihave explained my feeling to you many, many
times, so I won't go any further with this. Ifchildren being blown out of
this existence while attending church services, men being lynched for
1 gesture, colonialism, the inquisition, and H-bombs haven't affected
you, nothing I say here can help you. Ifyou could live my life one week
land see the things I se, feel the pain I feel, and die a ltee bit each day
as Ido, all your illusions and apparitions would vanish. You talk to me
like Iwas born yesterday, like I was stil a ietle boy. All my life now you
have told me about European gods and European christians who were
supposed co be knowledgeable. When do you plan to say something
that will help me? You may not know any better. If not, [am wrong in
saying whar I have, but I find it hard to admit that my mother could be
so insensitive co the truth! You disrespect me, Mama, when you talk to
ime like that. Ie like you saying to me, “George. you'r a fool. You do
not have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a brain to interpret, so I'l ell you
any kind of outrageous story” Ordinary people, the mediocre, need to
feel or believe in something greater than themselves. Ie gives them false
security and it makes them feel that help may be forthcoming. This is
self-delusion in the extreme. I cannot partake in any foolishness. Do
you want me to be mediocre like the rest of the herd! When I need
strength, Mama, I reach down within myself. I draw out of the reserves
T've buile — the necessary endurance to face down my opposition. 1
call on myself, [have faith in myself. This is where it must always come
from in the end — yourself I place no one and nothing above myself

PART ONE. 7
‘What any man has done before me I can do, If there is a god, Mama,
the hates me and I'll have to resist what he or itis doing to us. All my
life, Mama, U've had to work things out for myself. I've had help from
no quarter. I've been alone now for a long time. This is why I've had so
‘much pain and trouble, Robert gave me nothing, You gave me god and
that horrible church. Even god managed to take something away from
me, I have nothing left bue myself.

Love,

George

APRIL, 1966 17

Dear Mama,
I received, your card, nice of you to think of me on Easter. Getting that
card sure made me feel a lo better. You know how important Easter is
to me. Are you any better? Have you resolved the insurance problem?
Don't worry too much about these things: solutions cause new and
sometimes even worse problems to spring up. All of our difficulties will
never be worked out. I guess perhaps this existence is merely a constant
choosing of the lesser evil.

Penny came to see me last week: I recall a time when all she wanted
'was get away from the family group, bue now that she’s on her own,
she didn’t wane to talk about anything else but you and the past. She is
devoted to you. She is a sweet, well-balanced, and wonderful woman,
deserving of much more than this life here offers us.

Bur the weather is fine here, plenty of sun lately. I exercise in the sun an
hour every day, I'm getting very big and very black.

Fare you well,

George

MAY, 19668

Dear Mama,

Allis well here, 'm going to night school again, and have encountered

no trouble of lace.

‘Are you well? They say that today is Mother’s Day: I ean’ make much
sense out oft, though. I love mine every day. But these guys around me

78 SOLEDAD BROTHER
here seem to like being told when to celebrate this and that, so should
you also feel chis way, ler me acknowledge the custom and wish you as
pleasant a Mother’ Day as is possible under our circumstances.

‘Take care of yoursel
Love,
George

SEPTEMBER, 19669

Dear Mama,
Hope you are better: the typewriter is being repaired so this comes by
hand.

‘We are in agreement on many things. Allis as well a i is possible to
be between two who are human and subject to human error. You have
done much for me and Iam sincerely in your debe: your returns will be
soon forthcoming. That which you didn’t do I never expected, for you
are after all a woman and think as a woman should, The attitudes and
methods that I have developed on my own have no reflection on you,
bur on the nature of our life circumstances and situational pressures
IsJon in health? I have some pictures of you on your trip back East. You
surely look well and unchanged

1 go to the board in December and as I have stated before I have met all
‘of their terms. My release is almost assured.

‘What is Penny’s new address? I will send her a letcer on her birthday
and discuss things as they are said to be, and as they really are. She
must be having a pretty bad time: that guy seems to be pretty Anglo-
Americanized.

Take care of yourself.
Love,

George

SEPTEMBER, 1966 16
Dear Mama,

wish you many happy returns in the birthday department. It sounds
pretty empty I know but that’ all I have to offer right now, a wish:

PART ONE. ”
Thave broad plans for che future though. A large villa for you in the
Maldive Islands, with an extra-deep bomb shelter. Allis the same here,
Each day that comes and goes is like the one before: being a good boy,
sgoing co church, reading about the saints, and getting good ratings on
my job for the proper attitudes.

‘Are you well, are you getting any of the pleasant things chat life
in these United States offers? That reminds me of a thing I read
recently concerning China. One of the top political leaders came to
an elementary school to lecture (they take education pretty seriously)
He told the children co put their heads on the desk and pray to god
for ice cream. After fifteen minutes of serious and sincere effort all the
children lose inerest and grew restive. He then told chem to pray to him
and the party for ice cream, whereupon a few minutes later they raised
their heads from their desks and found, guess what, ice cream. Isn't that
disgusting, Mama, to distort the thinking of children like that... Now
how is Jon? How much does he weigh? You don't say much about the
folks in che Midwest, are they well? Take care of yourself

Love,
George

SEPTEMBER, 1966 25

Dear Robert,
‘What has happened to Penny? Is she having troubles with her man?
You were going to send me her address, have you forgotcen? I have
been trimming down my weight some, more exercise and less food, I'm
getting ready for December. [dont want to stand out. I must fic in with
the rest of the herd and look as ordinary as possible. { wane my system
to grow accustomed to little or no food at all without it causing me the
normal distress thac ic causes others. You would be surprised how little
food an adult really needs. I went for ewo weeks on nothing but three
slices of bread and “one” cumbler of water a day without noticeable loss
mentally or physically.

‘Are you well, my friend? Glad to hear you are becoming interested in
things of the mind. The school idea is truly out of the ordinary. Most
others of your caste and peer group have given up. There ate two or
three things that I would like to take, but cannot take them here in
prison: language (Chinese and Arabic), electronics, and chemicals

80 SOLEDAD BROTHER
Maybe I'll get out next year and if I still feel the inclination I'll buy a
few courses. Take care of yourself.

George

OCTOBER, 1966 20

Dear Robert,
Just received your letter of October 15, good to hear that Jon is well, and
that your studies are comingalong. I wanted to exhaust the possibilities
of getting thar free course in drafting here. I wanted to know if I was
{going to remain here in this prison at least until board before I asked
you to put yourself out in sending ic. Well itis conclusive that I will
not be able to take it here, The school is carrying the course bue there
is no room for folks like me, just right now, maybe next year. I have
found conclusively that I will not be transferred either. So, my friend,
if you will, and whenever you can, send the course from LaSalle. I will
be able to finish much sooner than you think. My math is excellent and
Thave nothing bue time. I'll suspend my other endeavors in deference
to the speedy and satisfactory completion of this course. Upon closer
‘examination of all che facts involved in my doing something like this in
here I also find that plastic tools are not necessary. I can have and use
anything necessary for the course. LaSalle sends al of these tools right
along with the course, so things are not as complicated as I thought
them at first to be.

Very likely I will be given a parole date this year. If so, or perhaps to
increase the possibility, I should have a job offer here on record. You
could correspond with some machine shops or the like right now
and tell them thae I have completed or am just about to complete an
accredited course in drafting, and I need a statement from them on
record here to be released. Don’t worry about me nor being prepared
by then. I have thought everything out. But any offer from almost any
area will suffice to get me out. If you are not able to get someone to
send me ina job offer then there should be a lengthy statement here on
record that you are willing to support me while I go to school. I hope
you understand what I am saying. I have to have something on record
for the board to gain the impression all is secure financially for my
release. Ir may be less difficult just to state officially that I am going to

PART ONE. al
school and that you plan to pay my way completely through it upon my
release. We must decide now what will be said for their benefit upon
this matter now. Let me know in your next letcer which will be easier
for you to do. Get me a job offer or state that our plans include school
with your full backing. Send it to the Department of Corrections in
Sacramento.

Take care of yourself,
George

DECEMBER, 19662

Dear Robert,
‘The typewriter is being repaired again. Never buy a plastic typewriter.
‘Though good for some things, plastic is too flexible for that type of
machinery. Ie keeps the parts out of trim. I received your letter and
nothing that develops from this mess will surprise me. I have taken all
possibilities into account, in advance. I have nothing going for me and
any good or favorable turn of event will be only luck, good fortune.

You don't really think that I mind not being liked by them, do you?
I sincerely feel chat ic is a tribute to my character that they do not. I
said what I did only to help you understand my position, and in eurn
understand any fucure action I may undertake. But I don’t want you
to trouble your mind, or lose any sleep about the seriousness of my
position either. When things become too hard for everyone else, that’s
when I start enjoying myself. Just understand in the light of fucure
cevents that I am guided by necessity and that my needs are different
than yours. The board meets during the last few days of the month.

‘Take care of yourself, my friend,
George

DECEMBER, 1966 3

Dear Robert,
Tam worried about Penny. Does she still write you? Have you let her
know that should she need a refuge or a strong arm she can find them
in her father. Women need to know these things. It is tormenting to
them co know that they are alone, can look to no quarter for string-

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER
free aid. If Penny felt that she had no choice in the matter, no help, she
‘would accept ill treatment forever. But then an offer of help must seem
freely and honestly given to be of value. Are you well, my friend? The
climate here is terrible, and I am not talking aboue the weather, each
day is a tral. I stay close co my cell these days, reading, working on my
book. Take care of yourself,

George

JANUARY, 19673

Dear Mama,
Thave at least another fourteen or eighteen months to do. OF course
I could do the rest of my life here, not taking into account a possible
change in the system of government and economics, a change of
hhands, that is. They gave me no consideration at the board, the same
people that gave me their promise last year. I was not surprised, I was
completely prepared for this.

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1967 12

Dear Mama,
Your letcer was well received; it left me feeling better than I have felt
for years. I have never felt as close to any human as I do to you now.
Your thoughts mirror mine exactly. Why have you left me alone to my
struggle so long? I know the answer to this must be that we hesitate
to reveal or acknowledge the existence of ugliness to the ones we love,
ceven though the knowledge of such may better equip them to resist the
effects of evil.

am goinginto my seventh year here, [have learned as muchas possibly
could in this time: I have studied myself closely, I have studied people,
‘human and inhuman, wanting to know and understand, I am given to
understand that itis the strong who rule the weak but, in turn, the wise
rule over the strong, So you see that I recognize the value of what you
have stated concerning faith and wisdom, What is happening to me
here, what has happened, what will happen, can never surprise or upset
me again, My nerves have been fractured, my sensibilities outraged, for

PART ONE. 83
the last time. Its all a matter of course to me now. My outlook is clear
and the future holds no more terrors for me, Just existing, life without
joy, without real meaning does not appeal to me at all. Tam very tired
‘of waking up each morning wondering if I will be worked for nothing
again today, or wondering if I will be insulted, humiliated, injured, or
ceven done to death today. There are a few things that I must be decisive
about, a few things that I know to be so. then there are things which
my faith tells me could possibly be so. I have faith in the face that we,
the majority of peoples (5 to 1) on earth, can live with and complement
cach other's existence if we rid the earth of the barbarous influence
spread by this inhuman, unnatural minority! My faith in life holds still
to the principle that we men of color will soon make a harmonious
world out of this chaotic travesty of fact. But first we must destroy the
malefactor and root out all of his ideals, moralities, and insticutions.
Ic is to this end that I have long since dedicated myself, co extinguish
forever the lights of a perverted science in any way that I can, by any
and all means. To accomplish this we can no longer woo false gods or
invoke half measures. Please understand that though I would miss you
and all the others, though I love you dearly. I do not want to live in this
world as itis. Ido not think of myself as one small person among so
many. [know what I can do, I know I can build and can cause things to
happen, but I also can be hurt,

L. is my closest consort, a true friend, che most trustworthy man Ihave
cever met. This is saying a lot, believe me, trust isa difficult thing to
build between men brought up under Anglo-American or Western
cultures. I learned much from him. He is also tired of seeing himself
through the eyes of others on Amos *n’ Andy and I Spy. This individual
‘comes to you with my highest recommendation. He will help me. You
help him to help me. His intelligence and character are unquestionable.

George

JANUARY, 1967 23

Dear Robert,
Tried to write several times these last couple of weeks but my letters all
came back with a note attached explaining what I can and cannot say.

Have you been well? How old are you now, pop? Where were you and
what were you doing when you were my age, twenty-five? I'l ber you

a SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘were not doing too much better than I am now. You probably were not
in prison. Well, I know you were not, but was your standing socially
and economically speaking any better than mine? I guess it was, since
you at least had limited freedom of movement. I have none here.

Although I would very much like to get out of here in order to develop
1 few ideas that have occurred to me — although I would not like
to leave my bones here on the hill if itis a choice between that and
surrendering the things that make me a man, the things that allow me
to hold my head erece and unbowed, then the hill can have my bones.
Many times in the history of our past — I speak of the African here in
the USS. — many times we were presented with this choice, too many
times, too many of us choose to live the crippled existence of the near-
man, the half-man. Well, I don’t care how long I live. Over this I have
no control, but I do care about what kind oflife I live, and Iean control
this. may not live bur another five minutes, but it will be five minutes
definitely on my terms.

George

JANUARY, 1967 31

Dear Frances,
Sorry to have neglected you for so long: things are very complicated for
ime here. I stay very busy, all of the time. I never have enough time to
do the things that I must. [ have made inroads into political economy,
‘geography, forms of government, anthropology, archaeology and the
basics of three languages, and when I can get hold of them some of,
the works on urban guerrilla warfare. I can use some assistance on the
language aspect, though. Next time you pass a bookstore ask about a
book dealing with Swahili a self-teaching Swahili book. Ger the proper
title and the publisher's name and also a good self-teaching book on
Arabic.

Last year Mama suggested that a lawyer could possibly help me get out
of here, by sitting in and representing me at the board. I wish I had
gone along with it. A couple of people have gotten out like that. There
is a lady lawyer up here in San Francisco who specializes in that. She
says a grand in her hand, several months before the board, is all that is
required to get a date, fa person has his minimum in, My minimum is
‘one year, o I've got seven times more than necessary. Talk to Robert

PART ONE. 85
about this. If she doesn’t get a client out, she returns his money. IF
Robert borrowed it and got me out I would of course return it. If
don't get a new sentence for the scuff I am locked up for now, that is
what we must do. Just discuss it with Robert for now. I'll let you know
ina few months if you should take definite steps in that direction. First
I must ascertain whether or not they plan to fix me with the blame for
these recent events.

1 must now start doing all chat is humanly possible to get out of prison
T can see great ill forecast for me if I don’t find some way to extract
myself from these people's control. “If we must die let it nor be like
hhogs, hunted and pinned in an inglorious spot, while around us bark
the mad and hungry dogs making their mock at our accursed lot: if
‘we must die then lee us nobly die, so that our precious blood may not
be shed in vain. Then even the monsters we defy shall be constrained
to honor us though dead. We kinsmen must meet the common foe,
though far outnumbered, let us show us brave, and for their thousand
blows, deal one death blow. What though before us lies the open grave,
like men we'll face the murderous pack, pressed to che wall, dying, but
fighting back.” I don’t mind dying but I'd like to have the opportunity
to fight back. Take care.

George

FEBRUARY, 1967 1

Dear Mother,
‘Things are normal here, the usual turmoil. I hope you are well. I
hope you are doing enough light exercise each day to work up some
perspiration and not eating the wrong things — pork, sugar, white
bread, etc. I'm very careful in this respect and enjoy almost perfect
health and great reserves of energy and strength in spite of my
circumstances. But I do heavy exercises, maybe two hours worth a day,
every day. In close confinement where I cannot get to any workout
facilities, as now, I work out somewhat differently. I rake neat piles of
books and magazines tied together and exercise with them. For you I
imagine some deep knee bends, touch your toes, and say some push-
ups would be fine. You would do five sets of ten of each exercise. For
‘example, start by doing ten push-ups, rest a minute or ewo, do ten more,
rest a few minutes, ete. until you get to five sets, then go to the next
‘exercise. Stay young and firm that way. Resistance to bodily disorders
stays high, or builds up.

86 SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘You know when they locked me up this time all my personal property
‘came up missing. I'll have to replace everything — two personal chess
sets, toilet articles, che black sweat shirts. [ had four of these bue saved
only the one I had on, Even the plastic tumblers I used to drink with in
the cell, everything is gone. I’m not sure about the typewriter, I can’t
{get any information on it. I know that I don’t have it here: whether itis
safe somewhere else I don’t know. Then, too, several of us blacks were
locked up at the same time for just about the same thing. They go to
the small adjustment center yard each day for two hours: Lam forced to
remain in my cell, no fresh ait, no sun, ewenty-four hours a day in here,
Iedoesn't bother me, though. I've trained myself not to be disorganized
by any measure they take against me. I exercise in here, and pursue my
studies. That fills my day oue nicely. Since I know that I am the original
man and will soon inherit this earth, I am content to just prepare
myself and wait, nothing an stop me now! But I do sometimes wonder
just exactly how they got the way they are. I know beyond question
the extent of che evil chat lurks in their hearts: Isee the insane passion,
inherent in their characters, to dominate all chat they come in contact
with, What aggressive psychosis impels a man to want his dessert and
mine to0, to want to feast at every table, to want to cast his shadow
‘over every land? I don’t know what they are: some Folks call them devils
(doers of evil). I don’t know if this is an adequate description. Ie goes
much deeper. From their footprints I see that they are descendants of
Pichecanchropus erectus like ourselves, but here the similarity ends. I
refuse o compare myself wich a man who for one truth will tell ninety-
nine lies: with a vampire who cannot stand in the sun and do a day’s
‘work: and with someone who thrives upon the blood, sweat, and tears
‘of any who fall within his power. Bue doomsday is dawning: on this
‘most awesome day all imbalances and contradictions must be resolved,
and it will be some of us who will be left to rebuild this world and
people these lands with civil men.

George

MARCH, 1967

Dear Mother,

I guess Robert told you what happened to me here. My comrades have
prevailed upon me to desist for a time, but I must decide for myself. In
any event I won't lose my head. This isa terrible price to pay just co stay
alive, or I should say just to exist: [have never really lived,

PART ONE. 87
You know I have grown very, very tired of talking, and listening to
talk. King and his kind have betrayed our bosom interests with their
demagogic delirium. The poor fool knows nothing of the antagonist’s
true nature and has not the perception to read and learn by history
and past events, In a nonviolent movement there must be a latent
threat of eruption, a dormant possibility of sudden and violent action
if concessions are to be won, respect gained, and the established order
altered. That nonviolent theory is practicable in civilized lands among
civilized people, the Asians and Africans, but a look at European
history shows that anything of great value that ever changed hands was
taken by force of arms.

I cannot lee my feelings become involved. I must not fall victim to a
play of emotions, because it would limit my ability to actin my defense,

You know the world. The depressed peoples of the world are very
shortly going to grow tired of being wooed and lulled into passivity
and quiet endurance by chromium and neon lights. The soft music
from the many well-placed public-address loudspeakers and car radios
will no longer serve as balm to the thwarted hopes, defeated aims, and
brutal suppression of needed change. They'll come out of their coma
with a bloodlust and justified indignation for social injustice that will
sweep the asphalt right from under the empire builders. This is the
only reason I hang on. I want to be in the vanguard.

My cell partner puts i this way: “Every sickness ain't death, every
‘good-bye ain’t gone, and every big man ain't strong.” I say: “Let Rome
in Tiber mele, and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall” and “The
jungle is still the jungle be it composed of trees or skyscrapers, and the
law of che jungle is bite or be bitten,

Take cate.
Son

MARCH, 1967 26
Dear Mama,

Papa!” has had the “true release, and at last the clasp of peace.” For him
to have received this at such a great age and without violence is no

12 George Davis, che author's grandfather

88 SOLEDAD BROTHER
small consolation. [loved him dearly and thoughe of him as one of our
‘most practical and level-headed kin. You probably don't remember the
ong walks and talks Papa and I used to take, or the long visits when he
lived on Lake Street and we lived on Warren. But I remember. He used
to say things, probably just thinking aloud, sure that I wasn’t listening
‘or would not comprehend. But I did, and I chink I knew him beccer
than most. Do you remember how I used to answer “What” to every
question put to me, and how Papa would deride me for this? He later
in the course of our exchanges taught me to answer questions with
“Why” instead of “What.” Another of our games helped me greatly
with my powers of observation, When we would walk, he told me to
always look at the large signboards as deeply as possible and after we
hhad passed one, he would make me recite all chae was on it. I would
never remember as much detail as he, but I did win a kind word or two
‘on occasion. We played this same game at his house with piccures and
‘objects spread out on the table or bed.

I wish he could have survived to sce and enjoy the new world we plan
to create from this chaos. If could have gotten out of here last year he
‘would never have gone out on sardines and crackers. I don't know how
anyone else views the matter and don’t care, but now for me his is one
more voice added to the already thunderous chorus that ery from their
unmarked and unhallowed graves for vindication.

Don't wait for me to change or modify my attitudes in the least. I
cannot understand, as you putt, or as you would have me understand.
Tama man, you area woman. Beinga woman, you may expect to be and
enjoy being tyrannized. Perhaps you actually like walking at the heel
‘of another, or otherwise placing yourself beneath another, but for me
this is despicable. I refuse to even attempt to understand why I should
debase myself or concede or compromise any part, the smallest part,
‘of anything on earth to anyone who is not of my kind in thought and
form.

T love you, Mama, but I must be frank. Why did Papa die alone and
hungry? Why did you think me insane for wanting a new bicycle
instead of the old one I stole piece by piece and put together? Why
did you allow us to worship ata white altar? Why even now, following
tragedy after tragedy, crisis after crisis, do you still send Jon to that
school where he is taughe co feel inferior, and why do you continue to
send me Easter cards? This is the height of disrespect you show me.
You never wanted me to be a man nor Jon either. You don't wane us

PART ONE. 89
to resist and defeat our enemies. What is wrong with you, Mama? No
‘other mama in history has acted the way you ace under stress situations.
won't be a good boy ever.

Love,
George

MARCH, 1967 26

Dear Robert,
‘Why, my friend, did Papa go out alone and hungry. Did Frances and
Mama ever talk to you of his condition when they returned from Illinois
last year. Was it ever put to him that he could stay with you people and
cat when you ate and fast when you fasted, I wonder? “When poverty
‘comes in atthe door, love fies out of the window.”

Can you see the division among us and its effect? This is our greatest
obstacle. I sometimes wonder how this will turn out. Before we can
ever effectively face down the foe, we must have had long since learned
to share, crust, communicate, and live harmoniously with each other.
Our new state governor has decreed that the daily food allowance
for each convier be cut exactly in half. We get almost no “grade one”
protein now. Stuff like eggs. meat, and milk products is seldom seen
now. So my experiments in self-discipline are now paying off. Everyone
else is hungry now, while I feel nothing. And this is just the beginning:
the reactionary, repressive forces presently at work will bring things to
such a isis soon that Baldwin's warning of “The fire next time” must
soon be borne out with all is sinister accompaniments.

‘Take care of yourself, Pop. Comfort Mom as well as you can and tell
her I'mall right, healehy, happy, content. Of course, this isa lie, but she
likes to be lied to.

George

MARCH, 1967 27

Dear Mama,
Please don't take what I expressed in my last letcer too seriously. I was
feeling extremely bad. Try to relax: the mental depression you are
presently gripped by comes from a very common cause, particularly

0 SOLEDAD BROTHER
amongus lacks herein the US. Asa defense, we lookat life through our
rose-colored glasses, rationalizing and pretending that things are not so
bad afterall, but then day after day — tragedy after tragedy strikes and
confuses us, and our pretense fails to aid or dispel the nagging feeling
that we cannot have security in an insecure society, especially when
‘one belongs to an insecure caste within this larger society. I believe
sincerely that you will be a very unhappy and perplexed woman for as
Jongas you try to pretend that you have anything in common with this
culture, or better, that this culture has anything in common with you,
and as long as you pretend that there is no difference between men,
and as long as you try to be more English than the English, while the
English ignore your attempts and use your humility to their advantage.
I suggest no action, no physical action that is for [know you have never
been a woman of action, but I do suggest that you purge your mind
little by little of some of your Western notions. Direct your nervous
animosity at the right people and their system, and stop. for your
‘own sake please stop blaming yourself. Ifyou were, right now, walking
toward your kitchen with the whole family’s life savings in your hand,
ler say, and I sneaked up behind you and pulled the rug from under
youand you fell and broke your arm, leg. nose, and the money flew into
the burning fireplace, would you get up blaming me for pulling the rug.
‘or would you just lay there and blame yourself and pretend that you
didn’t really fall, or that the whole thing made no difference anyway?
The analogy is perfect.

Do you know who I blame for what has happened to me the last 25
years, and before to my ancestors? I would be narrow-minded indeed
if I blamed any of you, my folks. I don’t blame you for not teaching
me how to get what I wanted without getting put in jail, nor do I
blame myself. I was born knowing nothing and am a product of my
total surroundings. I blame the capitalistic dog, the imperialistic,
cave-dwelling brute that kidnapped us, pulled the rug from under us,
made us a caste within his society with no vertical economic mobility.
‘As soon as all this became clear to me and I developed the nerve to
admit it to myself, that we were defeated in war and are now captives,
slaves or actually that we inherited a neoslave existence, I immediately
became relaxed, always expecting the worst, and started working on
the remedy. Can you play chess? Ie relaxes, builds foresight, alertness,
concentration, and judgment. Learn, so we can play next year.

George

PART ONE. 91
MAY, 19679

Dear Robert,
‘That's great about the classes. You passed the exams pretty easy, didn't
your Ie’s wonderful to have a pop with brains. I was approved for a
transfer, but itis not official yet. When i is T'll inform you of the
denals.

T've been getting a lot of work done lately. My mind is fast becoming
clear and I am slowly harnessing my emotions, I can go days without
speaking a word. With che pursuie of food and shelter relegated to the
state, [ have been able to channel all my thoughts to important chings,
significanc things, So I attempe co bend this experience to our benefit
rather than let them weaken and destroy me, as they would like. You
are aware that these places, this one in particular, will ether bring out
the best in an individual or ruin him entirely. Wherever they send
me, Robert, I will try as hard as my character will alow to avoid all
involvement in those situations that lead to trouble. But I ean promise
nothing, the fuure holds no surprises for me. I expect anything,
including trouble, especially trouble, considering the times. I have
adopted, these last several months, a new attitude, however, that will
limi the scope of my troubles.

Take care of yourself.
George

MAY, 1967 16

Dear Robert,
That is good reasoning concerning the school issue. It was a wise
decision in every way you look at it. The other way (catholic school)
you pay more for less education, plus they make emotional pansies of
the boys with that sanctimonious dogma. Dear Pop, I'm not ust talking
for the sake of talking. Iam deeply concerned for Jon and youall. Much
thought goes into all I attempt to convey. Whenever a man builds an
image of himself and of his surroundings that he cannot live up to and
that does nor conform to the de facto situation, the end result must
be confusion and emotional breakdown. If my instructor tells me that
the world and ies affairs are run as well as they possibly can be, that
Tam governed by wise and judicious men, that I am free and should
be happy, and if when I leave the instructor’ presence and encounter

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER
the exact opposite, if I actually sense or see confusion, war, inflation,
recession, depression, death, and decay, is it not reasonable that I
should become perplexed? If my instructor tells me thae sex is evil, bad,
base, and I happen to like sex, is it not reasonable to assume that I will
develop mixed emotions concerning sex? If this instructor relates to me
that sex is bad, thinking of itis lustful, and Lust isa sign of my moral
decay, what opinion will I have of myself? This is what they will do
to Jon at thar catholic school. But that is just part of it. He will also
learn that J.C. was white, which isa lie. That the Egyptians were white,
which isa lie, Thae the people of India are white under their black skin.
‘That Chinese are yellow, when they range from brown to the blackest
black. He will get a lot of this misinformation in public school too,
bur not nearly as much, With a little effort after school from you this
can be corrected. Tell him that these men don't always tell che truth,
Make him read histories by Ronald Segal, Du Bois, etc. Make him read
the pro-Eastern writers, so that he will have a good cross section of
all there is to be heard. Show him how to masturbate, and explain to
hhim that making love with a woman is the most natural ching on earth,
Explain how he can do so without getting the gir! pregnane. Tell him
that “there is no hell, no heaven, and no immortality, and chat all things
are permissible? as long as the next man’s feelings are considered.

None of those at home who contest you in your judgment know neatly
as much about life as you. So you must be firm and decisive. None of
the Western European cultures know anything about philosophy (love
‘of knowledge). They know nothing of the proper way that men should
carry on their relations with other men, Proof of this — who originated
the passport laws, tariff laws, atom bomb, competitive enterprise, ete.
«exc. They only excel in one area, technology. So let Jon learn chemistry
at school. You give him his economies, history, and philosophy at
home!

George

MAY, 1967 21

Dear Robert,
Penny was here again last week. She has taught the little guy how co
say Uncle George. So “Uncle George” was ringing the length of the
visiting hall for a couple of hours. However, I was less than pleased. I
tried co get him to change it to “Comrade George.” but he didn’t seem

PART ONE. 93
to understand. Uncle George is too much like Uncle Tom and Uncle
Ben (of rice-box fame) for comfort!

I erust you are well. Iam holding off the ill effects of the concentration
‘camp as best I can, Ie seems a losing battle, however. I've had to take to
‘wearing glasses of considerable strength due to failure of my eyesight.
Living in chis constant half-light, I guess. When you told me a while
back of Frances’ serious eye problem, I resolved upon my release to have
‘one of mine transplanted into her head. But this will no longer be any
bargain for her.

Ihave been having trouble with my eyes for a year. When I finally was
able to maneuver an eye test, I was surprised at the amount of money
they took from my account (money thae you have sent me that I have
not used yet). I was even more surprised when I finally got the glasses
two months later with their strength and how much they improved my

Speaking of money and accounts, Pop, I'm flush for now, by flush I
mean I have stocked up on envelopes and toothpaste, I've come to
realize that I don’t need much to eat to stay alive and I don't smoke,
T can get fat on what the average man may starve on. So the money
you have been sending me can be put t0 use at home there, your
books, or perhaps something for Jon, he also needs supplementary
reading material. Iam sorry that you and Mama don't make each other
happy. European-Anglo-American brainwashing is at the bottom of
it. Those empry pscudo-middle-class ideas that we have adopted from
the opposition make us unhappy in the same way the middle class
itself is unhappy. Then too when poverty comes in at the door, loves
leaves by the window. We all know who has caused our poverty. I have
experienced the same thing with women and men. All che women
ve had tried co use me, tried to secure through me a soft spor in this
cutthroat system for themselves. All they ever wanted was clothes and
money and to be taken out to flash these things. Ino longer have time
for such small ideas or small people. Blacks that I've met here who
exhibit such characteristics I disdain and ignore. The same with any
‘woman I may have when I get out. She must let me retrain her mind
oro deal.

George

on SOLEDAD BROTHER
MAY, 1967 28

Dear Robert,
ve been a good boy lately, kind, polite, forgiving. Don’t know if it
will do any good though since people invariably mistake kindness for
weakness, I really cannot imagine how anyone can stay detached and
complacent for any period of time and still maintain social contacts
‘on any level. Ie no longer surprises me, but I still find the general
acceptance and widespread practice of the more deranged products of
‘Western culeure disturbing, Prying, nosy, schizophrenic, domineering,
psychoneurotie people press you from all sides. They remain in a
continual state of agitation, always on the brink of doing something
maniacal! Capitalism, 1 believe, the capitalizing on the next man’s
labor, on the next man’s weakness, has contributed greatly to the
development of the anomalous “Western man’: capitalism, competitive
‘enterprise, man competing against man for the necessary things, for
status symbols, for power to repress his competitors and secure his
personal well-being to exercise his ego, his fancy. Ijust cannot get used
of the idea of some petty, stereotyped, bureaucratic official, patently
suffering from some mental disorder, asking me questions, calling on
me to explain myself. [vis odd, and ironical, the trickery and turnabout
that has gone down these last few generations.

Chew on this a few moments: a colonizer, a usurer, the original thief,
‘a murderer for personal gain, a kidnapper-slaver, a maker of cannon,
‘bombs, and poison gas, an egocentric parasite, the original fork tongue,
the odd man is trying to convey to us that we must adjust ourselves to
his warp, that we must learn to be more like him, thae because we're
not we're backward, underdeveloped, unsophisticated! This is strange
and contradictory.

1 am deeply sorry that I ever told a lie, stole anything robbed and
cheated at anything — mainly because itis so much like conforming
to Western ways. To all appearances they are upset with me for doing
these things. That privilege is supposed to be reserved for them I guess.
So whae do they mean by saying that we must get in with them, be
like them, adopt capitalism, clothe ourselves in Western ways? This
is a strange and contradictory thing. If we the colored and black of
the world adope capitalism where would we have to seek our colonies,
Europe, the US.2! Who would we capitalize on if we used their history
as a pattern? Them I should say!! Who would we kidnap, murder,
lynch, enslave, and then neglect!! So what do they mean by saying, "Do

PART ONE. 95
as do"? Idon’t think, well Iknow that they are not serious, not sincere.
I think they are employing another trick, a ploy to further confuse us
and use us, I think what they mean is not "Do as I do” but “Do as I
say"! In the 1770s the Europeans over here wanted to pull away from
the Europeans of England. They called ica freedom fight. Now we men
‘of color here in the U.S. want to pull away from these Europeans and
they call ie subversion, irresponsibility, ete. I don’t even speak to them
anymore. I go my way and hope to be lefe alone.

George

JULY, 1967 13

Dear Robert,
I'm in regular adjustment center — segregation again. They have let
ime have my personal property, books, toilet articles, envelopes, that is
‘minus 90 percent of it. It happens every time I transfer from one part
of the prison to another oF go to isolation, my stuff gets ripped off. I
get robbed. I'm sure it wasn't the officials. They are such nice, efficient
people, so I won't complain here with my pencil. I'll need a few dollars
to replace the necessary things (envelopes, dictionary, etc), when you
can afford it.

Your physical appearance hasn't changed at all over the years, Pop.
Clean living has preserved you marvelously. Do you ever drink any
alcoholic beverages? I have never known you to, but that doesn't mean
that you don’t, How much sleep do you average a day? Perhaps I won't
live to be as old as you ate, but if I do I won't look as good. The loose
skin on my face is already starting to wrinkle, and strange as it seems,
Trend toward obesity if I eat certain foods. I must have picked that up
from Mama, How is she? Tell her I'm going to be a good boy from now
until Ican get our of here.

I worry about Penny, does she know that she can come home if the
circumstance make it necessary? She respects you for what you have
done for usandaccepts youas youare,So doll, Pop. [recall hat younever
hhad more than one suit or two pairs of shoes all chroughout the early
years. I never remember you having a moment's personal gratification
during those years. No one believes me when I tell chem you never
‘went to a nightclub or finger-poppers’ party during the twenty years
that I remember. I don’t think any other man in the US. would have

96 SOLEDAD BROTHER
reacted as you did concerning that incident with the Hudson car, fixing
iewith your hands and driving it for five years in that condition. False
pride would have forced anyone else into radical and uneconomic acts
I fele real bad about that, but I didn’t understand life then as I do now.
I'm deeply sorry for the weak, silly transgressions of my past, and I'm
sorry that I won't be able to conduct my relations with the world as
you would have me conduct chem. I see the big picture where you may
never have. I think I see the larger historical concept in its Full detail,
‘The obligation you felt toward us, I feel toward history. I must follow
iy call. I is of great importance to me that you understand this and
sgive me your blessings. I don’t care about anyone else. I don’t feel I must
explain myself or be understood by anyone else on earth,

George

JULY, 1967 15

My Friend,
I got your letter of June 5. I have it here before me, I told Les to
cooperate with your efforts for me. I sure do need some of the benefits
‘of togetherness now. As I explained I am in adjustment center here for
an undefined amount of time.

Les speaks of me coming home with optimism, but I would benefit
largely from a transfer. No one, among the officials that i, ever calls
me out of my cell anymore to speak with me of my progeess or my
fucure. I’m just locked down and forgotten. Can a lawyer do anything
about getting me a transfer? He would have to go through Sacramento.
‘The justification for such action is obvious: I cannot adjust here, the
officials have preconceived notions about my behavioral patterns
and consequently look for the worst in me. The atmosphere here is
aggressive, and I'm too far away from home. I cannot get regular visits
and thus miss the beneficial influence of you and my parents,

My friend, my thinking has changed somewhat since I saw you last,
‘That fellow who sent pictures of his Cadillac auto up here ean explain
some of the workings and progress of my thoughts. I hope he doesn’t
betray himself with chat fast living I hear he is doing. Seems he has
learned nothing from bicer experience! I have trained away, pressed
‘out forever the last of my Western habits. You remember I never got
intoxicated or spent any money or time on trifles, but in the passing

PART ONE. 7
of these last couple of years, I have completely retrained myself and
my thinking to the point now that I think and dream of one thing
only, 24 hours of each day. I have no habits, no ego, no name, no face.
I feel no love, no tenderness, for anyone who does not think as I do,
‘There can be no ties of blood or kinship strong enough to move me
from my course. I'l never, never trade my self-determination for a car,
cheap mass-produced clothes, clapboard house, or a couple of nights a
week at the go-go. Control over the circumstances that surround my
cexistenceiis ofthe first importance to me. Without this control, or with
control in someone else’s hands, I am forever insecure, subject at all
times to the whim and caprice of the man in control, and you and I
know how whimsical some men can be. Well, Pop, I'll be going outside
to court the seventh of August to testify for a friend. I'l geca glimpse
of the world at large, ifyou can call San Rafael the world a large.

Thope you are doing well. Lwould have written before now but I wasin
isolation up until che eleventh of this month, as you know.

Do you have time to read? I'll suggest some books if so, next letter,
Take cate.

George

JULY, 1967 19

Dear Robert,
Iwrote you letter about two weeks ago. Iwas returned to me today. It
never got out of the institution. Received your letcer of the 15th today,
no change here. I have that address I asked you for. I got it through
other channels. I was spelling and pronouncing the name wrong. Tell
A.A. to get busy and make my woman start writing. A visit every now
and then would be nice also. Tell him to send me her new address that
Imay send hera correspondence form. You don't know her, but he will,

Penny has not been up to see me since you came, no letter either, hope
she is all right. Locked up 24 hours a day now. Ie’ all right, hough —
gives me plenty of time at my work. My cell faces north, and there isa
‘window in front of it. Plenty of fresh air comes into my cell.

George

98 SOLEDAD BROTHER
JULY, 1967 23

Dear Robert,
I feel relieved to know that you ate taking Jon out of eatholie school,
Man, falling under the conservative influence of those admen and fakes
was the worst thing that ever happened to me. How could you have
ever allowed it. Ie was Mama’ idea bue you should never have let her
sellitco you.

I remember Chicago all right, in fact I remember too much. I was very
much confused and dissatisfied during chose years. They had much
to do with the development of my character. I've had to unlearn and
reexamine all that I experienced in those years. But what you were
really referring to was how it stayed hot all night, with people sleeping
‘on the beaches and such.

I remember the garage roof where I was virtually held prisoner
sometimes, there at North Racine Street. Iti eriminal co do that to a
child. And no parks near enough to go to, no yard frone or back to play
with the neighbors’ kids, no neighbors really except the ones on Lake
Street. I remember glimpses of our place over there on Lake also. This
is a dog's life, Pop, you had nothing then. You have worked hard, hard,
and obeyed the laws of our masters but you still have nothing. Is i idle
dreaming for me to want an end to something like this?

I wrote Mama three letters three months ago. She didn’t answer or
acknowledge any. I owe her loyalty just for being my mother, but she is
adult and I never baby adults. She resents me because I won't accept her
views on method and means of getting by in this rat race. She once told
me that I had a complex that made me view the world as I do. In so many
‘words she was telling me thae I shouldn't be complexed about being of
the lowest social clas or in our case caste. She was saying that I should
be indifferent about being used and abused like a goat or milk cow or
something, I understand her and all black women over here. Women
like to be dominated, love being strong-armed, need an overseer to
supplement their weakness. So how could she really understand my
feelings on self-determination. For this reason we should never allow
‘women to express any opinions on the subject, but just to sit, listen to
us, and attempt to understand. It is for them to obey and aid us, not to
actempt co think.

George

PART ONE. 99
JULY, 1967 28

Dear Georgia,
For me, the word “soul” has yet to be properly defined. I have seen or
felt no evidence of its existence. I have heard the word and listened to
the theory connected with it, but ie is abstract and academic at best,
‘The theory of an existing and benevolent god simply doesn’t make
sense to anyone who is rational. A benevolent and omnipotent god
‘would never allow such imbalances as I see to exist for one second. IF
by chance I am wrong, however, I must then assume that being born
black called for some automatic punishment for sins I know nothing
about, and being innocent it behooves me to defy god. I seriously fail
to understand when someone speaks of my soul, bue I do know what
my body needs. know what my mind incessantly craves. Gratification
ofthese is what I must pursue. As a woman I can understand your being
naturally disposed to servitude. Ican understand your feelings but what
can’t understand is why you would have me feel the same, considering
that Lam a man, Why have you always attempted to implant womanly
ideas into my character. Of course itis your option to do as you please,
bur please don’t feel thae I love you less simply because [fail to respond,
or feel that I love you any less because I do not have time to explain
myself

Love has never turned aside the boot, blade, or bullet. Neither has it
‘ever satisfied my hunger of body or mind. The author of my hunger, the
architect of the ciscumstantial pressures which are the sole cause of my
ills will find no peace, inthis existence or the next, or the one following
that: never, never. I'll dog his trail to infinity. I hope I never will feel
ve love forthe thing that causes insufferable pain. What I do feel isthe
urge to resist, resist, and never stop resisting or even think of stopping
my resistance until victory falls ro me. Extreme, perhaps, bue involved
is my self-determination, and control of the environment upon which
my existence depends, and the existence of my father, mother, Delora’s
and Penny’s sons, and all chat I feel tied to. We are in an extreme
situation. I didn’t exeate this impasse. I had nothing to do with the
arrival of matters at this destructive end, as you infer. Did I colonize,
kidnap, make war on myself, destroy my own institutions, enslave
myself, use myself, and neglect myself, steal my identity and then,
being reduced to nothing, invent a competitive economy knowing that
I cannot compete? Sounds very foolish, but this is what you propose
when you place the blame on me or on “us.” It was a fool who created

100 SOLEDAD BROTHER
this monster, one unaccustomed to power and its use, a foolish man
‘grown heady with power and made drunk, dizzy drunk from the hot
air that inflates his ego. Iam his victim, born innocent, a total product
‘of my surroundings. Everything that I am, I developed into because of
circumstantial and sicuational pressures. I was born knowing nothing:
necessity and environment formed me, and everyone like me. Please
accord me at least the social morality chat springs from its contorted
brain center. 'm through with weakness and cowardice. I've trained it
‘out, Let come what comes. I can never delude myself into thinking that
Tove my enemies. I can hardly do any worse than Iam doing now: if
‘worst comes to worst chat’ al right, I'll just continue the fight in hell,

George

AUGUST, 1967 10

Dear Robert,
‘Things are looking up, I have a promise on my injured leg, should be
seeing about it anytime now. I'm in pretty good shape and it won't kill
me, Good move you made on your way out. I could never say anything
like that for myself. No one would believe me. Doing good, minding
my business, won't let you down. Delora is quite handsome, you know
that was the first rime I'd seen her in seven years. There are three ways
to enforce and build discipline in a child: through terror, through
guile, and through shame. The first principle isthe worst and involves
keeping the child in constant fear of beating or harsh reprimand. This
is not conducive to all-round adjustment. Either the child becomes a
confirmed coward or at best unstable and erratic. A child with feelings
of insecurity (lack of confidence) may later on try to prove himself
by deliberately doing things against what he has been taught is right.
‘Think on that a moment! Then the guile concept: i¢ finds expression
in convincing the child that he will suffer god's wrath (religion) or be
looked upon as a fool, knucklehead, buffoon, or evil and maligned
person by the rest of mankind. This is not good in that it causes the
child co be too dependent. He cannot develop or become creative for
fear of disapproval from on high. Then, what man can live up to the
expectations of god. Then there are those amongus who cannot live up
to the expectations of other men, society. What happens to the child
who cannot live up to gods or man’s expectations, the child trained or
disciplined through guilt feelings. His confidence is forever destroyed
and he becomes the ubiquitous temporizer, the listless apathetic.

PART ONE. 101
‘The last principle is the only one worthy of intelligent parents: shame.
Ifa child does nor react in the proper way and carry out his ducies
toward parents and peers he should be taught to feel shame or lose
face as the Eastern people call it. The child feels that he has let himself
down when he fails to do the proper thing. Only constant and calm,
rational reproof can cause this Feeling in a kid, In other words, it takes
brains and persistence on the pare of the parent to shape the child's
thinking, Ie should be clear that becoming frantic and beside oneself,
beating and cussing is going to give the child a new experience and
leave an impression that may not be wholesome. Felix Greene wrote
that in all the time he spent in a certain country in the East he never
saw a child throw a tantrum, He asked one of the social workers there
about it, describing the features of a childish tantrum. The Eastern
social worker's shocked expression and complete ignorance of any such
things happening to the children caused Greene to investigate further
and deduce that they don't go through emotional breakdowns "because
they have no precedents from their parents.” Take care

George

AUGUST, 1967 26

Dear Robert,
‘The paper started one week ago, Saturday. Everything is all right. I'l
do as you say about the patience. Perhaps I expect too much from
people. Hospital and X rays any day now. I expect help from certain
people only, bue I'l ake your advice and look no more. OF course this
doesn't mean that I am going co stop helping others as much as T can,
T'll continue to give as good an example of how we should treat each
other as I can, but as you indicate I shouldn't expect this to influence
anyone else to treat me similarly.

Take care of yourself.
George
SEPTEMBER, 1967 1
Dear Robert,

Jon is about the same age as I was when we first moved out here. I
remember well my attitudes and confusion at that time, He can't be too

102 SOLEDAD BROTHER
much different since our development was forced along similar lines.
Of course he has had a slightly better chance or atmosphere to build
the things necessary for the changeover from man-child to man. That
school Mama was sending him to did him great harm but not irreparable
hharm since in his case you were on the job after school sowing pride and
knowledge of self and kind, and explaining the promise and problems
in acquiring self-decermination and control overall che circumstances
surrounding our existence. Of course you have been explaining that
this control must never be allowed to remain in the hands of strangers
‘or incompetents, ete, So I hope he is not as awed and confused as I was
then. Give him my regards. Tell him I said he is charged to take good
care of his mother and sisters, that since he has grown so big and strong
so soon, he should brace himself to his duties early. Tell him that I said
that life is serious and we must be careful, one misstep can cause us
“years of regeet and grief, and sorrow without relief”

Take care of yourself.
George

SEPTEMBER, 1967 12

Dear Robert,
Tam doing well, no new problems. Please say nothing else about the
leg to anyone. You could cause me trouble. I'l live. I stay in reasonably
‘good condition just for occasions like this. I can see about it if I get
four next year. You should know about protesting wich che mouth,
Te never avails us anything but grief. Ino longer do so in any form,
for ic indicates naiveté. It means that subconsciously one may still be
looking for justice or humaniey from places that we have ample proof,
of ie not existing, I worry about Penny and I would like to see her there
with you. I have not seen or heard from her since you were here last.
Perhaps she feels she doesn’t need or want any of us. Have you heard
from her? Perhaps it’s my fault. I push people away by expecting too
much of them. I probably used the wrong presentation with her and
frightened her. Or she may not care to hear about clean living and
high ideals. People tend to run like hell at the mention of sacrifice and
responsibility. Give everyone my regards and take care of yourself.

George

PART ONE. 103
SEPTEMBER, 1967 14

Dear Mama,
Thope this year’s birthday finds you well. I would like to be able to
give you things, and take you places, but I've been unfortunate, and
slow learning, But I have learned well. Pethaps next year I'll be able to
give you a villa in Tanzania. I'm fine; my work progresses well. Seems
that all I've predicted is now coming true, though, much sooner than I
thought, I must admit.

Take care of yourself.
George

SEPTEMBER, 1967 24

Dear Robert,
Received your letter. All is well here. You have everyone back there
with you except Delora now. That is good in a way. You have another
chance to teach them how to live, arrange their values and attitudes
so that they correspond with our situation, our aspirations, our newly
reestablished identity. Penny expressed the chought to me that since
you do not have much to say around there, you don’t care much about
them and theie litle problems, She expressed the feelings of all those
there who do nor understand you in saying this. Women and children
enjoy and need a strong hand poised above them. They need direction
and someone to show concern for them and you may have to make your
presence felt there, a litle anyway. OF course I'm not talking about
being cyrant, but just some rational, moderate, but persistent pressure
to the left. I imagine I'll really be able to get down to fighting weight
now. [cold you what happened to the noon meal. I really don't miss it
though.

Take care of yourself.
George

SEPTEMBER, 1967 30
Dear Robert,
Getting plenty of work done. How is your scholastic project going? Are

you still attending the night classes? I choughe that was a wonderful
idea. Speed reading and vocabulary power are Foremost in elevating the

104 SOLEDAD BROTHER
mind. They can be worked on in spare time, ten or ewenty minutes a
day. I consistently work on both: especially vocabulary, out of small
paperback pocketbooks sold in the canteen and in the prison bookstore,
But since I have much more study time than you, I go one hour or so
‘on each daily. There are dozens of these little books published today.
Every time I seea different one I try to make it part of my collection.

‘Are you well, my friend? I am getting thin as a rail, feel all right,
however. Give my regards to Jon and Penny.

Take care of yourself.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 3

Dear Georgia,
‘A thank-you note for money and letter. I ean always use money, but
discharge your obligations at home first. [ can do without. If I were
you, I would treat Pop a little better. He has been pretty good to usall,
‘when one considers the shocks and strains he has had to live with. As
a woman, you just do not (and I guess never will) understand what it
means to be a man in this particular situation here in the US. Women
just don’t suffer the mental mortification of defeat and emasculation
that we men do, Robert has lived with it for many years, erying to
rationalize i, justify it, pretend that it does not affect him, bue it has
affected him very deeply. Imagine how he must feel when his woman
‘won't even let him run the house. For you to ust outright countermand
his wishes on a matter concerning the education of his son must be a
Dieter dose for him to swallow indeed. After what he must accept from
the outside world everyday of his life, o come to his home and also be
made to carry water and cut wood and take orders is adding insult co
injury.

‘Though you may not see much evidence of it, Robert still harbors
the desire to be a man and assert himself. He is not completely dead
inside. The years and years of regeet and grief, discomfort, and defeat
he has endured since the depression years of his childhood, all the
forgetting and pretending and check-turning he has had to do, cannot
be denied. Ie lives with him, still jammed back in the dark corners
of his mind. I've seen it, Georgia, believe me, I've seen it in him and
in many others of his generation. One day in the near future these

PART ONE. 105
feelings of mass discontent must break their bounds. Ie’ just as natural
and predictable as the sunrise. I am ready now. When they are ready,
nothing, nothing will be able to countervail our march to victory. In
Jon’s case itis simply a matcer of what we need most and how can he be
best equipped to survive the crisis that now grips us. I think we need
tough, well-informed, and loyal additions to the ibe. Can he develop
these characteristics at this terrible place you advocate? You have been
living in the big city now for 25 years. Itis almost unbelievable that you
have not discovered that the guys who willbe training him there are 90
percent sex deviates (homosexuals, etc.) and 10 percent free-loading
incompetents who couldn'e get food and shelter any other way. I would
never make a charge like this unless I had firsthand evidence. I hope
that you were merely ignorant of these things. I hope that you have
not intentionally sold out Jon's bosom interests. Robert has sheltered
you from the world co some extent. You have not come in contact with
things he sees daily so let him have some say.

George

OCTOBER, 1967 11

Dear Robert,
I received the letcer with the money in itall right, hank you. I'm going
pretty good here, no problems, no new ones anyway. I went before a
formal two-man review committee here recently. They gave me at least
four more months to do here in the adjustment center. I guess we can
call this improvement of a sort since I’m usually told nothing. You say
Jon is having trouble wich math. And chat you feel i's just a matter of
his secling down co his work. I wondered when you mentioned this just
‘what it was thats keeping him from his studies. How does he spend his
time? Is there anyone there to help him with his studies? Of course, you
that all he has to do is apply himself co his work. At chis stage
of the schooling structure, nothing is really difficult. Math is never
difficult, since its laws are positive. All that needs to be done is take the
necessary time and learn the formulas and principles. OF course, if too
much time is spent in class on religious matters, the teacher is at fault,
not the student. In fact ifany time is spent on religious matters during
the school hours the student is being cheated.

Take care of yourself.
George

106 SOLEDAD BROTHER
OCTOBER, 1967 17

Dear Robert,
‘The time sipsaway from me. 'm surrounded here by fools, degenerates,
and phonies. I suffer a constant bombardment of nonsense from all
sides. There is no rest from it even at night. Twenty-four hours a day
all my senses must endure the shock of this attack from the lunatic
fringe. So I insert my earplugs, and bury myself in my thoughts and
my work. The days, even the weeks lapse one into the other, endlessly
into one another. Each day that comes and goes is exactly like the one
that went before. If am lax in my duties toward you, Forgive me. I am
living under strain. I am sorry to hear about your friend. The same
hhas happened co some of mine here. I think I know how you feel:
however, I try to chink of those things as releases. How was my leccer
to Jon received? Mama may have torn it up. If Jon wants to go to the
trouble of framing those parts that trouble him into a letter, I have a
fair understanding of math, No new problems here. Just waiting it out,
‘Time is on my side. I'm twenty-six now, and I'll be ewenty-six when I
leave here. Be it 40 years from today.

Take care.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 18

Dear Robert,
How is Penny and the little guy? I guess I miss them quite a bie. What
a difference their presence makes here. My language studies are coming
along well. I guess ifI don’t get out before January — and i's not very
likely chat I will — I'll go into Arabic next. With four languages plus
English I'll be able to communicate with three-fourths of the people
‘on earth. I am presently working on Spanish and Swahili. Spanish is
spoken by most peoples from Mexico to Chile in what is the fastest
‘growing population area in the world. Swahili is spoken by all of eastern
‘Africa I may find communication with these peoples important in my
work. All that remains is for me to learn Arabic and Chinese, Perhaps
T'll sare on these two next year, I've done well with the Spanish.

I trust you are well. Don’t work yourself too hard. You cannot get

rich on wages. I have had no response from Jon to my last two letters
‘What's happening? Has he forgotten his brother; it has been a long

PART ONE. 107
time, He was just a baby when first I came here to the concentration
camp. Its been seven years, one month now.

Take care of yourself.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 24

Dear Robert,
T'llbe considered for transfer again this week, they'll probably approve
Folsom for me this time. It is a maximum security prison like this, so
there will be no change in my fortunes. One prison is like the other,
‘except pethaps the minimum security places in the southern part ofthe
state where they have a less aggressive atmosphere where if one can get
around the local constabulary, che chances for parole are greater. That
is pare of the reason that the guy who was arrested with me went home
four years ago and I am still here. Right before I was forced into that
situation in Soledad and sent here, he was sent to Chino, But his Folks
hhad money to pass around.

No new problems here, the same old chings. I'm getting plenty of work
done with my time, I am not trying to lose weight, I’m not eating as I
should, bue we discussed that before. You forget things too fast. But
maybe that is good. I'm not sure. Perhaps if I could forget, I could
hhave some peace of mind. But I don't forget anything, wounds scar my
mind much worse than they sear my body. Bue I don't let such things as
food, warmth, comfort, and lack of material things cause me any great
distress. I'm doing as well as I can expect to, because I don't expect
anything. Anything good, that is

Take care of yourself.
George

OCTOBER, 1967 26

Dear Robert,
Jon tells me they have him studying Latin. I find this very depressing
No one has spoken Latin in fifteen hundred years! They are teaching
the poor kid a dead language! Wasting his precious time! His precious
talent! A great blunder is again being made regarding your offspring,
Robert.

108 SOLEDAD BROTHER
People only learn Latin these days so that they can read that thing they
call the bible in the Latin and sound mysterious. I's a lot of European
ritual, a lot of hocus-pocus from the datk ages of Europe. The time he
puts into that torally useless pursuit could be spent on math or science!

Take care.
George

NOVEMBER, 1967 2

Dear Robert,

I received both your letters today dated the twenty-ninth and thirtieth
‘True I may forget myself sometimes and I'll have to redouble my efforts
to control this. know it is wrong and I know the proper method. Ie is
the application of method that sometimes causes me trouble, Buc I'll
redouble my effort to get over this. Emotion has much to do with it,
Allof my past life has been victimized by my emotions. Ihave struggled
mightily with myself chese last couple of years in an attempt to erase all
emotion. The only method that can succeed is the clinical approach,
the analytical technique of treating our problems. Ic is said and with
some justification thatthe greatest batele is with oneself, so if can gain
‘victory here the real work shouldn't be too hard,

On the subject of injury, there is the real and the imagined. You have
made several references to the subject in the last month or two and I
hhave let chem pass. By telling me that Jon has no chip on his shoulder,
you attempred to make me feel alone and isolated in my attitudes. But
you are wrong in erying to second-guess me, because I have no chip on
my shoulder. I know che simplest way to handle an injury whether real
‘or fancied is to forget ie. I bear no one on earth any ill will, I have felt
the sting of the knout and I live in the shadow of the ovens. Iam the
object of the severest ridicule (coon, monkey, shoe, a shoe is something
to be walked on incidentally, buck, savage, and child), but even in the
face of all this I have not one chip on my shoulder. Aren't Ia uly
marvelous and forgiving person? Almost every day I have something
to forgive and forget. Perhaps most of this is fanciful and illusionary.
bur every day I have the opporcunity to practice this almost godlike
facility Uhave buile into myself, Buc then to be honest with myself, itis
not merely or solely due to strength of character that I am able to call
up just litele more forgiveness, Lalso have this thing going wich myself
about not wanting to get killed. I don't know about that getting-killed

PART ONE. 109
thing. Now it would be a great loss to me, but I feel that I could forgive
that too, Now I say this at the risk of seeming immodest but to Further
illustrate my healthy outlook on the matter in question, let me remind
you that in spite ofall Iam human and I have myself done things that
require forgiveness from others — I have transgeessed against my
fellows in moments of weakness and madness. It’s hard, my friend.
Because of my temperament its even harder. I hope I can make it.

Take care of yourself.
George

NOVEMBER, 1967 6

Dear Robert,
‘Are you well? The changes are as slow as ever here. No new problems,
however, except perhaps with my health. Ie may be failing. Headaches
all the time and a skin condition that started some time back. Look
ac that picture I sent you of me taken upon my graduation. You may
be able to see the discolored spots in my face. Well, the condition is
‘growing worse — itisall over my face now, huge discolored spots. 1look
like a leper. If you have a connection who is a dermatologist perhaps
you could pass me on some information on it. It is only on my face
now, but it is progressive. I is spreading, I'd like to know what to do
about it and what may be the cause. The cause, however, may be most
important. I've been thinking that it is probably the food. Quality and
«quantity. My knee has gone down some and is not too sore anymore. I
hope everyone there is well. Give my special regards to Penny and Jon.

Take care of yourself.
George

NOVEMBER, 1967

Dear Robert,
This last word from you in Jon’s presence convinces me that we can
never reconcile our differences. I never realized that I was a source of
‘embarrassment 0 you, I thought most blacks, especially those of our
economic level, understood, vaguely at least, that these places were
buile wich us in mind, just as were the project houses, unemployment
offices, and bible schools.

no SOLEDAD BROTHER
Perhaps later if we both live to see the outcome of all this, I will be able
to explain myself better, but for now you surely don’t need me and I
have never needed anyone. Life has failed me. People U have had a right
to expect something of, in the past, have failed me. And I fail myself
almost every day. But I suffer no lasting effects From any of this because
I derive my force and energy from no outside quarter. Your inability to
understand and suppore me puts me at a loss, but I cannot allow this
to influence my course. I must Follow my mind, There is no turning
back from awareness. If were to alter my step now I would always hace
myself I would grow old feeling that I had failed in the obligatory duty
that is ours once we become aware. I would die as most of us blacks
have died over the last few centuries, without having lived.

You have misjudged the depth of my feelings on these matters
‘They mean everything to me. If we could have found grounds for
compatibility within the framework of my ideals the purely mental
aspect of my job could have been less difficult. I anticipated failure
in this from the start, so I am not shocked or surprised now that the
last has been said and we find ourselves poles apart. I'll be all right
from here, Robert. I have the nervous equipment and I'l spend my
remaining time here checking my emotions and developing the clinical
approach. You owe me nothing. Anything you may think you owe
me I absolve you of entirely. Because we look a lot alike, because the
same blood flows in our veins, I thought we could perhaps pool our
resources, plan great things, produce some remarkable changes and
conclusions, and write a few pages of history. But I cannot see myself
as well as other people see me and pethaps you are justified in feeling
ashamed of me. The most important abutment of our relation has
disappeared: perhaps it never existed. This is certainly my loss, but I
cannot see any reason for us to communicate with each other again
from this day until such time as I can demonstrate the usefulness of my
ideals and methods. Please take care of yourself.

Respectfully,
George
DECEMBER, 1967 1
Dear Robert,

I guess there is something to be said for a person who does as he is
told, lives by the routine set up by his self-appointed bosses, ete. And

PART ONE. mn
‘of course we must learn to fight our own battles. This way we ean die
alone, one at a time. This is a very old and proven idea. It has worked
‘wonderfully up to now and that is why 1967 finds us all so secure and
well placed. My trouble is that I have expected too much of you. You're
already doing your best: what you feel is right. How can I expect more?

George

DECEMBER, 1967

Dear Robert,

mall right: no change here. They gave me a little job in here where I
am locked up but took ie back right away, I think to get a reaction, It
thas started to rain almost every day up here now and itis rather cool. It
is strange bue I think I prefer cool weather to warm.

Have you heard anything from my friend? I don’t trust many people
very far bue I have very strong feelings that this guy will not abandon
me or our ideas. Things muse be very difficul for him or he would have
hhad a lawyer up here for me by now, oF done something along that line.
Of course, we never really get to know anyone to an absolute degree,
bur I saw this guy in many different situations and he never showed
the slightest weakness or reservation or self-interest. We need people
like that. When we cannot even put confidence in them we're through,

Take care of yourself.
George

DECEMBER, 1967 13

Dear Robert,

Hope you are well. I received your note and al is normal here. No new
problems. I've got six months clean now, since June 8. Thatis not much
and surely not enough to satisfy my warders but by June of next year it
will be ewelve months clean. True!

How is Penny doing on the job? Post office isn’ ic? Tell her I miss

her and the child. Is that guy she married honoring his financial

2 SOLEDAD BROTHER
‘And Frances, are you keeping up with the movements of the guy she
tied up with. I'l be wanting to see him first thing upon my arrival
there. It’s cold up here this year but since I don’t go out directly in it
too very often it doesn't bother me much.

Frances is supposed to be angry with me because I wouldn't lecher getin
any of her silly cliches las time you brought her up here. I didn’t make
things any better either when she wrote two months later decrying my
supposed rudeness. When I explained to her that she was not supposed
to hold any opinions other than those of her menfolk, she stopped
‘writing, Tell her that I feel no ill will coward her, bue when she hears
us debating method and policy, she is supposed to be silent, listen, and
try to learn something. Penny will sit and listen and try to understand,
When she doesn’t understand she asks intelligent questions. I've
‘bummed across this country three times, seen everything eight times,
now what am I going to do with some advice from a twenty-three-year-
‘old girl who has been sheltered from the real world al her life.

Ieis terrible chat we have all been so divided. The social order is set up
so as to encourage this, the powers that be don't want any loyal loving
‘groups forming up. So they discourage it in a thousand subtle ways.
‘And as itis said, when poverty comes in the door, love leaves by the
window! Too bad! I give up! Blood is not thicker than water. I was
‘wrong ever to let my thoughts pass my lips. From now on you people's
reactionary ideals are your own. I never want to discuss anything
serious with you again, and if you don’t hear from me here too regularly
iis because I have nothing to say.

Take care of yourself.
George

DECEMBER, 1967 19

Dear Robert,
I went to the board yesterday: they told me that if I kepe this next
year clean and clear of disciplinary infractions I would have eighteen
months clean next time I saw them, OF course I have not seen the
official results yet (maybe Friday I will) but it was pretty clear that I
got another year to do.

PART ONE. 3
T'llwrite again when I get the final word, Penelope wrote me aletcer last
‘week stating that you and Mama sent a box of stuff up here to me after
all, in spite of my asking you not co bother. I appreciate the sentiment
bur you should not have done it.I probably will not be allowed to have
it, You should know that Ihave to send a formal request from here, et
‘They won't send it back either — they will keep it. Things will be much
better between us when you start taking me seriously.

‘Take care of yourself. You'll be able to retire when I get out in “69,

George

DECEMBER, 1967 23

Dear Robert,
‘Thisis Saturday: there isso much noise on the tier that even my earplugs
are useless. Grown men are acting like high-school girls. The guards
have some kind of sports on the radio. Everyone is happy, emotion-
filled cries of joy come from every cell. They're trying to forget their
problems or pretend that they have none. It is easier that way, easier
than grabbing the bull by the horns. Music and sports. Their whole
life, pethaps a lice pimping or gambling. I got my official notice on
the board meeting.

‘They denied me another years I go back next December. Ie will be eight
yeats then,

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1968 1

Dear Robert,
Ie’ 5:40 A.M. All che noisemakers are asleep: they've worn themselves
‘out through the night making merry, laughing, singing, pretending. It
is strange indeed that a man can find anything to laugh about in here,
Bur everyone in here is locked up 24 hours a day. They have no past,
no future, no goal other than the next meal. They're afraid, confused
and confounded by a world they know that they did not make, that
they feel they cannot change, so they make these loud noises so they
‘won't hear what their mind is trying to tell them. They laugh to assure
themselves and those around them that they are not afraid, sort of like

4 SOLEDAD BROTHER
the superstitious individual who will whistle or sing a happy number as
he passes the graveyard.

Confinement in this small area all day causes a buildup of tension. The
unavoidable consequence is stupidity, a return to childish behavior,
overreaction. I refuse to let myself be punished with stuff like this
Locked in jail, within a jail, my mind is still free, I refuse ever t0 allow
myself to be forced by living conditions into a response that is not
commensurate with intelligence and my final objective.

‘This will apply even more on the other side of che wall, out there
‘where you are. What if there was nothing on earth that could be taken
from me which would result in my discomfort, What if a person was
so oriented that the loss of no material thing could cause him mental
disorganization? This is the free agent. He is nameless, faceless,
emotionless, loveless. He is without habit, without the weaknesses of
the flesh. He travels light and only in the company of those who like
/himself prize self-determination above baseball and beer. Only the free
agent can win for us the necessary control over the direction of our
unrewarding lives.

You should know that I only do what I think is best, and most
appropriate, I'm a man with few alternatives

George

JANUARY, 1968 6

Dear Robert,
Thope you ate in health, Have you been bothered by the sickness, flu,
‘Asian flu they call it. Everyone on the tier, everyone in the building
really, has had it, or still hast, excepe me. I have been lucky. I hope I do
not catch it. We have no medicines.

Thave both of your letters here: I did not send che forms requesting a
package because I didn’t wane you spending any money on unnecessary
things. If had money I would never buy anything like that for myself
I am completely indifferent about pleasure, temporary amenities: "a
crust of bread and a corner to sleep in, a moment to laugh and an hour
to weep in” — well, [don’t even want the moment. If that is all that I
hhave coming I don’t wanc it. I don't know who you have been talking
to about my condition here. Whoever they are, stop wasting your time,

PART ONE. us
‘They are only leading you on. I hope you have lost no money, but I
warned you about this before. It is clear that I must handle this thing
myself the best way that I ean.

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1968 16

Dear Robert,
Nothing new to report, same situation here. No progress. Went before
a couple of persons responsible for the administration of this unie last
week. They changed the rules to justify keeping me locked up another
six months until June atleast. There isa rule that reads: “If an inmate is
involved in an assault upon another inmate and a weapon is associated
in the incident the inmate responsible must do atleast one year locked
up in close confinement.” Well, I've done my year for the thing that
happened in January ‘67. Now I must do another for the affair in June
°67 where the only weapons involved were those used against me!
I think perhaps the time has come to get legal help for me, We can
discuss it when you come up next time. These things are noe being
handled properly. Or fairly. [am the only one still suffering the effects
of those ewo occurrences. Everyone else has been transferred to other
insticutions and isin the main population there. And I'm the only one
who didn’t write a writ at the time the thing took place. I tried to just
shrug it off, but I see that that does not work. They have accused me
of leading something when all che evidence points to the contrary. I
‘was the only one co cross the picket line during the strike or one of the
few. In June I never raised my hand against an official. In fact, in all the
seven years I've been in the prison here I have never attacked an official,
Thave difficulty leading myself, directing my own affairs. Ac the very
least I need a transfer. I cannot get fair treatment otherwise.

Take care of yourself.
George

JANUARY, 1968 31
Dear Robert,

I seriously believe that you have incurable middle-class attitudes, but
nonetheless you may be right. Regarding the blacks “not letting me,

6 SOLEDAD BROTHER
that is” I'll have to wait and rake the situation in for myself, though.
Ifyou happen to be correct about that, I’m buying me a little sailboat
and heading for the Indian Ocean area; be a bum, no wife, no kids, no
‘competition, bananas, coconuts, pineapples, fish, and sunshine. [could
never bear what you have borne. I hope you arrived home without
incident. I heard the weather was pretty bad.

almost got sucked into some more foolishness yesterday. All the blacks
tileing at windmills again. Mindless, emotional, childish abandon,
‘without a thought of winning, Justan attempe to prove their manhood
to themselves, to any who may be watching. The result, further
‘humiliation and a month in a dark hole, I'm still in my cell. I had to
tum my back on them when they wouldn't listen. Never, never will
T take part in any foolishness. They have me locked up with a bunch
‘of 20-year-old cretins who don’t know anything about the ways of the
world, hate books, can’t think, and won't listen. Things are not getting
any better. They are, if anything, getting worse. Bitter experience
seems to be bringing out the worst in us instead of our best. Instead
of growing thoughtful and determined, they get more emotional and
mindless. You swallow a camel and gag on a nut: you accept a certain
condition and treatment with apparent ease, but balk at the suggestion
of returning the same.

Ie doesn’t matter a great deal to me either way: On an individual basi, I
will always make out. I see this world just as itis, he whole thing, and
‘most important I see myself in relation to it. So I will be able to spring
in any direction in which my mind tells me the rewards are greater.

I'm going to frame a letter soon to you discussing the social contract,
and where the individual stands in relation to the state. None of it
will be original. It will be che accepted dialectics of all those past and
present who are in position to know. You don’ seem to know why you
pay taxes and what you should expect in the way of returns. Ie should
be clear that when one contributes to any enterprise, he has a return
‘coming, and itis equally clear that when I place or allow an individual
‘or group of individuals to administrate and regulate affairs that involve
my bosom interest, these affairs must be handled in a judicious manner,
‘When they are not, it is my right to replace these individuals any way
that I can,

Take care of yourself.
George

PART ONE. uy
FEBRUARY, 1968 8

Dear Robert,
I think you have gotten stuck in the mud somewhere down the road.
‘There has never been any question as to whether or not we will be
allowed to work. There has never been any question in my mind about
the folly of one of us attempting to make himself acceptable to the
established standard so that he will be colerated,

‘Am I for sale and at such a price? Can true self-determination be won
‘working for wages and salaries? What are the chances of the employee
‘one day owning the manufacturing plant?! What do [lose by allowing
myself to be programmed, regimented, and assimilated. Has any people
cever been independent that owned neither land nor tool? Isn’t what
you are calling for, you and the people who wrote the article, more of
the same, the hewing of wood and che carrying of water?! Do I want to
identify wich a loser and a fool? Can I help myself by helping one who
islooked upon as the wretched of the earth? This i the question, Don't
get sidetracked by specious argument.

I know the answer to all the above questions, but I plan to keep it to
myself for now. And of course we are talking about groups of people,
‘our masses (not to be confused in any way with my personal chances
for success. I know how to look out for me as an individual).

Tageee with what you say about brains, nothing could be clearer. Every
‘mass movement in history has been led by one person or a small geoup
of people. Although everyone is born with a brain only a few choose
to use it. The difference between successful and unsuccessful mass
movements is in che people who lead them. Successful ones are led
by persons gifted with a delicate balance of both mental and physical
forcefulness. Brains are useless without the nervous equipment and the
muscle required to execute their orders.

Talso agree with what you say about the Chinese, They are poor. They
‘went through the same thing we went through for the same reason (a
skin problem), and they suffered it atthe hands of the same wretched
force. It may be a while yee before they get over the last hundred
years, but, and I know you agree, they are wonderful and aggressive,
industrious people, They will make out. What I like most aboue them

ns SOLEDAD BROTHER
is their willingness co always help thei brothers in Africa and Asia
‘They understand the need and power of ethnic solidarity. When they
look in the mirror they see themselves, when they look at us they see
their fathers and brothers. Brother, brother is the way we'll calli.

Jon is well, hope. Can you imagine how foolish a stranger would be
trying to curn me against Jon? I have no love for strangers, regardless of
the face that they own the sweatshop I am forced to labor in.

George

FEBRUARY, 1968 12

Dear Robert,
Congratulations on the birthday. I may not be so lucky, but my values
are a little different from yours. Iam concerned with living fully, living
‘well, rather than living long. And since I have a measure of control over
the former, and none whatever over the latter, this makes sense to me.

T've been to Mexico, I have also been all over the US. I've spent several
days in the neighborhood where you were born... That neighborhood
is far poorer than anything I saw in Mexico. But since Mexico is a
colony of the US. also (just as our communities are). all Ican make of
this face thar blacks here are worse off than Mexican nationals in that
the US. colonial masters think more of Mexicans.

So your taxes do all the things you say including some you omitted,
such as school-educational matters, prisons, police wages, armies,
H-bombs, spy ships. gas chambers, Tucker's farms, etc. Bu it is very
curious to note who benefits by it all. Which streets get lighted best?
Which child goes to school half a day in a trailer, or to a school that
is so crowded and understaffed that he might as well not go forall the
attention he gets? The police stopped me 5 times (5 different cars) in
the space of 3 blocks in Los Angeles once. All che brush wars the US.
thas fought in che last 20 years were against men of color around the
world! T could go on all week about how your tax money is being used,
but lec ie suffice for me to say it is not being used to help you or yours.
You are getting no recurn on your investment. This is what taxes are
supposed to be all about, an investment in the community, the society.
pooling of each individual’s resources so that the administration can be
financed, so that the administration can perform the jobs which must
be done to ensue public welfare, and the jobs which no individual can

PART ONE. ns
do well alone. Now ie follows that if everyone pays, everyone should
{get proper returns, The streetlights should be the same in Watts and
Bel Ait Ie seems that some dereliction of duty has indeed taken place.

George

FEBRUARY, 1968 19

Dear Robert,

‘Too bad about Jon: I suggested upon your last visit that he may be
{getting too much TV. Anyway, you are absolutely correct in that these
are his crisis years. You had better give him something good in the
way of purpose, identity, and method, It should be taken for granced
that he is getting nothing along this line in school: if anything, these
things are being trained out. .. so that he will be a good Negro, an
individual, a nonperson, an intellectual dependent. Ifyou do not know
the definition of “purpose” “identity” and “method.” it is already too
late for Jon. I do not want to be addressed as George any longer. You
will please respect my wishes enough to use my middle name from this
day on. I won't respond to any other. My work goes well here. I am in
health. [hope you are well.

Take care of yourself.
Lester

MARCH, 1968 6

Dear Robert,

I received the money today. Thanks. I got the forms off too. [hope you
told them about the life thing. If not, please do i right away. I hope
also my age was passed along as a reminder. People would look at you
and think that I would have to be in my teens.

Africa is a most wonderful continent. They have everything in the way
‘of human and natural resources. Oil in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,
and Nigeria. Copper. diamonds, cobale, and gold in Zambia. There are
large deposits of iron ore in Liberia, a whole mountain of iin fact. You
name it, and its Found in some part of Africa. In the savanna area south
of the Sahara Desere and all the way south to the Cape, you find the
most fertile farmland in the world. Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are
all just like a big park. The temperature never fluctuates more than 5

120 SOLEDAD BROTHER
degrees the whole year around. Every evening during the winter months
there isa light rain to settle the dust. Eighty to 85 the whole year. The
five oldest cities in the world are located in Africa. The oldest language
is one spoken in Africa: Mande. The oldest relic of man’s prehistoric
‘existence was found in Africa, 25 million years old. You find all kinds
‘of black types: with wide noses, thin noses, aquiline noses: all types of
bhai: all shades of skin from the lightest ivory to blue black. You should
be more specific about what you want to know because it would take
a month, and a letter the size ofa telephone book, to delineate all the
resources of Africa

Speaking just for me I would like Tanzania on the East coast if had to
choose a spot to settle. Julius Nyerere isan enlightened and intelligent
leader who identifies with the Eastern world. The country isdeveloping
fast, and has unlimited potential in mining, agriculture, and light
industry. Its problem, as with all the African states, is the absence of
capital to expand the economy at a rate which will realize the rising
expectations of the people and close the gap with the Western world

‘Tanzania has invited the Eastern societies to help them instead of the
US. and Western Europe, so they will be better off. China charges no
interest on loans, When the Chinese set up a factory, they hire Africans
and train African managers and leave. The US. is motivated by the
profit-and-loss ching. They leave U.S. managers and claim 90 percent
of the gross as their just share of the profits. They say it’s their reward
for helping to develop the country. Some African leaders go for this:
Julius does not. Does it seem stupid of China to lend without incerest,
and build without raking over or capitalizing? Must be love,

Lester

PART ONE. 1
122 SOLEDAD BROTHER

Blood in My Eye was completed only days before the
author died from bullet wounds during an alleged escape
attempt from San Quentin Prison, California. Arrested
at the age of eighteen for allegedly taking part in the
robbery of a gas station netting $70, George L. Jackson
was sentenced to one year to life in prison. At the time of
his death he had served eleven years behind prison walls,
seven of those years in solitary confinement. This book
testifies to how those years were spent, and why.

Written with the memory of his slain brother, Jonathan,
constantly before him, it is an apocalyptic vision of
America. It speaks to the poor, the jailed, and the
disenfranchised throughout the world. Jackson's message
to his revolutionary brothers is clear: “People are already
dying who could be saved, generations more will die or
live poor butchered half-lives if you fail ro act. Discover
your humanity and your love in revolution, Pass on the
torch, Join us, give up your life for the people.”

Blood in My Eye takes up where Soledad Brother left off, and

introduces the reader to the life force that was George L
Jackson.

CHIABC.TUMBLR.COM