Showing posts with label US prisoners strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US prisoners strike. Show all posts

Saturday 29 October 2016

Man's Inhumanity To Man.

      We can never do enough to highlight the the atrocities that are the prisons of this world. How can freedom breathe when the prisons are overflowing, how can we listen to political posturing, when, across the world, human beings are incarcerated in appalling conditions as slaves feeding the capitalist system. Conditions under capitalism make it so easy to get lost in our own little world and turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, that's how the system survives, divide and rule, solidarity is the weapon to bring it down. A letter of support to the striking prisoners in America and elsewhere, from prisoners in Greece:

Gentlemen, the dragon will fly out” is a saying attributed to prisoner George Jackson. On August 21st 1971, holding a pistol, he opened all the cells in an adjustment unit, taking jailers hostage. George Jackson was killed in his attempt to escape…
Since September 9th, prisoners in the United States have called for action against slavery.
       A multitude of “invisible” slaves (there are about 2.5 million prisoners in the United States) are condemned to forced labor, or as jailers of their own selves (internal work in prisons, cleaning, repairs, technical operations), or as cheap meat in the service of corporate behemoths (Honda, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks, and many others). Besides, the 13th amendment to the US constitution clearly states: “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…” To put it simply, detainees are considered slaves as part of their punishment.
       Prisons in America—and not just there–aren’t only bars, walls, surveillance cameras or lockdowns. They’re also an enormous lucrative business. Prisons are a dirty dealing for continuously supplied shackled labor force without name and without voice. They represent a modern slave trade, making billion-dollar profit, that not only supplies the companies-caretakers but also the industry of lawyers, judges, cops, corrections officers, private prisons.
       Not long ago yet another judicial scandal, the “kids for cash” case, was revealed. President Judge Mark Ciavarella convicted juveniles (from 10 to 18 years of age) for the slightest offense, taking million-dollar kickbacks from the owners of private prisons Powell and Mericle with the purpose of supplying them with thousands of children prison slaves.
      In Greece, incarceration is much more “velvet”, but it doesn’t cease to be incarceration. Greek prisons may not supply multinational companies with slaves, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a well-staged business operation. Not only do prisons fund an army of leeches (lawyers, cops, corrections officers, judges), but they make big business with construction companies (through overpriced contracts), pharmaceutical companies (after Greek hospitals, Greek prisons are the second best customer of the pharmaceutical industry, since handfuls of psychiatric drugs are administered to prisoners to keep them asleep), and large supermarket chains (always making sure to overprice items sold to prisoners).
Continue reading:
Let's Roar.

The problem's too big
the perpetrators unknown
you can't beat the system
all on your own.
So it's easy to withdraw
find your own little cage
turn a blind eye to the suffering
stifle your rage,
but the greed goes on
the poverty's still there,
you can't just leave it
for your children to bear.
Others feel as you do
eager to put things right
but locked in isolation
it's a hopeless fight,
so don't sit in silence
behind a closed door,
your voice can help raise
a whisper to a roar.
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Monday 24 October 2016

US Prison Strike Discussion.

      Discussion in English on the US prisoners strike by A-Radio Berlin.



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Protest Your Injustice, And Be Punished.

      The largest prisoners strike in US history which started on September 9th., and is mainly ignored by that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, is still having repercussions throughout the US prison system. Reprisals in many brutal, sadistic and arbitrary forms are being hurtled at the prisoners, those who are involved and those who are not. Such is the prison and judicial system in the US. 
This from Its Going Down:
“Sitting in this 8 x 10 cell, it makes a man wonder if it’s worth it. I’ve heard many of the men yelling, ‘I shouldn’t of went out there.’ It is testing the best of them. They regret making that final call. If they can’t come to terms with the decision they made they will be resentful doing time. They have to realize that only losing everything are they free to do everything. It is in losing we gain. One could wonder what kind of math did God create, but it is all about longevity. And from the looks of it, unless it gets overturned, we are going to be here for a while – in Administrative Segregation, Level 5. They read all mail.”
-Gilbert Morales, a Michigan prisoner facing repression for the uprising at Kinross Correctional
Continue reading:
      A personal story from a fiancĂ© of an inmate at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility. This is the face of American justice, and that of most other prison systems across the world.
This from Shadow Proof 
       The facility stayed on lockdown for 12 days, as prisoners faced more brutal retaliation for their peaceful protest.
       Around 150 prisoners were allegedly accused of being instigators of the action and were transferred. An unknown number were charged with inciting a riot and put in solitary confinement. Others, who said they had nothing to do with the protest, were punished as well.
      “When guys are sick, they won’t do anything about it. When guys are passed out, the medical team won’t come,” Evelyn said when asked about conditions for prisoners living at Kinross.
        On October 10, an inmate named Charles Lee Johnson died at the facility. He was the third inmate to die at a prison in the state within the last month.
       “They called for help and the area where the nurses station is like a minute away from where the guy’s bunk was,” Evelyn said.
        Prison staff allegedly gave Johnson some water and told him to lay down when he complained. He then started convulsing and became unresponsive. It took fifteen minutes for staff to get to him.
        Beyond medical care, prisoners are treated poorly by prison staff. “They pick on them on purpose. They give them tickets on purpose. It’s like its set up for them to fail,” Evelyn explained.
       Evelyn used to visit Anthony once a month. One 4th of July visit was especially great, she said. But Anthony called her a few hours later and told her he had received a disciplinary ticket.
 
Continue reading:
If you need proof that America's prison system is broken 

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Saturday 1 October 2016

More On US Prison Strike.

       More on the nation wide US prisoners strike. Brutal repression is taking place within the dark walls of these slave institutions. We should remember Attica prison uprising, September 9th, 1971, which was savagely crushed after the state drowned the public in lies and false information. No doubt they will attempt the same process of either media blackout, or an avalanche of misinformation and down right lies. We owe it to those standing up for justice within those cages of slave labour and repression, to get out as much information as we can and to stand in solidarity with them.
          Less than two days ago … at Kinross unit in Michigan … The warden had come out and was speaking to the inmates, over 400 of them, which had peacefully marched in the yard. But after the warden left, basically, a riot repression team came in and dragged prisoners out of their showers and out of their cells, zip-tied their arms behind their back and threw them out in the yard and left them out there for five to six hours in the rain without any access to bathroom facilities. So the repression that prisoners are facing around the country for having participated in the strike is real, and it’s very severe. So right now we’re really focused on responding in order to help get the word out and get people to call into those units, so that we can help to support those who are being repressed, as well as to continue supporting strike workers, whether that’s people who are continuing to be on work stoppages and rolling work stoppages or continuing to hunger strike.
Read the full article HERE: 

From Democracy Now:
        The largest prison work strike in U.S. history has entered its third week. Organizers report that as of last week at least 20 prisons in 11 states continued to protest, including in Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington. The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee says at one point about 20,000 prisoners were on strike. With protest has come punishment. Several facilities have been put on lockdown, with prisoners kept in their cells and denied phone access both before and during the strike. Organizers have also been put in solitary confinement.
From Support Prisoners Resistance:
       September 9 was historic. The direct action of prisoners and their supporters successfully poked holes in the thick veil that protects prison from public scrutiny, but we need to tear that veil down to succeed.
       There are still actions occurring in need of immediate support, and news of retaliation leaking out of prisons all across the country. Those of us at the center of prisoner strike support have been working non-stop and we need your help. Rapid response is needed to restrain backlash and protecting strikers, at the same time, maintaining constant pressure and awareness-raising prevents the return to normal.
       Where to get up-to-date information and action suggestions: https://itsgoingdown.org/defend-the-strike/

How to volunteer:
                  – contact IWOC at IWOC@riseup.net to plug in with others in your area, track and research the strike, contribute to anti-repression and legal assistance efforts, transcribe letters from prisoners, coordinate with media, and otherwise build the prisoner’s union in support of direct action behind bars anywhere in the US.

        – contact FAM at http://freealabamamovement.com/contactus.html to support the organization at ground zero of the prison strike. Since September 9, conflict at Holman prison outside of Atmore Alabama has gotten so intense that even correctional officers spoke out in support of FAM and refused to report to work.
Continue reading HERE:

More HERE
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