Some friends made a great new zine of writings on state violence, abolition, and prisoner resistance specifically for the May Day holiday.
Available here.
Author Archives: Editor
Unstoppable! Issue 1
It’s finally here! The first edition is now posted online and we are about to mail them to prisoners. You can access it for free. This link will take you to another site (insurgenttheatre.org), because our website was unable to host the file. Our first edition was jam packed with goodies and great information, so the size is quite large.
If you’re on the outside, you can request that we mail you a nice fancy printed copy for $5. Or, you can read it online and think about donating money to help with our mailing costs. Either way, we hope you enjoy!
Unstoppable – Spring 2016 (1st edition)
If you know of someone on the inside who can contribute/need a subscription, they can write us at:
unstoppable! publication
po box 11032
pueblo, co 81001
Unstoppable is by and for incarcerated folks who identify as women, trans, and/or gender non-conforming. This anti-authoritarian publication seeks to blend radical political analyses with personal experiences and observations. We want to elevate the voices on the inside that are often excluded from political dialogues, while also asking people on the outside to convey their social and political realities to people on the inside. Unstoppable aims to build bridges across prison walls and beyond them by facilitating dialogue and engagement between those who are incarcerated and those who are not.
Solidarity Events and Materials
Prisoners in Texas are still on strike, prisoners in Alabama will be joining them on May 1st, food protests continue in Michigan, as well as hunger strikes in Louisiana. Holman Unit in Alabama continues to be a place of strife and open conflict with the authorities.
The fight against slavery, torture and confinement is raging on the inside, and calling for support on the outside. Prisoner supporters and the IWOC are responding to the call, with rallies, phone zaps, and educational events and outreach. See below for ways you can participate! Continue reading
Anuncian Huelga Nacional Coordinada por Prisioneros para el 9 de septiembre del 2016. (Sept 9th Call to Action)
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Anuncian Huelga Nacional Coordinada por Prisioneros para el 9 de septiembre del 2016.
Prisioneros a través de los Estados Unidos (EEUU) acaban de lanzar un llamado de acción para una huelga nacional coordinada por prisioneros contra la esclavitud en las prisiones para el 9 de septiembre del 2016.
Esto es un Llamado Contra la Esclavitud en América.
En una voz, alzada desde las celdas de largos aislamientos, resonando en los dormitorios y celdas desde Virginia a Oregón, nosotros, prisioneros, a través de los EEUU juramos a finalmente acabar con la esclavitud en el 2016.
En septiembre 9 del 1971 prisioneros tomaron y cerraron Attica, la prisión de Nueva York más notoria. En septiembre 9 del 2016, empezaremos una acción para cerrar las prisiones a través de este país. No solo demandaremos un fin a la esclavitud prisionera, lo acabaremos nosotros mismos dejando de ser esclavos.
En la década de los 1970’s el sistema estadounidense de prisiones se derrumbaba. En Walpole, San Quentin, Soledad, Angola, y muchas otras prisiones, la gente se levantaba, peleaban y recuperaban sus propias vidas y cuerpos de las prisiones esclavizadoras. Por los últimos seis años hemos recordado y renovado la lucha. En lo interino, la población de prisioneros ha explotado y las tecnologías para controlar y encarcelar se han desarrollado al nivel más sofisticado y represivo en la historia del mundo. Las prisiones se han vuelto más dependientes en la esclavitud y la tortura para mantener estabilidad. Continue reading
Siddique Abdullah Hasan Speaks on Prisoner Protest Movements from Ohio State Pennitentiary
Siddique Abdullah Hasan recently called in to an event in Brooklyn, New York and gave this inspiring talk.
On prisoner strikers in Georgia who were beaten with hammers and put in solitary confinement since the strike in 2010: “…it is a sad commentary on our part, meaning both those people behind enemy lines and on the outside who are activists. When people step up to the plate and fight in a righteous cause, I think that we should not leave those people for dead.”
Anyone who can help transcribe this, is encouraged to please contact insurgent.ben@gmail.com. Thank you.
“This was about unity”: A Wave of Protest Spreads Through the Michigan Prison System
Over the last month, thousands of prisoners at three different prisons in Michigan have taken part in mass protests against the conditions of their confinement and as a demonstration of their collective strength. Prisoners at Kinross Correctional Facility began the wave of protests on March 20th and 21st with 1,000 of the prison’s 1,300 prisoners refusing meals. The strike then spread to Chippewa Correctional Facility, also in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, on March 26th through 28th where at least 800 prisoners refused meals for the entire weekend. Then, on April 12th, prisoners at a third facility, the Cotton Correctional Facility, joined in with about 660 prisoners refusing meals. According to the media, the protests are sparked by problems with food quality, but according to the prisoner whose reportback is below, “this was about unity.”
According to the Detroit Free Press:
Both protests were characterized by extremely high participation rates among inmates, which disturbed Michigan Corrections Organization officials and also got the attention of the prisons’ administration, Gautz said. “It’s definitely something the facilities took seriously,” Gautz said. “It is unusual in a high school or a prison, because there are different groups or cliques that form, to have everybody on the same page. It takes some coordination.”
When the strike spread to a third facility, The Detroit Free press reported that the MDOC suspects that “the protest at Cotton may have been instigated by a prisoner who was transferred there for assaulting a prisoner who chose to go to the chow hall during an earlier food protest at Kinross Correctional Facility in the UP, Gautz said.” On March 20th, as at least 1,000 prisoners at Kinross were refusing meals, the MDOC had this to say:
Chippewa Corr. Facility raised $2,164 for @SpecialOlympics. Employees Levi Bender & Adam Pancheri won best costume! pic.twitter.com/t6e62f2Izp — MichiganDOC (@MichiganDOC) March 21, 2016
These protests are happening simultaneously with work strikes in Texas prisons as well as ongoing resistance in Alabama prisons, which recently saw a series of riots at Holman Correctional and where prisoners are currently calling for a work stoppage on May 1st. All of this is happening in the lead up to a call by prisoners across the country for a national prison strike on September 9th, the anniversary of the Attica Rebellion. Continue reading
Tipping Point in Texas Prison Strikes? New Wave of Lockdowns, Threats
April 16th, 2016
TX. Since April 4th, prisoners in at least 4 Texas prisons have been on strike for better conditions and an end to slavery and human rights abuses. This strike is but the latest in a nationwide mass movement inside prisons for dignity and freedom. Minimum wage in Texas prisons is 00/hr. Access to medical care requires a $100 medical copay.
“My son and others are literally sitting down to say – ‘Stop killing us. Stop enslaving us. We are human. This has got to stop’” said Judy, whose son’s prison is on lockdown. “I think the strike should spread. I believe prisoners and families together have the power to collapse this system.”
Striking prisons have been put on lockdown in an attempt to “conceal the strike” and the battle of wills is being daily tested by the inhumanity of the administration. No lights, two peanut butter sandwiches a day, no phone, mail or visitation from the outside world. And likely far worse.
Since the strike’s inception, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has been trying to contain the strike and paint the strikers as causing harm to inmates and families. Threatening additional lockdowns, forced transfers, violence. Even a statewide lockdown.
“I know we with family inside are hurting, when we are cutoff from our loved ones. When we hear rumors of additional lockdowns, when they threaten locking us all out” said Ann whose husband is in Robertson and lives in Fort Worth, Texas. “But don’t blame the brave souls standing up. Blame TDCJ. Blame those willing to torture families rather than give us justice.”
IWOC believes TDCJ’s actions to be an intentional, routine tactic. “They are trying to change who the enemy is,” said Nick Onwukwe, Co-Chair of IWOC and a former prisoner. “Trying to get you believe the enemy isn’t the slave master, it’s the slave who sits down and says – enough.”
Increasingly lockdowns are becoming reality. Already there are additional lockdowns at Jester III, Dalhart, and Beto, partial lockdowns at Coffield and Allred, and a confirmed order for lockdown at Michael for this morning, April 16th. Is the strike spreading? Will TCDJ’s tactics backfire? We may be at a tipping point.
“This is not a time to watch,” said Brianna Peril, IWOC Co-Chair and former prisoner. “Gather your family and loved ones. Start a chapter. Go outside the nearest prison and make enough noise that those inside know the free world is with them. The history of slavery in the United States is at stake”.
The movement to end prison slavery is growing. Prisoners in Alabama have recently confirmed their commitment to striking this May, while prisoners across the country are calling for nationally coordinated prison shutdowns on the 45th Anniversary of Attica this September.
Like all futures it will be decided by those who show up. Get involved. Call. Donate. This is our time.
Food protests spreads to third Michigan prison
From Detroit Free Press.
LANSING — Mass prison food protests that began in the Upper Peninsula moved to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula Tuesday as nearly all Level II prisoners at a Jackson-area prison refused to eat lunch or dinner.
Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the Corrections Department, said only about 40 of the roughly 700 Level II prisoners at Cotton went to the chow hall for lunch and dinner on Tuesday. About 1,000 other prisoners, who have different security classifications and use a different kitchen, were not part of the protest, he said.
“It was very passive, like the other ones were,” and “very calm.” Gautz told the Free Press Wednesday, adding that prisoners’ complaints included both the quantity and quality of the food.
Mark Dennis, a spokesman for Michigan’s Florida-based prison food vendor, Trinity Services Group, declined to comment Wednesday.
The protest at Cotton may have been instigated by a prisoner who was transferred there for assaulting a prisoner who chose to go to the chow hall during an earlier food protest at Kinross Correctional Facility in the UP, Gautz said.
Food demonstrations began at Kinross on March 20 and 21 and then spread to nearby Chippewa Correctional Facility about a week later.
Both of the UP protests were characterized by extremely high participation rates among inmates, which disturbed both the prison administration and the Michigan Corrections Organization, which is the union representing corrections officers.
“Absolutely, we’re still concerned — it’s been spreading,” said Anita Lloyd, a spokeswoman for the MCO.
Hamburgers — a popular item — were the lunch meal at Cotton on Tuesday, so it’s a concern that such a large proportion of Level II inmates would act in unison by staying away, Lloyd said.
“We’ve asked the administration for a meeting to discuss these ongoing problems and they’ve agreed” to schedule one, Lloyd said. “They say they are aggressively working on this,” but “something more has got to be done.”
Gautz said the Cotton protest caught officials by surprise because inmate representatives met with the warden and Trinity representatives Tuesday morning and the warden even joined prisoners to eat a meal. It appeared the issues were being resolved and there was no indication a protest was planned, he said.
There were several food-related protests under problem-plagued Aramark Correctional Services, the former prison food contractor. But reports of food-related disruptions had subsided since Trinity replaced Aramark about nine months ago.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.
Call for May Day Work Strike in Alabama Prisons
Believe it or not, the entire country is looking at Alabama. Specifically, the Alabama Prison System and its Leadership. Right Now- We have a spotlight on the National stage to show & prove the Effects of:
Alabama’s draconian Habitual Offenders Statute,
Alabama’s Mandatory Life without Parole Capital Offense Statute,
Alabama’s arbitrary Parole Board,
Alabama’s parasitic policy of Warehousing & Economical Exploitation rather than Education, Rehabilitation and ReEntry Preparedness.
Believe it or not,
the entire country is listening– OUR COLLECTIVE ACTION/INACTION will speak louder than words.
As in all Emergency Distress Calls… “MAY DAY , MAY DAY”
May 1- May 31… 30 DAYS OF NOTHING!
… No Work No Talk!
Call in for Targeted Prisoners in North Carolina
Two prisoners in North Carolina are being targeted for their organizing efforts, they need people to call in and express support for them.
Kevin Cox is a politically active prisoner struggling at the moment just to be able to receive mail and contact from the outside. He asked that this statement be shared with anyone who might care to help call in to the prison. Since he wrote this, he’s been transferring to Marion CI, but is still facing the same issues.
Greetings, Shalom Aleyka, Salaam Alaykum, Amani,
My name is Kevin Cox #1217063. I’m a political prisoner who’s being housed in Bertie Correctional Institution, in Windsor, NC. Since my incarceration I’ve dedicated my life to the struggle by fighting for the rights of prisoners, human rights for all oppressed people and rights for LGBTQ. Also I’m a dedicated member of the Black liberation movement and a member of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party [distinct from the New Black Panther Party], which is a legal aboveground political organization. At Bertie Corrections, I’m being treated like a ‘slave’ because of my political beliefs, my continuous activism in educating prisoners and my refusal to be submissive to Bertie Correction’s oppressive rules and regulations, which correlates to division, miseducation, Continue reading