A Survivor’s Manual for Solitary Confinement: Self-Destruction to the Reconstruction of Self

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My Path to Redemption

By Kijana Tashiri Askari

2011

“Prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings.”

-Angela Davis

I’ve been in prison for the past 20 years, 17 of which has been consecutively spent in the security housing unit (e.g. “the SHU”) which is a euphemism for solitary confinement.  However, 20 years prior to my current incarceration, I had also served previous stints in prison, amidst several stints in and out of juvenile hall and the California Youth Authority (CYA). Essentially, a Brotha had embarked upon a path of self-destruction, through the multitude of crimes that I was committing in the community, which were largely against the people of the community and their property. But it wasn’t until the year of 1991/1992, while a Brotha was housed in administrative segregation (e.g. “solitary confinement”) for a manufacturing weapons charge, is when I finally had a serious talk with myself and said: “Self, what is wrong with this picture?”

Because here we are, with the gear shift stuck in neutral, and we’re not making any real progress, with regards to doing or achieving anything of real significance with our lives. And from the look of things, matters will not be getting any better, no time soon, as I was no longer armed with the ability to act upon my negative emotional impulses, as my physical being had been restricted in practically every extreme, due to one’s isolated confines.

So during the course of introspecting self, I had to honestly ask:  “Self, what benefit, if any, would we have in continuing down this path of self-destruction?”  As the solace of my solitude in solitary confinement now enabled me to realize, that my self-destructive ways were only creating a negative burden upon myself from the perspective of harming and preying upon the communities via committing acts of senseless crime/violence on the community, that perpetuated a “domino effect” upon the people and their families within our community.  Because up until that point in my life, I had lacked a complete and true understanding, that prisons were an extension of every poor community within the free societies of the world. But what actually formulates the construct of a community? A community is defined as:

“A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common political background, and/or cultural and historical heritage.”

Thus affirming, that to harm my community is to harm myself.

So it was right there, during the year of 1991/1992, where I said: “Self, we cannot live like this anymore, as I know that life has got to have more to offer, than all of the negativities that we have experienced/endured thus far.”

Hence, the origins of my path to redemption via the reconstruction of my self-destructive ways, as I’ve now caught a glimpse of my true humanity.  How to go about this redemption process was a whole different story in and of itself. So I had to first find out, what does redemption mean, so that I could constitute the application of redemption within my day to day endeavors, to thus manifest a concrete example of redemption.  Redemption is defined as:

“The salvation of, and the atonement for, guilt; to make amends for; or to make up for.”

Being that it was I, as an individual who was literally terrorizing the community and the people that lived in them, the path of redemption had to start and begin with me, from the perspective of community healing, building and restoration; meaning, that I had to seriously change my attitude, values and the way that I thought and viewed matters, to thus effectuate change in my behavior as it pertains to being a productive member in the community.

Shortly thereafter, I was then released from administrative segregation, and was placed back into the general population mainline at New Folsom state prison, where my path to redemption continued. It didn’t take long for my captors, and their crew of counter-intelligence agents, to now recognize my political transition into a revolutionary, albeit I was still in the embryo stage of development. But nonetheless, in August of 1994, as a Brotha was commemorating my ancestor’s historical legacy of struggle against U.$ imperialism, I was abducted from the mainline under the façade of me organizing prisoners to commit a physical assault upon unidentified prisoners, which subsequently lead me to being relegated to indeterminate SHU status, as an alleged prison gang member.

Once I was sent to the SHU, my path of redemption continued, via the on-going transformation of uprooting the negative weeds of self-destruction that had been planted in my mind and thus my actions. Hence, it was also necessary for me to start re-harvesting my mind with a crop of new ideas, because truthfully speaking, you are what you think and believe in. So I began to study and read, any and all books, newspapers, magazines, etc. that I could get my hands on.

In solitary confinement, we’re not provided with any community based material resources, so I made it my business to constructively utilize any and all community contacts that I had, such as family/friends, in order to negate this void and aid my transition to new redemptive heights.  When asking my family/friends to send me money for canteen, I would make the necessary sacrifices by not putting in for a full canteen draw, so that I would always have money to buy books, newspapers, or magazines with, or I would ask my family/friends to use a portion of the money that they intended to send me, to instead buy me some reading materials, so as to keep the mind stimulated with new and positive ideas. Because it didn’t take long before I realized that access to information is the crucible that sustains/nurtures our humanity, and thus empowers us as individuals.  Because knowledge is power!

Hence, my humanity was further redeemed/restored as I elevated my state of consciousness through the reading of books like:

A Taste of Power, by Elaine Brown

Women, Race and Class, by Angela Davis

The Spirit of Man, by Iyanla Vanzant

The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, by Amy Jacques Garvey.

The Destruction of The Black Civilization, by Chancellor Williams

Vision for Black Men, by Na’im Akbar

The African Origin of Civilization, by Cheikh A. Diop

The mis-Education of the Negro, by Carter G. Woodson

Black Men; Obsolete, Single, Dangerous, by Haki R. Madhubuti

The Wretched of the Earth, by Frantz Fanon

Just to name a few.  These beautiful New Afrikan Black Sistas/Brothas, shined a ray of light on the historical materialism, as to the atrocities, that the U.$. imperialists were, and remain committing against the Nation of New Afrikan Black People, which only reaffirmed my commitment in serving and aiding all oppressed people.

Pursuant to Penal Code Sections 2600 and 2601, we prisoners are allowed to share reading materials with one another, and I would encourage this practice, as it gives you access to more positive information and allows you to build upon a sense of community in your locality, with and in addition to, the possibility of sharing and developing positive ideas with each other from this practice. But in addition to this, the newspapers/magazines also gave me another medium, as to how to stay connected to the community, to thus negate my isolation from being held in solitary confinement (e.g. “the SHU”), as the newspapers/magazines contain information/addresses about various community resources, events, organizations and programs that I was now able to reach out to and get involved with.

Through initiating and developing the necessary discipline, character and resolve so as to remain steadfast/committed to the practice of studying and reading any and all books, newspapers, magazines, etc. that I could get my hands on, I was then able to discover a new found ability to write about all of the things that I had been reading and studying. In other words, one constructive outlet repeated another medium for me to not only sustain my humanity, but to also express my humanity, while relegated to indefinite solitary confinement status. And before  you knew it, I no longer had the time or desire to either think, act or behave in a negative and self-destructive manner, as my thoughts were, and remain, focused on the positive reconstruction of self via my path to redemption.

There is a positive to every negative, but the individual just has to take the time to identify the positive in every perceived negative situation, because the negative only exists when you allow it to. You always have the option of turning sour lemons in to lemonade by disciplining yourself to the practice of reading, writing and studying, as it gives you a real purpose; allows you to use your inner creativity; it redefines your faith in self, so that you can become a better person in the interest of the community; as every process of change starts with the individual and thus the community. It also gives you a new self-determination that would enable you to help save/rebuild our communities that we once took part in terrorizing through our self-destructive ways; and it also provides you with several additional principle variables of character building, which you may not have been aware of prior to this transition.

Our struggle for New Afrikan Black Liberation must be defined and constructed under qualitatively developed principles, that will ensure/sustain our propagated existence, as a nation of New Afrikan Black People that are struggling for real freedom!!  Here is a core listing of principles that we must continue to build upon and utilize as our guide, so that our ultimate goal of real freedom is achieved:

* Our goal is to unify ourselves politically, socially and culturally, economically, etc. and to maintain unity from this perspective, through the re-construction of our family and community values.

* Our self-determination is our ability to define our propagated existence for the sole purpose of redeeming ourselves and thus our communities.

* Our goal is to establish a mode of collective work and responsibility in our communities, by functioning as a collective body with one voice, and to thus make the problems of each Sista/Brotha in our community our problem, so that we can work together as a community by finding/developing community based solutions for our problems.

* Our goal as a community, is to establish a functional model of cooperative economics, which entails pooling our resources together, so that we can build our own institutions of business and thereby shop at, and buy from, our own stores, food markets, etc.

* Our purpose is to make our collective vocation the building of our community, to restore our humanity back to traditional greatness, and to create a social climate where each member of the community can consciously contribute to the rebuilding of our community. Our inner creativity is to do as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it, which will test and enhance our creativity.

* Our faith is to believe with our hearts that our every action will be a manifestation of righteousness, which will be guided by our humanity and love for the people in our community.

Here are a few questions to test and advance your understanding on the materialism of what you just read in this pamphlet. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, as Freedom Is A Constant Struggle!!

1. What does Unity mean to you?

2. What have you determined yourself to do or become?

3. What does Community mean to you?

4. What does Redemption mean to you?

5. How can you redeem yourself for the sake of redeeming your community?

6. What is your purpose in life?

7. Who or what do you have faith in?

8. Have you identified your inner creative self yet?  If so, what is it? And how can you apply it?

For additional reading of my pamphlets and initiatives, you may write to:

South Chicago ABC Zine Distro

C/o Anthony Rayson

P.O. Box 721

Homewood, IL  60430

 

Ask for the following pamphlets and initiatives:

The Series, Volumes # 1-4

Evidence of Corruption, Genocide and Neo-Colonialism

The New Afrikan Anti-Alcohol Initiative 101

New Afrikan Physical Fitness 101

The New Afrikan Domestic Crisis Intervention

 

Chief Facilitators and Supporters

Chief Administrator:  Ms. Hannah Bastienne

www.myspace.com./dare2struggle

Midwest Regional Facilitator/Coordinator:

South Chicago ABC Zine Distro

C/o Anthony Rayson

P.O. Box 721

Homewood, IL  60430

Southern California Facilitator/Coordinator:

University of California Riverside

Dylan Rodriguez

Ethnic Studies Department, #3602 – HMNSS

Riverside, CA 92521

Northern California Facilitator/Coordinator:

Legal Services for Prisoners With Children

Carol Strickman

1540 Market Street, Suite 490

San Francisco, CA  94102

For more information, contact me at:

Kijana Tashiri Askari

Marcus Harrison    H54077

D-3-122   PBSP SHU

P.O. Box 7500

Crescent City, CA  955322

The Struggle Continues !!!

Kijana Tashiri Askari

Isolation, indeterminate sentences used to extract confessions at California supermax prisons

July 22, 2011

by Jeff Kaye

A prisoner in the Pelican Bay SHU must remove all his clothing, spread his toes and buttocks and be handcuffed through the food tray slot without physically touching the guard before he can see the prison dentist. – Photo: sfbappa.org

Adding to Kevin Gosztola’s recent coverage of the hunger strike at Pelican Bay prison — which has spreadto at least six other prisons, including Corcoran California Correctional Institution and Valley State Prison for Women — I want to look more closely at one of the prisoner’s demands, in particular their call for the abolition of the “debriefing process.”

The conditions at Security Housing Units (SHU) at Pelican Bay Prison and other supermax prisons clearly constitute torture and/or cruel, inhumane treatment of prisoners. They rely on the use of severe isolation or solitary confinement, the effects of which I’ve written about before in the context of the Bradley Manning case — see here and here.

At Pelican Bay, the prisoners in “administrative segregation” are locked in a gray, concrete 8 by 10 foot cell, 22 1/2 hours per day. The rest of the time is spent alone in a tiny concrete yard, if that privilege is granted. There is no human physical contact, no work and no communal activities. If the prisoner has enough money, he can purchase a TV or radio. Meals are pushed through a slot in the metal door.

An end to solitary confinement, and in particular to long-term solitary confinement of an indeterminate nature, is one of five “core” demands of the hunger strikers.

Another key demand concerns the onerous and sinister “debriefing” process. The prisoners are asking the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to “A) cease the use of innocuous association to deny an active status, B) cease the use of informant/debriefer allegations of illegal gang activity to deny inactive status unless such allegations are also supported by factual corroborating evidence, in which case CDCR-PBSP staff shall and must follow the regulations by issuing a rule violation report and affording the inmate his due process required by law.”

Dr. Corey Weinstein elaborated on the “debriefing process” in an article on Prison Legal News:

“More than 50 percent of the men in SHU are assigned indeterminate terms there because of alleged gang membership or activity. The only program that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) offers to them is to debrief. The single way offered to earn their way out of SHU is to tell departmental gang investigators everything they know about gang membership and activities, including describing crimes that they have committed. The department calls it debriefing. The prisoners call it ‘snitch, parole or die.’ The only ways out are to snitch, finish the prison term or die. The protection against self-incrimination has collapsed in the service of anti-gang investigation.”

The “debriefing” process is set up by statute. It is a long-term process whereby the prisoner “volunteers” to “debrief,” i.e., to snitch upon other prisoners and identify them as “gang” members. The debriefing prisoners are segregated in their own unit for many months, often more than a year. If they fail to finish the “debriefing” process, they lose whatever credits towards release they may have accumulated during the debriefing process.

The case of Tcinque Sampson

An example of the arbitrary nature of the “rewards” allowed to debriefed convicts can be shown by a filing a few weeks ago in the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division One, in the case of Tcinque Sampson.

Sampson was sent to prison in 2008 for two years and eight months for grand theft. He was subsequently “known to be a validated member of the prison gang known as the ‘BLACK GUERILLA [sic] FAMILY’ (BGF) per Institutional Gang Investigator (IGI), Officer G. Garrett,” and sent into “Administrative Segregation” (SHU unit).”

If he could get enough credits for good behavior, he could have possibly been released in December 2010. In an effort to get out of isolation sooner, he volunteered, it appears, sometime in 2009 for the “debriefing” program.

A prisoner’s drawing of the Pelican Bay SHU – Photo courtesy California Prison Focus

But then, in January 2010, the CDCR changed the rules. From then on, no prisoner who was a “validated gang member” in a SHU could earn credits towards earlier release. For Sampson, this meant another 107 days in prison even if he followed the rules and even though he’d agreed to snitch, or make up incriminating evidence, about other purported gang-affiliated prisoners.

According to the legal brief, “During a hearing with the chief deputy warden on September 23, 2010, the petitioner inquired why his original release date had not been reinstated given that he had submitted all of the information that had been requested of him with regard to debriefing. On September 29, 2010, the petitioner was informed that he ‘was “on the list” but the “list” was very long and that is why it was taking so long.’ A few days later, Sampson told prison officials he ‘was no longer interested in debriefing because the institution had not honored its bargain with [him] to grant credits in exchange for debriefing.’”

Last December, the Del Norte County Superior Court granted, in part, a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, saying the new CDRC regulations about credits “violated the ex post facto clauses of the federal and state constitutions.” But the appellate court overturned that ruling. Their reasoning tells us a great deal about how state authorities define who is or isn’t a “validated” gang member.

In the end, as we shall see, Sampson’s refusal to engage in the debriefing process supposedly proved he was a gang member and worthy of administrative segregation, or long-term solitary confinement. Bold type in the quote below are added for emphasis:

“Petitioner’s ineligibility for conduct credit accrual is not punishment for the offense of which he was convicted. Nor is it punishment for gang-related conduct that occurred prior to January 25, 2010, since petitioner was not stripped of conduct credits he had already accrued. It is punishment for gang-related conduct that continued after January 25, 2010.

“Petitioner maintains he ‘did nothing’ after January 25, 2010 to bring himself within the ambit of the amended statute, but we see the matter differently. ‘“Gangs, as defined in [California Code of Regulations, title 15] section 3000, present a serious threat to the safety and security of California prisons,” and “[i]nmates and parolees shall not knowingly promote, further or assist any gang as defined in section 3000.”‘ (In re Furnace (2010) 185 Cal.App.4th 649, 657.) The ‘validation’ of a gang member involves no more and no less than the CDCR’s recognition of at least three reliable, documented bases (“independent source items”) for concluding that an inmate’s background, person, and/or belongings indicate his or her active association with other validated gang members or associates, and at least one of those bases constitutes a direct link to a current or former validated gang member or associate. (Ibid.; See Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, §§ 3378, 3321.) For purposes of placement in a SHU, active gang membership or affiliation is considered ‘conduct [that] endangers the safety of others or the security of the institution’ and ‘a validated prison gang member or associate is deemed to be a severe threat to the safety of others or the security of the institution’ warranting an indeterminate SHU term. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3341.5, subd. (c) & subd. (c)(2)(A)(2).)

In the end, as we shall see, Sampson’s refusal to engage in the debriefing process supposedly proved he was a gang member

“Once ‘validated,’ an inmate’s continued active membership or affiliation in the gang and placement in a SHU continues until one of three things happens: (1) the periodic, 180-day review of the inmate’s status by the classification committee results in his or her release to the general inmate population (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3341.5, subd. (c)(2)(A)(1)); or (2) he or she becomes eligible “for review of inactive [gang] status” after six years of noninvolvement in gang activity (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3378, subd. (e)); or (3) he or she initiates and completes the ‘debriefing process,’ thereby demonstrating that he or she has dropped out of the gang. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3378.1.) Unless and until one of these three eventualities come to pass, an inmate continues to engage in the misconduct that brings him or her within the amendment’s ambit.”

Guantanamo Bay isolation cells

The appeal court was even more concrete in a later portion of the brief when they stated, “By aborting the process, petitioner demonstrated that after January 25, 2010, he continued to associate with the BGF, continued to pose a threat to prison security, and continued to warrant housing in a SHU.” In other words, if you don’t participate in their snitch program, you must, by the logic of the prison authorities, be an active gang member. Review of possible “inactive gang status” takes place “after six years” of solitary confinement, assuming the prison authorities determine you to have been “inactive” during this time. But meanwhile, there’s a long “list” of debriefing or debriefed prisoners, any of whom, after many, many months of interrogation by prison officials, may have fingered you as gang member.

But these prisoners in supermax are the worst of the worst. Aren’t they in harsh administrative conditions because they have brutally murdered someone or worse? According to the California Code of Regulations, Title 15, Section 3315, there are 23 “serious rule violations” that can send an inmate to an SHU for a determinate time. These include “acquisition or exchange of personal or state property amounting to more than $50 … tattooing or possession of tattoo paraphernalia … possession of $5 or more without authorization … [and] refusal to work or participate in a program as assigned,” among others.

Certainly violence or “mass disruptive conduct” is included in these codes, but so are “acts of disobedience or disrespect” or the perceived “threat to commit” a disruption or breach of security, including the “threat” to “possess a controlled substance.”

From Pelican Bay to Guantanamo Bay

The parallels with the regime instituted by Department of Defense officials at Guantanamo are stunning. Simply replace “gangs” with “Islamic jihadists.” And, as at Guantanamo, the emphasis is on coercing cooperation and collaboration with state authorities. There is an emphasis on fingering other prisoners, thereby building up a case for an even greater threat against state authorities who must have recourse to even more coercion and wielding of state power, all in the name of security, even while constructing the bricks for the edifice of fear out of the very actions of state repression they exercise.

Indeed, quite recently, Jason Leopold and I published documentary evidence that the very SERE techniques that were “reverse-engineered” for use as torture at Guantanamo, Bagram and various “black site” prisons — including, perhaps, the new CIA black sites revealed by Jeremy Scahill in an important new article at The Nation — were originally conceived to fully “exploit” the prisoner, including production of false confessions and the recruitment of double agents and informants.

One wishes, at least, that this was all a recent phenomenon, one that can be “reformed” by a stroke of a pen. But the institution of state repression has sunk its tentacles deep into the body politic. The conditions at California’s prisons are indicative of conditions at other state prisons and federal prisons, and the situation is out of control. Politicians, wedded to law and order rhetoric, are leery of doing anything to change the situation.

The use of forced confessions, indeterminate sentences, harsh punishments and torture were the kinds of inhumane penal conditions that a key member of the Enlightenment, Cesare Beccaria, condemned over 200 years ago in his influential book, “On Crimes and Punishments”:

“If punishments be very severe, men are naturally led to the perpetration of other crimes, to avoid the punishment due to the first. The countries and times most notorious for severity of punishments were always those in which the most bloody and inhuman actions and the most atrocious crimes were committed; for the hand of the legislator and the assassin were directed by the same spirit of ferocity, which on the throne dictated laws of iron to slaves and savages, and in private instigated the subject to sacrifice one tyrant to make room for another.”

From Pelican Bay to Guantanamo Bay, the practice of unnecessarily harsh prison conditions amounting to torture needs to end. The hunger strikers at Pelican Bay and elsewhere, whether criminals or not, are putting their lives on the line for the sake of basic human dignity.

The countries and times most notorious for severity of punishments were always those in which the most bloody and inhuman actions and the most atrocious crimes were committed.

We need to take notice, and then take action. For more information and to sign their online petition, visit the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity website.

The hunger strikers at Pelican Bay and elsewhere, whether criminals or not, are putting their lives on the line for the sake of basic human dignity.

Jeffrey Kaye is a psychologist active in the anti-torture movement. He works clinically with torture victims at Survivors International in San Francisco. His blog is Invictus; as “Valtin,” he also regularly blogs at Daily Kos, Docudharma, American Torture, Progressive Historians and elsewhere.

From Hunger Striker at CCI Tehachapi

Letter from CCI dated July 21st: Help still needed!

by Kim Albanese on Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 9:32pm

Hunger Striker’s at Tehachapi still need our help!
CCI Tehachapi; July 21, 2011

Dear Brooke,

(Regarding this hunger strike) I am glad the word is out, I’m just saddened that I don’t see anything on the news of our struggle. As far as we last heard it’s been like 12 prisons that are involved. Here there are a lot of people on strike – all races, Pelican Bay and Corcoran for sure.

As far as commissary, that’s a negative. It is CDC policy to search our cells and remove all store when hunger strikes begin, and they did so here.

All they do is weigh us and take our vitals (blood pressure, temp., and heart rate), but of course they weigh us in chains to weigh us down and they allow the c/o’s to operate the scale. I am at 171 on my last weigh-in, down from 185. They attempt to take my blood, which I refuse; I’m weak as it is, if I do that I’ll fall out.

They truly don’t care and they are perfectly content in watching us pass rather than admit fault and make changes to a policy that is brutal and baseless. I can’t take my medication anymore because I have to take it with food… I asked for help and they just ignored me.

They also took my shoes when I got here and my feet hurt. (*He had only been at CCI 2 weeks before the strike started, and he was never given any shoes!)

Help get the truth out there. I pray some attorneys get involved. Let them know the CDC is without truth and will lie to keep this issue from ever getting coverage. I am here validated for no actual action. This policy of validating people for no reason robs us of our lives, so we are on a hunger strike in which we could pass because in this environment we’ve already passed. This is not a life.

I have no food and no meds (that I can take). All they do is weigh me. They don’t treat us (example; Ensure, Gatorade, nutrients of some sort). Nothing.

So I remain strong in the hopes that change will come. I get sad when I watch the news and they talk about stuff with no meaning and ignore us. I am an American citizen and when enemy combatants in Guantanamo Bay had a strike they covered it, all networks, beginning to end, but we are just forgotten.

Contact all media networks and let them know this is a peaceful protest and we have been given no other option for relief rather than to hunger strike in the hopes that someone, ANYONE, will care enough to step in and help us.

One might think that us as prisoners must be held under duress and extreme conditions in order to refuse the most basic necessity; food. I choose to remain on strike for I have been robbed of my life, my ability to be a father to my son, a son to my parents, a lover to my love, a friend to friends, and to experience life in the minimum of its meaning.

I was sentenced to life in prison at 18 for an action I committed, but now I am validated for no actual action committed by me. And I’ll be held here in the SHU until I die or debrief. Just imagine if anyone out there could be put in jail just for someone’s accusation. It’s unheard of. But in here its common practice for we are forgotten. We are the tragic aftermath of an angry committee.

Some believe we don’t deserve common decency or compassion because we didn’t show any when we committed our crime. To those people I say, in life wrongs are committed. I don’t justify anything. But this country was founded on mass genocide and yet that is forgotten.

Now that civil rights have passed the oppression that must be has moved behind these walls of the new “concrete slave ship”.

I am only a man who prays that I will be judged by my actions and my disciplinary file, not by the words of faceless informants and a confidential file that I can’t see. We must defend ourselves against the unknown. It’s literally impossible.

My feet still walk the trail of tears. I am in my soul still a believer in justice and the good in people. I believe if society really knew what happened in here they’d be appalled.

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org

The Struggle Continues! Rally for Hunger Strikers on 7/25!

Bay Area rides to Sacramento, California action…

As many of you have heard, the Short Corridor Collective at Pelican Bay have ended their hunger strike and have declared it a success! Their courageous act of refusing to eat for 4 weeks has successfully put the issues of torturous isolation units and California’s abominable debriefing program in the international & national media, it has boosted a growing movement for the rights of prisoners, and is unifying prisoners of different racial groups for a struggle against their real and shared enemies: the unfair policies and practices of CDCR.

Many of you also know that the hunger strike continues in Tehachapi, Corcoran, and Calipatria State Prisons.

We must continue to put pressure on CDCR and Governor Jerry Brown!

On Monday, 7/25 from noon-4pm in Sacramento, family members, community based organizations, and community members from around the state are mobilizing to support the ongoing California Prisoner Hunger Strike!

Meet in Sacramento at Fremont Park (on 15th St., b/w Q & P Streets) @ 11:30am.

March to CDCR headquarters (1515 S. Street) and rally from noon-2pm.

March to State Building to deliver organizational letter to Governor Jerry Brown’s office from 2-4pm.

*Please note that this will be a PEACEFUL, non-arrestable action.

Please take the time to forward this email to all of your contacts, and continue to call CDCR and Governor Brown demanding more humane treatment of prisoners across California.

For more information, please check the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Blog or call (510) 444-0484.

BAY AREA Ride-share: Meet at West Oakland BART at 9:30am, rides will be leaving at 10am. If you have a car & want to offer rides, or if you need a ride, please contact Lisa Roellig:lisaroellig@gmail.com 415-238-1801 (cell).

Thank you for your continued support!

In Struggle,

Lisa Marie Alatorre for Critical Resistance

Critical Resistance | 1904 Franklin St #504 | Oakland | CA | 94612

Hunger strikes and national protests continue

Hunger strikes and national protests continue

http://sfbayview.com/2011/hunger-strikes-and-national-protests-continue/

Hunger strikes and national protests continue

July 22, 2011
Protesting torture in America continues in and out of prisons

BACK TO SAC ON MONDAY! The hunger strike continues in Tehachapi, Corcoran and Calipatria state prisons, so we’ll keep the pressure on CDCR and Gov. Jerry Brown! On Monday, July 25, noon-4 p.m., prisoners’ families and supporters will meet in Sacramento, at Fremont Park, 15th & Q, at 11:30 a.m.; march to CDCR headquarters, 1515 S St., rally noon-2 p.m.; march to State Building to deliver organizational letter to Gov. Jerry Brown’s office 2-4 p.m. Meanwhile, keep calling CDCR and Gov. Brown demanding more humane treatment of prisoners across California.

by Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

The historical prisoner hunger strike led by 11 now “shrunken” but alive Pelican Bay Prison inmates advocating human rights, peace and justice continues according to officials, prisoners’ families and prisoner attorney Marilyn McMahon of California Prison Focus, despite announcements Thursday that it ended. Prison officials acknowledge that prisoners for the fourth week are refusing food numbers in the hundreds. Advocates say the number could be in the thousands after California Department of Corrections (CDC) negotiated a token agreement pertaining only to Pelican Bay.

For hours after announcements that the strike ended, communications flying between frustrated reporters recently banned from California prisons, attorneys and family members of prisoners concluded a twofold analysis. The strike ended at Pelican Bay Prison, but until the five core demands are met there, strike leaders’ message to the public is to continue national protests. Secondly, since Thursday’s “token agreement” only pertained to Pelican Bay, the spiraled strike at up to 15 other prisons continues.

A message to the public from the 11 strike leaders was issued by attorney Marilyn McMahon at 7 p.m. PST, Thursday, during a World Can’t Wait teleconference with 15 prisoner advocates and reporters across the nation. Hunger strike leaders had just requested that McMahon relay the public message that the sole reason they got this far is due to “outside actions.” They said they need the “outside movement to continue to make sure the agreement is kept,” especially related to “isolation units.”

According to McMahon, only a “few token gestures have been made by officials” and “people are still being tortured in America.”
Family and supporters of the hunger strikers rallied outside of CDCR headquarters in Sacramento, July 18 – Photo: Grant Slater, KPCC

California Prison Focus issued a statement late Thursday confirming hunger strike leaders at Pelican Bay entered into an agreement with CDCR officials “to end their hunger strike in exchange for a major policy review of SHU housing conditions, gang validation process and debriefing process.”

Among “over 7,000 prisoners” hunger striking since July 1, 17 Pelican Bay prisoners are in the “worst” shape, having lost 20 to 35 pounds, McMahon said. Strike leaders told her Thursday that they all look “shrunken.”

“They are amazingly mentally clear,” she said. “Many people in the SHU are political prisoners. The only chance they have to ever touch their babies is to debrief.”

Debriefing involves snitching on another inmate, denouncing him as a gang member. This automatically results in exoneration of the snitcher and condemnation of the target. The target is then transferred, with no other evidence, to a Security Housing Unit (SHU) for 23 hours per day of indefinite solitary confinement, putting an end to contact with children and other family members that predictably results in mental injury. Some have been in the SHU for 30 years, according to McMahon.

Among prison protesters’ five core demands is ending the debriefing policy, as reported by LA Times.

Official count of prisoners still refusing food

Hours after announcing the historical hunger strike ended at Pelican Bay, CDC officials acknowledged that over 500 inmates continued to refuse meals at three other state prisons: “More than 400 at the California State Prison in Corcoran … more than 100 at California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi [and] about 29 at Calipatria State Prison,” according to prison spokeswoman Terry Thornton.

LA Times reported that the Pelican Bay inmates “agreed to resume eating in exchange for ‘cold-weather caps, wall calendars and some educational opportunities,’” according to a statement by CDC Secretary Matthew Cate on Thursday morning.

Thornton, who called the strikers a “moving target,” stated that many hunger strikers accepted meals at varying points during the three-week protest, but, as family members have gone on record stating, some prison officials were telling prisoners days ago that the strike ended.

Thornton also stated that about 110 inmates “continuously refused state issued food from July 1 through yesterday,” July 20, the day before the Pelican Bay prison strike officially ended.

Seventeen inmates with “early symptoms of starvation” were moved from Pelican Bay to Corcoran Prison to ensure “sufficient and appropriate medical resources” for treatment if they continued striking, said Nancy Kincaid, spokeswoman for the federal receiver overseeing prison healthcare.

Torture in California prisons can end, Gov. Jerry Brown

CDC used cruel actions to end the strike, according to Carol Strickman, a staff attorney for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and staff to the mediation team representing the hunger strikers.
Guards at Pelican Bay conduct a search of a prisoner’s SHU cell. – Photo: Laura Sullivan

In a July 13 interview, Strickman reported to Revolution: “They passed around a flyer saying that this is what will happen if you go on strike …There has been retaliation … provocative acts before the hunger strike started, for example, ‘potty watch,’ not only of the leaders, but of anyone that has indicated support.”

“[Potty Watch is] a very cruel procedure where people are restrained for three days, put in diapers and unable to move their arms sometimes, or forced to stand, or strapped down. The rationale is that the prisoner has swallowed contraband and we are going to see it. We’re going to wait for three days and monitor their bowel movements and find the thing they’ve swallowed. But, it’s used for other reasons.

“It’s used as punishment even if they know that there is nothing there. This shouldn’t be used, even if they think that there is something that the prisoner has swallowed. It’s painful. People can’t sleep. They can’t move their arms.

“I heard that sometimes their arms are put in a plastic pipe … We heard of that happening to one or two people before the hunger strike started in Pelican Bay.”

California prison torture, dangerous snitching policy and poor sanitary conditions prompted the well planned hunger strike that continues spiraling throughout the California prison system and now across America where protests have been held and a national day of solidarity is developing.

Presente! highlights most strikers are Latinos and African Americans. Presente! is among many national organizations calling on Americans in all states to tell Gov. Brown to address inhumane conditions, force CDC to address the inhumane conditions in California prisons and implement Supreme Court and other courts’ orders.

“Regardless of whatever crimes they’ve committed, inmates are only demanding that the state of California do what is required by law: provide humane conditions to inmates,” Presente! stated late Thursday after announcements that the strike ended.

“This crisis is unacceptable and the only person able to respond quickly to this situation is California Gov. Jerry Brown.”

Lessons learned, a gift to Americans

Both attorneys, Strickman and McMahon, highlight that a unique and important essence of this hunger strike is that it transcends all groups and gangs. “The prison is interested in defining groups, labeling groups. You have to be in one group,” said Strickman.

Through leadership of 11 men in Pelican Bay Prison, all the prison groups came together for the common good, a model for all Americans according to McMahon on Thursday.

Strickman said, “I’ve heard prisoners use the term collective.”

“Groups that have been mortal enemies have come together around this and that is very uncomfortable for CDCR so they are doing things to try and break that unity.”

The final message from the 11 hunger strike leaders was one to America’s youth in gangs: “Our message to youth is our example: unity. Then go after the real enemies.”

Learn more

To support the historical peaceful hunger strike in Pelican Bay and other California Prisons entering its fourth week, “every person of conscience needs to think about what actions they can take in support,” according to Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity. For more information, see http://prisonerhungerstrik​ esolidarity.wordpress.com/.

Deborah Dupre holds American and Australian science and education graduate degrees and has 30 years experience in human rights, environmental and peace activism. Email her at Gdeborahdupre@gmail.com and visit her website, www.DeborahDupre.com. This story first appeared at Examiner.com.

–
Mary Ratcliff
SF Bay View
(415) 671-0789
www.sfbayview.co

Hunger strikes and national protests continue

Hunger strikes and national protests continue

http://sfbayview.com/2011/hunger-strikes-and-national-protests-continue/

Hunger strikes and national protests continue
July 22, 2011

Protesting torture in America continues in and out of prisons

BACK TO SAC ON MONDAY! The hunger strike continues in Tehachapi, Corcoran and Calipatria state prisons, so we’ll keep the pressure on CDCR and Gov. Jerry Brown! On Monday, July 25, noon-4 p.m., prisoners’ families and supporters will meet in Sacramento, at Fremont Park, 15th & Q, at 11:30 a.m.; march to CDCR headquarters, 1515 S St., rally noon-2 p.m.; march to State Building to deliver organizational letter to Gov. Jerry Brown’s office 2-4 p.m. Meanwhile, keep calling CDCR and Gov. Brown demanding more humane treatment of prisoners across California.

by Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

The historical prisoner hunger strike led by 11 now “shrunken” but alive Pelican Bay Prison inmates advocating human rights, peace and justice continues according to officials, prisoners’ families and prisoner attorney Marilyn McMahon of California Prison Focus, despite announcements Thursday that it ended. Prison officials acknowledge that prisoners for the fourth week are refusing food numbers in the hundreds. Advocates say the number could be in the thousands after California Department of Corrections (CDC) negotiated a token agreement pertaining only to Pelican Bay.

For hours after announcements that the strike ended, communications flying between frustrated reporters recently banned from California prisons, attorneys and family members of prisoners concluded a twofold analysis. The strike ended at Pelican Bay Prison, but until the five core demands are met there, strike leaders’ message to the public is to continue national protests. Secondly, since Thursday’s “token agreement” only pertained to Pelican Bay, the spiraled strike at up to 15 other prisons continues.

A message to the public from the 11 strike leaders was issued by attorney Marilyn McMahon at 7 p.m. PST, Thursday, during a World Can’t Wait teleconference with 15 prisoner advocates and reporters across the nation. Hunger strike leaders had just requested that McMahon relay the public message that the sole reason they got this far is due to “outside actions.” They said they need the “outside movement to continue to make sure the agreement is kept,” especially related to “isolation units.”

According to McMahon, only a “few token gestures have been made by officials” and “people are still being tortured in America.”
Family and supporters of the hunger strikers rallied outside of CDCR headquarters in Sacramento, July 18 – Photo: Grant Slater, KPCC

California Prison Focus issued a statement late Thursday confirming hunger strike leaders at Pelican Bay entered into an agreement with CDCR officials “to end their hunger strike in exchange for a major policy review of SHU housing conditions, gang validation process and debriefing process.”

Among “over 7,000 prisoners” hunger striking since July 1, 17 Pelican Bay prisoners are in the “worst” shape, having lost 20 to 35 pounds, McMahon said. Strike leaders told her Thursday that they all look “shrunken.”

“They are amazingly mentally clear,” she said. “Many people in the SHU are political prisoners. The only chance they have to ever touch their babies is to debrief.”

Debriefing involves snitching on another inmate, denouncing him as a gang member. This automatically results in exoneration of the snitcher and condemnation of the target. The target is then transferred, with no other evidence, to a Security Housing Unit (SHU) for 23 hours per day of indefinite solitary confinement, putting an end to contact with children and other family members that predictably results in mental injury. Some have been in the SHU for 30 years, according to McMahon.

Among prison protesters’ five core demands is ending the debriefing policy, as reported by LA Times.

Official count of prisoners still refusing food

Hours after announcing the historical hunger strike ended at Pelican Bay, CDC officials acknowledged that over 500 inmates continued to refuse meals at three other state prisons: “More than 400 at the California State Prison in Corcoran … more than 100 at California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi [and] about 29 at Calipatria State Prison,” according to prison spokeswoman Terry Thornton.

LA Times reported that the Pelican Bay inmates “agreed to resume eating in exchange for ‘cold-weather caps, wall calendars and some educational opportunities,’” according to a statement by CDC Secretary Matthew Cate on Thursday morning.

Thornton, who called the strikers a “moving target,” stated that many hunger strikers accepted meals at varying points during the three-week protest, but, as family members have gone on record stating, some prison officials were telling prisoners days ago that the strike ended.

Thornton also stated that about 110 inmates “continuously refused state issued food from July 1 through yesterday,” July 20, the day before the Pelican Bay prison strike officially ended.

Seventeen inmates with “early symptoms of starvation” were moved from Pelican Bay to Corcoran Prison to ensure “sufficient and appropriate medical resources” for treatment if they continued striking, said Nancy Kincaid, spokeswoman for the federal receiver overseeing prison healthcare.

Torture in California prisons can end, Gov. Jerry Brown

CDC used cruel actions to end the strike, according to Carol Strickman, a staff attorney for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and staff to the mediation team representing the hunger strikers.
Guards at Pelican Bay conduct a search of a prisoner’s SHU cell. – Photo: Laura Sullivan

In a July 13 interview, Strickman reported to Revolution: “They passed around a flyer saying that this is what will happen if you go on strike …There has been retaliation … provocative acts before the hunger strike started, for example, ‘potty watch,’ not only of the leaders, but of anyone that has indicated support.”

“[Potty Watch is] a very cruel procedure where people are restrained for three days, put in diapers and unable to move their arms sometimes, or forced to stand, or strapped down. The rationale is that the prisoner has swallowed contraband and we are going to see it. We’re going to wait for three days and monitor their bowel movements and find the thing they’ve swallowed. But, it’s used for other reasons.

“It’s used as punishment even if they know that there is nothing there. This shouldn’t be used, even if they think that there is something that the prisoner has swallowed. It’s painful. People can’t sleep. They can’t move their arms.

“I heard that sometimes their arms are put in a plastic pipe … We heard of that happening to one or two people before the hunger strike started in Pelican Bay.”

California prison torture, dangerous snitching policy and poor sanitary conditions prompted the well planned hunger strike that continues spiraling throughout the California prison system and now across America where protests have been held and a national day of solidarity is developing.

Presente! highlights most strikers are Latinos and African Americans. Presente! is among many national organizations calling on Americans in all states to tell Gov. Brown to address inhumane conditions, force CDC to address the inhumane conditions in California prisons and implement Supreme Court and other courts’ orders.

“Regardless of whatever crimes they’ve committed, inmates are only demanding that the state of California do what is required by law: provide humane conditions to inmates,” Presente! stated late Thursday after announcements that the strike ended.

“This crisis is unacceptable and the only person able to respond quickly to this situation is California Gov. Jerry Brown.”

Lessons learned, a gift to Americans

Both attorneys, Strickman and McMahon, highlight that a unique and important essence of this hunger strike is that it transcends all groups and gangs. “The prison is interested in defining groups, labeling groups. You have to be in one group,” said Strickman.

Through leadership of 11 men in Pelican Bay Prison, all the prison groups came together for the common good, a model for all Americans according to McMahon on Thursday.

Strickman said, “I’ve heard prisoners use the term collective.”

“Groups that have been mortal enemies have come together around this and that is very uncomfortable for CDCR so they are doing things to try and break that unity.”

The final message from the 11 hunger strike leaders was one to America’s youth in gangs: “Our message to youth is our example: unity. Then go after the real enemies.”

Learn more

To support the historical peaceful hunger strike in Pelican Bay and other California Prisons entering its fourth week, “every person of conscience needs to think about what actions they can take in support,” according to Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity. For more information, see http://prisonerhungerstrik​ esolidarity.wordpress.com/.

Deborah Dupre holds American and Australian science and education graduate degrees and has 30 years experience in human rights, environmental and peace activism. Email her at Gdeborahdupre@gmail.com and visit her website, www.DeborahDupre.com. This story first appeared at Examiner.com.

–
Mary Ratcliff
SF Bay View
(415) 671-0789
www.sfbayview.co

SIGNIFICANT GAINS AT PELICAN BAY & ALL PRISONERS RTS! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

YC] SIGNIFICANT GAINS AT PELICAN BAY & ALL PRISONERS RTS! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
TO: 1 recipient
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Message body

From: Hungerstrike News
Subject: Hungerstrike News No. 6, Day Twenty Two – Moving Forward

Hungerstrike News
July 22, 2011, Day 22
No. 6

Day 22: Moving Forward

drawing by
Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, who has been held in segregation in the Virginia prison system since 1994. To see more of Rashid’s artwork and writings, see www.rashidmod.com

Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition

July 22 – Mediators from Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity’s Mediation team spoke with the Short Corridor Collective, four representatives of the hunger strike leaders at Pelican Bay and confirmed the leaders have accepted an offer from the CDCR.

When this news was announced at a vigil in Oakland last night, one family member responded: “I’m not going to believe it until my son tells me so.” She will be seeing him at Pelican Bay this weekend.
According to family members and friends of prisoners, as well as the CDCR, hunger strikers continue to refuse food across CA- in at least CCI Tehachapi, Corcoran and Calipatria. It is unclear how long they will continue, if they are aware of the agreement or even believe given the misinformation CDCR has been circulating. As families and friends gear up for another round of weekend visits, we will have more information as to whether hunger strikers will continue protesting CDCR’s policies and conditions in the coming days.

The leaders confirmed CDCR’s announcement that immediate changes in SHU policy are the opportunity for some educational programs, provision of all-weather caps (beanies) and wall calendars. More substantially, the leaders explained the CDCR has agreed to investigate changes to other policies including the gang validation and debriefing processes, and it is now up to supporters outside prison to make sure the CDCR upholds their promise.

Many supporters, as well as the Pelican Bay hunger strike leaders, see this as a victory. The leaders explained to the mediation team they are overwhelmed by the support and solidarity of family members, community members, organizations, and people across the world joining their fight for human rights, and cannot adequately express their appreciation. They also explained this is in no way over. Using a sports reference, the Short Corridor Collective insisted: “this is just the first quarter,” and what a start it has been.

The Pelican Bay Hunger Strike leaders also ask all supporters, including the mediation team to continue working together, to expand and to stay involved in making sure these demands are met fully, and that prisoners everywhere are recognized and treated as human beings.

The goal of the hunger strike was not to let prisoners starve, but was to expose the torturous conditions of imprisonment (especially Security Housing Units), to win the 5 core demands at Pelican Bay, to end long-term solitary confinement. This past week Secretary Cate began threatening to issue force-feeding orders, a process is both dangerous and painful. It’s important for those of us on the outside to recognize that the hunger strikers were faced with two choices: increased or intensified torture or death. In the end, these aren’t really choices at all. The leaders chose to live to fight for justice another day, and to grow and strengthen the tremendous support and collaborations they have started.

Some gains so far:

While the CDCR vigorously dehumanizes prisoners, and refused to negotiate, saying (“we don’t negotiate with prisoners”), they were effectively forced into offering an agreement to make changes;
this historic strike has demanded everyone who is against torture in any way to recognize prisoners as human beings, to act on their beliefs that no one should ever be tortured;
this historic hunger strike has widened and intensified international scrutiny into prison conditions and policies in California, and around the United States, as well as solidarity in intervening in CDCR “business as usual.” According to Terry Thorton, spokesperson for CDCR, this strike was “a major disruption to CDCR’s normal operations” (i.e. of control, isolation and torture);
this historic strike has (re)inspired prisoners to work together in struggling for their humanity to be recognized;
this historic strike has proven to family members, former prisoners, advocates, lawyers, faith-based and religious groups, medical professionals, and community members and organizations that we can and need to continue to work together better in the struggle to change the conditions we live in, and to transform the devastation and disappearance prisons cause in our communities
this historic strike has re-invigorated rigorous and collective prisoner-led resistance in the US.
Meanwhile, support for the hunger strike clearly needs to continue to grow. Events are still happening, including another mobilization to Sacramento to pressure Jerry Brown to take action regarding torturous conditions of CA’s prisons. (More details of this action coming soon. Click here to read a letter to Jerry Brown signed by organizations in support of the strike that will be delivered to Jerry Brown at the action on Monday, July 25) Family members also continue to meet with each other. In the Bay Area on Tuesday evening, a meeting will be held for family members to discuss how they want to move forward with this struggle. More details coming soon.

Also, a legislative hearing will be held on August 23rd in Sacramento investigating Pelican Bay’s SHU.

Please stay tuned for more information, and hear the prisoners call to continue working together to amplify their voices and to resist torture and imprisonment!

*******************************************************************************************************

Prisoners at Pelican Bay End Hunger Strike, Declare Victory
Lawyers and Mediators Share Messages from Hunger Strike Leaders

For Immediate Release – July 22, 2011

Press Contact: Molly Porzig

Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity
510-444-0484
650-380-4107 cell

What: Press Conference
Where: California State Building, 1515 Clay St, Oakland
When: 11am, July 22, 2011

Oakland – Lawyers, mediators and prisoner’s family members will hold a press conference on July 22, 2011 at the California State Building in Oakland announcing that prisoners at Pelican Bay have ended a hunger strike that began on July 1st. The prisoners collectively decided to end their strike when presented with an offer by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) meeting at least one of their demands. “The prisoners have been offered cold weather caps, calendars and the possibility of some educational opportunities in the Secure Housing Unit (SHU),” says Carol Strickman, a lawyer with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children who spoke by phone with four of the hunger strike leaders today, “They understand this is a victory not just because of the concessions that were offered, but because the tremendous international outcry around the conditions at Pelican Bay has made it possible to move towards lasting changes for prisoners across California.”

The strike, which lasted three weeks, received broad international support and prompted California lawmakers to initiate hearings on conditions in the SHU, including the practice of long-term solitary confinement. “While the strike might be over, conditions at Pelican Bay and around California remain deplorable,” says Emily Harris, coordinator of Californians United for a Responsible Budget. “The culmination of this hunger strike must be viewed in light of the fact that the CDCR is in federal receivership because it provides substandard medical care to prisoners. This will be an ongoing struggle.”

The Pelican Bay prisoner hunger strike has been one of the largest and longest strikes by prisoners in California history, with more than 6,600 prisoners participating at the height of the strike. A source at the Associated Press notified supporters that prisoners at Calipatria, Corcoran and Tehachapi state prisons remain on strike as of July 21st.Manuel LaFontaine, an organizer with All of Us or None, points out “This strike has been really significant in terms of the media attention it has received but more importantly because it marks a shift in terms of “business as usual” for the CDCR.”

Advocates and lawyers will continue to monitor conditions in the SHU at Pelican Bay State Prison and encourage ongoing review of conditions of confinement in all California prisons.

###

Recent Media Coverage

Isolation, indeterminate sentences used to extract confessions at California supermax prisons
by Jeff Kaye, San Francisco Bay View July 22, 2011
Prison Rebellions as a Window to the New World: Every Crook Can Govern
By George Ciccariello-Maher and Jeff St. Andrews, Counterpunch July 22 2011
As Prisoners End Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay, Their Cause Continues
by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, Solitary Watch July 22 2011
California prison hunger strike still on
Los Angeles Times July 21, 2011
Hunger strike still on at 3 Calif. prisons
UPI July 21, 2011
Prison hunger strike ends after 20 days; advocates say strike raised awareness about prison conditions
Thadeus Greenson and Kaci Poor, (Eureka)The Times-Standard, July 22 2011
California Prison Hunger Strike Ends Peacefully
by David Seth Michaels, The Dream Antilles July 22 2011
California prison officials say the Pelican Bay hunger strike is over, activists accuse the authorities of lying
Free Speech Radio, July 22 2011
Torture in America: Calif. prison hunger strikes, national protests continue
by Deborah Dupre, Examiner.com July 22, 2011
Mary Bottari on ALEC Exposed, Marjorie Cohn on prison hunger strike
CounterSpin (7/22/11-7/28/11)
The Next Movement: Pelican Bay Prison Hunger Strike
The Next Movement, July 21, 2011
What we can do in other countries to SUPPORT the Californian HUNGERSTRIKERS!
Brighton ABC, July 21 2011
Hunger Strike Puts Focus On Calif. Prison Conditions
KOSU News. July 21, 2011
The prison hunger strike is overŠ or is it?
By Josh Richman, Political Blotter July 21st, 2011
Hunger Strike Leaders confirm that the Hunger Strike is over.
My Brother’s Keeper July 21, 2011
What the Hunger Strikers Demand
by Azadeh Zorabi, Ella Baker Center Blog Jul 21, 2011
Providence, RI Solidarity for Pelican Bay Prisoners
Propaganda Lalaland July 21, 2011
Statements from Human Rights and Civil Rights Groups Support Pelican Bay Hunger Strikers
by Sal Rodriguez, Solitary Watch
Pelican Bay Prison Inmates End Hunger Strike
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Pelican Bay Ends Hunger Strike
Prisonmovement’s Weblog July 21 2011
Enough is enough: Pelican Bay Hunger Strike and the Abysmal Conditions in America’s prisons
by David Leonard, Your Black World July 21 2011
Media denied access to California jails
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Hunger strike called off
by George Gale, KXO Radio 21 July 2011
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Prison hunger strike over, officials say
By Silvio J. Panta Imperial Valley Press, July 22, 2011
California Prison Hunger Strike Ends
Huffington Post July 21 2011
Prison officials say hunger strike ends at Pelican Bay
Jack Dolan, LA Times July 21 2011
California inmates end 3-week hunger strike
Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle July 21, 2011
Hunger Strike Puts Focus On Calif. Prison Conditions
by Carrie Kahn, All Things Considered, NPR July 21, 2011
Hunger Strike Puts Focus On Calif. Prison Conditions
by Carrie Kahn, WBEZ 91.5, July 21, 2011
Calif. prison officials: Inmates end hunger strike
By Paul Elias, Associated Press, July 21, 2011
Pelican Bay inmates end hunger strike
By Record Searchlight staff, Record Searchlight, July 21, 2011
Pelican Bay inmates halt hunger strike
By Sam Stanton Sacto 9-1-1 July 21 2011
Inmates end hunger strike after 21 days
Times-Standard Online July 21 2011
Prisoner hunger strike has ended, prison official says
Larry Mantle & Eric Zassenhaus, 89.3 KPCC July 21 2011
The Lying Liars and the tales they tellŠ..
Prisonmovement’s Weblog July 21 2011
Prisoners in Solitary Confinement on 21st Day of Hunger Strike – Department of Corrections is LYING About the Strike & Prisoners’ Medical Conditions!
Redwood Curtain CopWatch July 21 2011
Prison officials: Hunger strike is over
LA Times, July 21, 2011
Statement by CDCR on Inmate Hunger Strike
CDCR Today July 21, 2011
Pelican Bay Prison force-feed showdown: Just follow orders or human rights?
Deborah Dupre, Examiner.com July 21, 2011

Wednesday’s demo in Providence, RI

Needless to say, a link to an article does not imply endorsement.

Click here for complete list of links to news articles since July 1.

ents
(next 72 hours)

In the US:

California

Chino
July 23, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Day 23 Hunger Strike Support Rally: @ CIM 14901 Central Ave Chino CA 91710 (we will probably arrive by 8:00 a.m.)
Please note the the rally at Chino has been canceled.

Los Angeles
July 22, 9:00AM-5:00PM – All Day Action – Downtown Los Angeles, Ronald Reagan State Building,300 South Spring St (between 3rd and 4th st),Los Angeles, CA 90013(@ 5pm march to LA County Jail)

July 22, 2011 from 7:00 p.m. till 8:30 p.m. @ Los Angeles Co Jail 441 Bauchet St LA 90012( be prepared to walk thru the streets of Los Angeles @ 8:30 p.m. to pass out info flyers and get petitions signed)

Ohio
Youngstown

Sat. July 23: From Supermax to Supermax – Rally 2:00-4:00 pm at Ohio’s supermax, Ohio State Penitentiary, 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd., Youngstown, OH 44505. Followed by a reception, discussion and DVD on physical & psychological torture USP at Marion. Come to St. Augustine’s Church, 614 Parmalee Ave., Youngstown, OH 44510.

This list is of upcoming events we know of within the next 72 hours – for a complete list click here

If you are organizing an event in your area, let us know!

Also, if you’d like photos of your actions to appear in Hungerstrike News, just send us an email…

Hungerstrike News can be reached at hstrikenews@yahoo.ca

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———————————————————-

Since July 1, thousands of prisoners across California have participated in a hunger strike against torturous conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit. Roughly one hundred prisoners have stated that they will refuse food until death if their demands for basic human rights are not met.

Hungerstrike News documents their struggle and the actions of those who stand in solidarity with them.
MAKE CALLS AND
WRITE LETTERS OF PROTEST TO:

Secretary Matthew Cate
CDCR
1515 S Street
Sacramento
95814
TEL: (916) 323-6001

Governor Jerry Brown
State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814

TEL: (916) 445-2841

CDCR Public Affairs Office: (916)445-4950
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If you have a website or blog and would like to help promote Hungerstrike News, get in touch.

To subscribe, send an email to hstrikenews@yahoo.ca or go to:http://www.kersplebedeb.com/hungerstrikenews.php

Revised announcement for call-ins for Hunger Strike and Leonard Peltier

CORRECTION FOR CALL IN TIMES in previous announcement: It should be 10am-2p for PACIFIC, and 1-5pm for EASTERN.

FYI: Pelican Bay prisoners have ended their hunger strike, but Calipatria, Corcoran and Tehachapi state prisons remain on strike.
See http://ymlp.com/z7Uytf and http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/

I have created a revised announcement below, calling for people to call-in EVERY Thursday and Friday until the demands are met:
========================================================================================

FORWARD, REPOST, CALL!

This coming Thursday and Friday

Call for the CA Prison Hunger Strikers and Leonard Peltier!

Open the Cages!
—————————

THURSDAY- Call for the CA Prison Hunger Strikers!
10am-2pm Pacific (1pm-5pm Eastern)

Prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State
Prison (California) began a hunger strike on
July 1, 2011 to protest the cruel, inhumane and tortuous conditions of
their imprisonment. At least 6,600 prisoners across the state of CA
have joined them in solidarity with their demands. Though Pelican Bay
prisoners have accepted an offer from the CDCR which grants night caps
(beanies), wall calendars, and some educational program opportunities,
the rest of their demands have not been met and hundreds of prisoners at
Calipatria, Corcoran and Tehachapi remain on strike.

Support the hunger strikers by contacting the CDCR and urging them to
negotiate with the prisoners and honor their 5 demands!

http://prisonerhungerstrik ​esolidarity.wordpress.com/

Make Calls to:

Secretary Matthew Cate, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Phone: (916) 323-6001

CDCR Public Affairs Office: (916)445-4950

CA Governor Jerry Brown: (916) 445-2841

Sample Script for Phone Calls:

“Hi my name is _________ . I’m calling about the statewide prisoner
hunger strike that began at Pelican Bay and continues today at
Tehachapi, Corocoran and Calipatria. I support the prisoners &
their reasonable “five core demands.” I am alarmed by the rapidly
deteriorating medical conditions of the hunger strikers. I urge you to
make sure the CDCR negotiates with the prisoners who continue to hunger strike,
immediately & in good faith, before prisoners are force-fed or even die, and I urge you to ensure
that the CDCR keeps good on the offer it has made to Pelican Bay prisoners. Thank you.”

http://prisonerhungerstrik ​esolidarity.wordpress.com/ ​take-action/cdcr-and-calif ​ornia-elected-officials-co ​ntact-informaion/
http://www.nytimes.com/201 ​1/07/08/us/08hunger.html
http://www.change.org/peti ​tions/support-prisoners-on ​-hunger-strike-at-pelican- ​bay-state-prison
—————————————————————————— ​———————————————————————

FRIDAY– Call for Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier!
10am-2pm Pacific (1pm-5pm Eastern)

(Info below abridged and adapted from alert launched into cyberspace
by Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee)
http://www.whoisleonardpel ​tier.info/alert.htm

On June 27, the 66-year-old Leonard Peltier was thrown in “The Hole”
at USP-Lewisburg where he purportedly will stay for the next six
months. According to what is currently known, Leonard’s cell was
searched that day. A guard allegedly was shocked by a wire(s) in the
cell. The guard claimed “assault.” Leonard wasn’t present during the
search, having already been removed to “The Hole”.

Reference “Leonard Peltier #89637-132″ being unfairly put in
(administrative) segregation or detention– and for an unfairly long
amount of time.

Call USP Lewisburg at 570-523-1251 and ask for Warden Bledsoe

Dr. Thomas Kane, Acting Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)-

(202) 307-3250 (Director)

Or (202) 307-3198 (Switchboard)

———————————
Call every Thursday and Friday until the demands are met! Call other days of the week too and don’t limit yourself to calling!

See http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/demonstrations-actions-events-in-the-us-canada/ for demonstrations/events near you!

What we can do in other countries to SUPPORT the Californian HUNGERSTRIKERS!

What we can do in other countries to SUPPORT the Californian HUNGERSTRIKERS!

Since July 1, thousands of prisoners across California have participated in a hunger strike against torturous conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison‘s Security Housing Unit. It started with roughly one hundred prisoners that stated that they will refuse food until death if their demands for basic human rights are not met. At least 400 prisoners at Pelican Bay continue to refuse food and thousands more around the state are striking in solidarity. Now MORE than 6,600 prisoners in California, many of whom are in maximum isolation units, have gone on a hunger strike.

 

Last week the leaders of the strike decided to continue striking because the CDCR failed to address any of their five core demands during negotiations. The strike is reaching a critical point with reports of dozens of striking prisoners being taken to the infirmary because of irregular heartbeats or fainting.  

 

“What’s most troubling is that the CDCR has not offered anything substantial in response to the prisoner’s demands, which include an end to long term solitary confinement. Some of these guys have been in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) for 20 years or more and are suffering the severe affects of being locked in a 6 x 10 concrete cell for 23 ½ hours a day. What they are asking for are basic human rights.” says Carol Strickman, a lawyer with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and member of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity legal team.

 

The hunger strikers believe that this is the only way they can get the CDCR to rectify the conditions they are experiencing in the SHU. They believe they have no other recourse. Legal avenues are closed. Communication with the outside world, even with family members, is so restricted as to be meaningless. Possessions – paper and pencil, reading matter, photos of family members, even hand-drawn pictures – are removed. Many of these prisoners have been sent to virtually total isolation and enforced idleness for no crime, not even for alleged infractions of prison regulations. Their isolation, which can last for decades, is often not explicitly disciplinary, and therefore not subject to court oversight. Their treatment is simply a matter of administrative convenience. The UN has characterized their imprisonment as ‘inhumane and degrading’.

Officials at Pelican Bay claim that those incarcerated in the Security Housing Unit are “the worst of the worst.” Yet often it is the most vulnerable, especially the mentally ill, not the most violent, who end up in indefinite isolation. Placement is haphazard and arbitrary; it focuses on those perceived as troublemakers or simply disliked by correctional officers and, most of all, alleged gang members. Often, the decisions are not based on evidence. And before the inmates are released from the barbarity of isolation into normal prison conditions (themselves shameful) they are often expected to “debrief,” or spill the beans on other gang members. Now refusing to eat is regarded as a threat, too. Authorities are considering force-feeding. It is likely it will be carried out – as it has been, and possibly still continues to be at Guantánamo (in possible violation of international law) and in an evil caricature of medical care. While the CDCR has claimed that there is no medical crisis, mediators report that the principal hunger strikers have lost 25-35 pounds each and have underlying medical conditions of concern.

The 5 Basic demands are:

1. End “Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse
2. Abolish Debriefing Policy & Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria: People inside prisons should not be categorized and punished as gang members just because another person says they are part of a gang in order to get out of the SHU.
3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety & Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006 Recommendations regarding an End to Long-term Solitary Confinement; people want adequate natural sunlight, quality health care and treatment
4. Provide Adequate & Nutritious Food: Not use food as punishment
5. Expand & Provide Constructive Programming & Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Prisoners: (i.e. visitation, phone calls, mail, radio, etc)

If demands are not met soon, people will begin to die….

———————————————–

What we can do:

1 – Make calls and write letters of protest to: 

Governor Jerry Brown
State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814

TEL: (916) 445-2841

 

Secretary Matthew Cate
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
1515 S Street
Sacramento  95814
Phone: (916) 323-6001
CDCR Public Affairs Office: (916)445-4950


Sample Script for letters and phone calls:


“My name is _________ . I’m calling about the state wide prisoner hunger strike that began at Pelican Bay. I support the prisoners & their reasonable “five core demands.” I am alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating medical conditions of the hunger strikers & the inaction of the CDCR. I urge you to make sure the CDCR negotiates with the prisoners and the outside mediation team the prisoners have approved, immediately & in good faith, before prisoners are force-fed or even die”.

2 – Make calls and write letters of protest to the US Embassy in your country

3 – If you have a website or blog help promote the hunger strike news

4 – Keep yourself informed: 

To sign up to the newsletter send an email to hstrikenews@yahoo.ca  or go to: http://www.kersplebedeb.com/hungerstrikenews.php

5 – Look here for more ways to get involved :

http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/

6 – Sign the on-line petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/support-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-at-pelican-bay-state-prison

7 – Send this info to friends

8 – Organize a solidarity demonstration or action

 

9 – Write to the strike leaders at Pelican Bay and send them your words of encouragement and support:

Todd Ashker C-58191
Sitawa N. Jamaa / s.n. Dewberry C-35671
Antonio Guillen P-81948
Lewis Powell B-59864
Paul Redd B-72683
Alfred Sandoval D-61000
Danny Troxell B-76578
James Williamson D-34288
Ronnie Yandell V-27927

All at PBSP, PO Box 7500, Crescent City, CA  95532. USA

10 – Ask local unions, professional groups, or organisations to issue a public declaration of support

————————————————

“If they only touch you when you’re at the end of a chain, then they can’t see you as anything but a dog. Now I can’t see my face in the mirror. I’ve lost my skin. I can’t feel my mind.” – the effects of long term isolation.

Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Radio Broadcast “Dying For Sunlight” (Pelican Bay Hunger Strike)

Mumia Abu-Jamal‘s Radio Broadcasts

Higher Quality Audio files available info@prisonradio.org

Copyright 2010 Mumia Abu-Jamal/Prison Radio

“Dying For Sunlight” (Pelican Bay Hunger Strike)

 

Recorded 7-17-11

1) 1:57 “Dying For Sunlight” (Pelican Bay Hunger Strike) Mp3 version (smaller file)

1) 1:57 “Dying For Sunlight” (Pelican Bay Hunger Strike) Aiff version (larger file)

DYING FOR SUNLIGHT
col. writ. 6/15/11 (c) ’11 Mumia Abu Jamal

Today, at the notorious California super-maximum prison, Pelican Bay, hundreds of prisoners are on a hunger strike. As of July 1, 2011 a number of men ceased eating state meals in protest of  horrendously long-term confinement, government repression, lack of programs and the hated gang affiliation rules.

According to California Prison Focus, the health of some the men are dangerously deteriorating. Some have ceased drinking, as well as eating and haven’t urinated in days. Some are threatened by renal failure, which can result in death.

Why? The demands of the strikers seem relatively tame, which gives us some insight into the level of repression. The five core demands are:

1.     Individual instead of group responsibility.
2.     Abolition of the “gang-debriefing” policy, which endangers both those who debrief and/or their families.
3.     An end to long-term solitary confinement.
4.     Adequate food, and
5.     Constructive programs, such as art, phone privileges and the like.

A sub-demand is adequate natural sunlight – sunlight.  There are few things more torturous than dying by starvation. These men are killing themselves potentially for fresh air and sunlight, and about a third of California prisoners, 11 out of 33 prisons,  have joined them.

Contact the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition to find out how to support this effort for human rights. On the web at: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com

From Death Row, this is Mumia Abu Jamal.

 

PLEASE CONTACT:
International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Phone – 215-476-8812/ Fax – 215-476-6180
E-mail – icffmaj@aol.com
AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!

Submitted by: Sis. Marpessa

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#1-800-533-8478.]

“When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is
just, yet refuse to defend it–at that moment you begin to die.
And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about
justice.” – Mumia Abu-Jamal

For additional information and to order Mumia’s new book We Want Freedom,

visit: southendpress.org

Check out Mumia’s NEW book:
“Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of the Spiritual Life of African and African-American People” at www.africanworld.com