I recently enjoyed the coverage in your Aug. 5 2011 issue of
Liberation with the article on the Pelican Bay hunger strike. I felt as one of
the participants that I should write in on the nature of these efforts.
Starting on July 1st, prisoners in mass defied
the state by taking on the protest for the years and decades of oppression
forced upon prisoners in Pelican Bay. What the general public doesn’t know is
that we need not look toward Guantanamo Bay for
a glimpse of what torture looks like because what California is doing in
its Security Housing Units (SHUs) in many aspects makes Guantanamo look as
harsh as attending a fat camp. The conditions we see here in Pelican Bay are
not exclusive to this prison or to California.
Indeed, brutality unleashed on
prisoners has gone on since prisons first reached these shores, but what seems
to be unique in Pelican Bay is the psychological protracted warfare inflicted
on SHU prisoners here. These efforts used to break down the will to continue as
a human being are reflected in the solitary confinement (I have been in
solitary since 2007) where some have gone decades in isolation, the sensory
deprivation where you never touch another human being, not even your visitors,
no phone calls, even the temperature is extreme cold with air conditioning full
blast in winter and heater cranked up extreme hot in summer, lights staying on
twenty four hours, lack of salt in food so that slop tastes bland and is so
skimpy that some people at times don’t even accept their trays—and the list
goes on and on.
The reason for placement in SHU remains elusive to the
general public out in society. Prisons claim it is for “gang affiliation”—this
of course is as untrue as the United States having a “justice system.” The
truth is revolutionary prisoners, rebellious prisoners, just about anyone who
refuses to collaborate with prison officials will find themselves in SHU—the
loopholes of what qualifies one to be labeled a “gang affiliate” are just too
great.
Recently I have been following the stepped-up repression on
political activists out there in society, the raids on activists supporting
Gaza or Colombia have been targeted, as well as the Chicano activist who had 40
years of documents pertaining to the Chicano struggle confiscated, and who all
face prison, mirrors what is occurring in California Prisons. [For more on
the case of these targeted activists, visit StopFBI.net – Editors.] It has
always been known that a highly developed intelligence and counter-intelligence
campaign exists in America that is directed towards revolutionaries and
revolutionary groups and that the stepped-up repression on activists shows this
to be true now more than ever. However, most are unaware that this exact
repression has a duplicate underbelly covered in concertina wire and this is
the California prison system. Whereas the community activist is targeted and
labeled a terrorist or terrorist-supporter and thrown in prison, the prisoner
is targeted and labeled a gang member or associate and thrown in SHU.
SHU is used to control the imprisoned masses; it is a tool
used to terrorize the California prison population for everyone knows once you
go to the SHU, the only way to leave is to parole, snitch, or die. This smacks
of the Nazi concentration camps where prisoners there were told the only way to
leave is through chimney.
The hunger strike is officially over, for now. Sacramento
officials sent negotiators who claim to be working on many changes. We will see
if changes occur. We know from experience that we cannot expect the arm of
Imperialism to play fair with the masses whether in prison or out in society,
but time will tell what is needed to obtain basic human rights. But the hunger
strike and the 6000-plus participants and the massive support we received from
the people around the world were far more important than any of the five points
that are sought. This collective effort or united front was a historical
development in the California prison system.
Of course we have seen oppressive prison conditions erupt in
Attica, Santa Fe, and more recently in Georgia and Ohio. But the California
prison system has long had its obstacles for creating conditions for
collaborative struggle and the fact that prisoners regardless of nationality,
belief or geographic situation crossed these boundaries to stand against a
common oppressor was a historical and beautiful act, a revolutionary act!
The people that have resided in this House of Horrors for so
long, who have been used as gladiators, as slaves, and as the worst of the
worst, who have for so many years been portrayed to society as castoffs and
incorrigible have finally found a voice. This discovery has led to a shout that
was heard around the world that said never again will prisoners be brutalized
and be passive and docile. We will let the world know what is taking place in
these control units that turn us all into political prisoners, where supposed
beliefs are used to lock you up in isolation. Not since Hitler’s Germany have
we seen thought crimes legalized on such a mass scale.
The support that revolutionaries out in society gave to
Pelican Bay prisoners was tremendous! Your efforts were applauded and really
made a difference not only for building public opinion but for bringing up morale
during such a trying time. I remember feeling the pangs of hunger and wondering
if our efforts were even being heard, and I would see something in the news or
in a paper about the protests, vigils and efforts out in society to bring
awareness to our plight. At this point, I would get a surge in energy to carry
on in the strike.
The changes that will materialize from this united front
will be seen, but prisoners have definitely flexed an unused muscle. This was
perhaps a prelude to a prison movement that has previously been unseen on these
shores. As we look to history and previous repressive societies, we see
possibilities that are currently unfathomable. We know California has taken a
great leap in the consciousness of prisoners but the potential for further
progress in this area is for the most part still untapped.
We see in history for example when the French colonized the
Vietnamese people and how the French locked up hordes of Vietnamese
revolutionaries and anyone who they though resisted oppression. The prison
conditions were horrific with many being tortured and even killed, and yet
through all this the Vietnamese found ways to turn the prisons into schools of
liberation. The ability to not only survive but to develop politically under
such a repressive regime is remarkable. This gives all prisoners inspiration to
push forth and the understanding that it is possible to transform your
environment and yourself even if your environment consists of a concrete
sarcophagus, the will to resist is unbreakable once you have tasted what true
freedom is or understand a different society is possible.
With a world to win,
Jose
