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2013 August

Monthly Archives: August 2013

CDCR’s $9.2 billion corruption machine vs. Prison Human Rights Movement

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, PBSP-SHU Short Corridor Collective – Aug. 14, 2013 – I would like to reiterate that the Agreement to End All Hostilities, issued Aug. 12, 2012, is significant for all prisoners because CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) has encouraged prisoners in their 33 prisons to not only engage in self-destructive behavior but has also helped heighten racial hostilities – the catalyst for internal warfare, racial warfare and gang warfare – all of which has been magnified inside the prisons and throughout our communities.

Solidarity with California hunger strikers: When darkness sets in

Sitting here in the dark, reflecting on the situation I find myself in, trying to figure out how things got so messed up here in this graveyard, trying to think of ways to uplift my fellow prisoners, bringing all the solid ones together so that we can try to make things better. But I’m just one man in this fight; I’ve only been able to do so much on my own.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg: Fingerprint public housing residents and visitors

In this morning’s John Gambling radio show, Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized Davis v. City of New York, a putative class action lawsuit filed by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) and co-counsel the Legal Aid Society on behalf of plaintiffs challenging the NYPD’s policy and practice of unlawfully stopping and arresting public housing residents and their guests for trespassing.

Calipatria ASU: We continue to hunger strike in dignity

Calipatria ASU is holding strong and still pushing in this hunger strike. Even though many have resumed eating, approximately 30 men back here continue to push for humane change by starving ourselves. It’s devastating to see our own people fall and bow down to their captors and be a slave to the system. CDCr does not care to meet the five demands or anything else related to humane change.

A lesson of the Irish hunger strike

Word from within is that California’s prison hunger strikers have been studying the Irish hunger strike of 1981 led by Bobby Sands, in which 10 Irish republicans died because of the stubborn refusal of Margaret Thatcher to recognize them as human. California Gov. Jerry Brown and California prison officials could learn from the Irish hunger strike as well.

Coalition stops jail construction plan in its tracks

Members of a statewide anti-prison coalition acted swiftly this week to defeat Senate Bill 445 (Hill) Revenue Bond Financing of Prison Construction. Today the bill authored by Sen. Hill died in the Assembly Public Safety Committee when none of the committee members made a motion to bring the bill to a vote.

Celebrating Black Philanthropy Month

Black Philanthropy Month 2013 is being celebrated nationwide this month and it is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. A highlight is the African Dream Summer Ball on Saturday, Aug. 17, hosted by the Bay Area organization Ebusua to benefit AWDF USA’s African Maternal Mortality Crisis campaign.

Hunger strike reminder: SHU isolation cell awaits California lawmakers as legislative session begins

As California legislators return to work this week, prisoner hunger strike family members, loved ones, advocates and supporters will gather at the Capitol to urge state decision makers to take swift and resolute action toward meeting the demands of the strikers. Waiting for the legislators on the Capitol’s south steps will be a life-sized mock Security Housing Unit (SHU) cell.

Hunger strikers, supporters refute CDCR gang propaganda

With the historic California prisoner hunger strike in its 37th day, supporters are outraged that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) continues to characterize the peaceful protest as a gang conspiracy, rather than negotiating with prisoners about their human rights demands.

Hunger striker responds to Corrections Secretary Beard’s op-ed demonizing hunger strikers

Today I read an op-ed from the L.A. Times by the new secretary of the California Department of Corruption. He gave a one sided view of prison violence by talking about the 11 murders of guards in the three years between 1970 and 1973. He failed to mention the 39 inmates murdered between January 1987 and December 1995 in the guard staged gladiator “game” fights.

Hunger Strike Day 35: Crank up the cruelty and let them die

SHU prisoners in California are not allowed to call home. Lack of family phone calls is one of the reasons California’s SHU cells are characterized as solitary confinement – the harsh deprivation of family and social ties. CDCR has created the conditions that drive prisoners to desperation. It is horrifying to witness CDCR’s response to the current hunger strike: Crank up the cruelty and let them die.

Letters from hunger strikers: I still feel like I can keep pushin’, so I...

I just wrote you a few days ago about my location change; however, there’s been yet another change. We’ve been moved to Ad Seg H-Row. As you might have guessed, yes, it’s freezing cold over here. Abdul is down the row from me, Sitawa and Mutope are next door on G-Row – I think that’s the row. We are still holding up despite considerable weight loss at this point. We were all able to get some sunlight yesterday.

SHU isolation cell to be installed on State Capitol South Steps Aug. 14

The Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, in support of the California prison hunger strikers and their five demands, invite the public to visit an installation of a life-sized mock Security Housing Unit (SHU) cell on the California State Capitol South Steps in Sacramento. The cell will be on display – and you can walk right in to see how it feels – from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 14.

Tayo Aluko is Paul Robeson in ‘Call Mr. Robeson’

Paul Robeson is one of the early thespians, singers and human rights freedom fighters from the United States whose ideas paved the way for people like Medgar Evers, Harry Belafonte, Malcolm X and others. Tayo Aluko, a Black British playwright and actor, will bring his play, “Call Mr. Robeson: A Life With Songs,” to the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 8 p.m. in Berkeley. Check out this exclusive Q&A wit’ the playwright.

Rusesabagina to international community: Please ignore Rwanda

On Aug. 7, Paul Rusesabagina, president of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, sent an open letter to international political and civil society leaders asking them not to bother with the upcoming Rwandan parliamentary elections. The letter follows: Please ignore Rwanda. Parliamentary elections are coming up in Rwanda this September, and the world should ignore them.

Day 33: Prisoner hunger strike countdown for humane conditions

Today marks 33 days that over 200 prisoners have gone without eating. Doctors have warned the prisoners several times of the dangers of continuing their hunger strike, and yet they persist. Why? In order to end the inhumane conditions of their confinement. They have spent decades in solitary confinement not for punishment, not for their crimes, but for “administrative” reasons.

Black August: Beyond 34 years of resistance

When the concept of Black August manifested in 1979, many thought it was simply a focus group protest growing out of the avoidable death of Khatari Gaulden on Aug. 1, 1978, in the San Quentin prison infirmary. Survival for Africans in California’s prison population of 20,000 inmates had to that point been recognized by some as a bit more than problematic.

Master organist Doug Carn speaks

In the ‘70s, master jazz organist Doug Carn, alongside his then wife Jean Carn, a vocalist, made some legendary “out of the box” genre-bending jazz for the Black Jazz label. He will be playing this Friday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m., at Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison St. in Berkeley.

Mediators talk with prisoners as hunger strike reaches one month mark, situation remains critical,...

Today marks one month for prisoners on hunger strike throughout the California prison system. Earlier today, the mediation team working on behalf of the strikers was able to speak to the prisoners at Pelican Bay who initially called for the strike. Just moments ago members of the mediation team issued the following statement:

Lies and distortions fill Corrections Secretary Beard’s op-ed dehumanizing prisoner hunger strikers

In an Aug. 6, 2013, op-ed piece published in the Los Angeles Times, Jeffrey Beard, the secretary of California’s inaptly named Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDC), cynically attempts to dehumanize a significant percentage of California’s population – i.e., the state’s incarcerated population – while making light of the grave human rights abuses perpetrated by the CDC.