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by Keith “Comrade Malik” Washington, Captain of Information, New Afrikan Black Panther Party, Texas Prison Chapter
Revolutionary greetings!
Comrades, today is the 8th of November 2013, and I must tell you that no sooner had the ink dried on the October San Francisco Bay View newspaper and the October-December issue of Turning the Tide than the Texas Department of Criminal Injustice waged an all-out attack on Comrade Kevin “Rashid” Johnson and myself.
As many of you already know, Comrade Rashid, the Minister of Defense for the NABPP (PC) has been transferred to the super-seg unit at Bill Clements Unit, which is located in Amarillo, Texas. This week I have received word that a heightened security alert has been placed on all communications coming in and going out from our steadfast, strong and persistent Minister of Defense.
On Oct. 21, 2013, I was told to pack my belongings – I was being moved. I too am housed in an Ad-Seg Unit (23-hour lockdown) on the Wynne Unit, which is located in Huntsville, Texas. The officer rushed me into the cell and immediately slammed the door. I could smell the stench of urine and feces, but it was dark; I could not see. The handcuffs were removed and I turned on the light. What I saw nearly caused me to get physically ill and I am far from being squeamish.
Fecal matter was smeared on my walls; feces and urine was caked inside my toilet. There is no desk in my cell, so the top bunk is utilized as a desk, and it is covered with rust! Comrades, I am not proud to tell you this, but I’ve been housed at 10 federal prisons and 11 TDCJ prisons, and never have I been forced to live in such filth! It’s discouraging.
Nevertheless, this was just a portion of what the oppressors had in store for me. I have been placed on I row toward the front of the housing section where all the men who are classified as high risk and who are on the psych-load are housed. I have no medical problems whatsoever and have not received a disciplinary report since I was placed in Ad Seg 20 months ago!
“One of the many tactics of abuse and retaliation used frequently by prison officials against those who challenge them through complaints, litigation, physically etc., is to house them close (typically next-door) to these mentally impaired prisoners as a form of torment. For many, this technique is highly effective, in that if the experience doesn’t substantially wear the resistant prisoner down, it at least diverts his focus from officials to trying to cope or coming into conflict with his ‘disturbed’ neighbor.”
Then last night I received a letter which contained a recent article written by our Minister of Defense. The piece was entitled “Wasted Minds: An Insider’s Look at the Torturous Effects of U.S. Solitary Confinement (2013)” by Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. I must quote a small section of this piece simply because it answered my question of WHY these people moved me, a sane person, around men who are suffering the effects of mental illness:
“One of the many tactics of abuse and retaliation used frequently by prison officials against those who challenge them through complaints, litigation, physically etc., is to house them close (typically next-door) to these mentally impaired prisoners as a form of torment. For many, this technique is highly effective, in that if the experience doesn’t substantially wear the resistant prisoner down, it at least diverts his focus from officials to trying to cope or coming into conflict with his ‘disturbed’ neighbor.”
Comrades, I do not know if any of you take time out of your day to meditate or subscribe to mindfulness or the belief that we are all connected in some strange, wonderful way, but I firmly believe my receiving this message from Rashid was no accident. He and I are unified and single-minded in purpose.
You see, comrades, mass incarceration, retaliation for exercising your free-speech rights, torture of political prisoners and NSA spying are merely symptoms of the disease that is IMPERIALISM.
Comrades, it’s time that we truly realize that there is an attack on us and we cannot and must not fight each other. We have to unify; we have to work together and do something significant in order to abolish this imperialist system which is destroying so many. This is the deeper struggle!
Dare to struggle, dare to win! All power to the people!
Comrade Malik
Send our brother some love and light: Keith Washington, 1487958, Wynne Unit B2-1-9, 810 FM 2821, Huntsville TX 77349.
