Young prisoner speaks on Yogi’s assassination and bridging the generation gap

by Koray Rice

The Klansmen behind Yogi’s assassination knew he was full of love and sharp as a knife

It just gets my blood boiling what the Klansmen did to brother Hugo. I don’t expect anything different from them. When they see they can’t break you, they kill you. From George Jackson to Stanley Tookie Williams and now Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell, whenever you’re not asleep, whenever you’re awake and aware to who these people are and what they are out to do and doing, then you’ve got to go.

Hugo-Yogi-Pinell-very-young-190x300, Young prisoner speaks on Yogi’s assassination and bridging the generation gap, Abolition Now!
A young Hugo “Yogi” Pinell – he too spent time in juvenile detention before he went to prison.

Taxpayers should be angrier than men housed in prison. You are paying these Klansmen $20-plus per hour to beat and kill your brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters, aunties, uncles and cousins. No human being deserves the treatment we receive behind these electric fences inside these concrete tombs.

As taxpayers, it’s your dollars that finance prisons. Do you really not care if your money is being used to torture and abuse someone?

All you taxpayers just believe whatever these Klansmen tell you. Wake up and smell the coffee!

When CDCnoR (there’s no such thing as rehabilitation to the Klansmen) gives tours, it’s on a low level yard that’s similar to juvenile camp. If it’s on the highest level Yard 4, it’s done when no incarcerated men are out of their cell. Not to mention these Klansmen abandon their ninja turtle one piece jumpsuit for more official tan shirt and green pants. They make sure their shoes have been shined. They are talking real polite. It’s all a show!

Back to Yogi. These Klansmen never wanted to release him from SHU. Had the spotlight and support not been there for him, he’d still be with us today.

The Klansmen have to have their hand forced. They knew he was full of love and sharp as a knife. They also knew he wasn’t unaware of what’s behind the mask they wear.

It’s wild to keep the attention off them; they slander Yogi’s name and paint an inaccurate picture of him so nobody will question what the hell is going on. They will look at it like, “Oh, he was a very bad man, he deserved it.”

Wrong! Yogi was for the people. If he had a chance to be back in the free world, he’d be a community leader teaching the youth. It’s a shame how easily people forget that even though we’re in prison, we’re still human beings. We’re somebody’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and cousin.

When Africans come together, we win

The article, “Cultivate the seed to grow,” by Mutope Duguma is heat! Real talk. Being younger than Brother Mutope, here’s a different view.

When it comes to the current dysfunction amongst African prisoners, pointing the finger at each other (older-younger, younger-older) gets us nowhere. Comments in the article really apply to both younger and older prisoners.

For example, Mutope writes: “It’s a lot of our young people who are very intelligent, but they don’t have the nerve or discipline to speak to their peers without being ridiculed or subjected to some form of ‘peer pressure’ by those whose intellect has not yet been cultivated. The young people who have developed intellect, nerve and discipline tend to have no tolerance for tackling such contradictions in their peers.”

When it comes to the current dysfunction amongst African prisoners, pointing the finger at each other (older-younger, younger-older) gets us nowhere.

I’ve overheard over and over older brothers say, “I don’t even waste my time trying to school youngsters! They are too hard headed and wild!”

Youngsters nowadays are too wild? Any brother that’s well aged and has survived prison thus far came from an era of 10 times more wildness.

Gladiator school. Gladiator school produced wild story after wild story. These stories make it to the youth who now populate these prison yards. What’s missing from these stories? The solidarity and structure.

Back to the youth. Hearing these gladiator stories, they now want to imitate or try to outdo those stories. Why? They’re legendary.

When you come from nothing, you want to be remembered for something. Us youth are first termers, fresh from juvenile facilities or California Youth Authority. Solidarity and discipline doesn’t exist in those places. It’s anything goes. The youth arrive in prison literally trying to figure this shit out.

OK, that’s the situation. Here’s the solution. End all hostilities amongst Africans first. We can’t mend relations with our neighbors until our household is in order.

Easier said than done, right? Nope. Communication is key. Reach the right ones and the rest will follow. Or reach the right ones and expose the ones in the way of our success.

Here’s the solution. End all hostilities amongst Africans first. We can’t mend relations with our neighbors until our household is in order.

Yes, there will be some resistance. That’s a given when it comes to making change. Some will be able to see the vision; others won’t.

Word to the wise who paved the way for us youngsters to walk these lines: When you get the opportunity to communicate with us youngsters, man to man is the best approach. Not big homie, little homie. We may be younger than you all, but we’re men in our own right. Nobody wants to be belittled when they’re just coming out of a warzone (the streets) with no release date.

Nobody wants to be belittled when they’re just coming out of a warzone (the streets) with no release date.

When (not if, because we clearly can) Africans come together as a unit, no longer North, South, Blue or Red, we win. It’s no secret: Physically Africans are feared, but mentally we aren’t respected. Outsiders bank on the divisions amongst Africans. Divide and conquer.

It’s time to bring it in like a huddle and each one teach one. Too black too strong! One Love. One Struggle.

Send our brother some love and light: Koray Rice, V-43736, 4B 2L-30, P.O. Box 3481, Corcoran CA 93212.