Tag: hunger strike

The Agreement to End Hostilities, envisioned and written by the Best of the Best, is perhaps the most powerful document to be created in the past 50 years, a testament to the power of unity, and today a Blueprint for the possibilities for humanity globally.

Ifoma Modibo Kambon pays tribute to Hunger Strikes’ unbroken lion, visionary and quintessential human, Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa.

Demand justice! Demand respect! Demand humanity! Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, made a target of abusive and retaliatory practices back in May for publicizing the dangerous, inhumane and unsanitary conditions perpetrated upon himself and fellow prisoners at Pendleton Correctional Facility, continues to suffer retaliation for speaking truth!

James Baridi Williamson, then buried alive in the dreaded Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit (SHU), is one of those who fought back and is now being punished for his participation in the 2011 and 2013 California mass hunger strikes, including the largest one in history with 30,000 participants.

This in-custody death would be the 10th this year, and the 43rd in the last five years, a statistic that supports Santa Rita’s reputation as one of the deadliest jails in the state.

These are people so caught up in their make believe reality they’re like drunks who think they’re walking a straight line. And who the hell are the real criminals falsifying documents, falsifying confidential information on a regular basis? What’s so horrible is that they have been locking us up for decades – 23 ½ hours a day with nothing. And now it’s finally proven to be done on a fake ass foundation of lies. They put people in prison for such crimes, so shouldn’t they be held accountable?

California prisoners released video recordings of two prisoner fights they say were set up by officials at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California. It is now the second facility to report so-called “gladiator fights” after prisoners spoke out about similar incidents at the state prison in Corcoran.

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, up to 40 immigrants detained at the now infamous Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma began refusing meals, initiating a hunger strike in protest of the conditions they face. One detained activist listed the group’s demands as follows: “I am part of a group of detainees that are going to go on hunger strike as the only way to protest and shine a light on the abuses that we suffer here." This strike is the latest in a series of strikes protesting conditions inside the facility; the most recent mass strike began on Aug. 21 in conjunction with a national prison strike.

Palestinian women in HaSharon prison are continuing their protest against the imposition of surveillance cameras on Sept. 5 in the prison yard. The placement of surveillance cameras also covers the collective kitchens, washing machine areas and prayer areas. Since that time, for 56 days, the women have refused to go out for recreation or enter the areas under surveillance until the cameras are removed. The imposition of the surveillance cameras was one of the latest repressive actions initiated by Israeli minister Gilad Erdan’s committee, charged with rolling back the accomplishments the Palestinian prisoners won through years of struggle.

During the National Prison Strike, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS) inspired incarcerated and outside activists across the country. Activists on the outside were inspired by prisoners’ leadership on the inside, their ability to work effectively through limited communication and under the threat of retaliation. After the strike, incarcerated people were even more inspired by the activism that happened across the country on the inside. Prisoners from each corner of the country are realizing the power that they have to influence positive changes in their environments.

I answered the call Aug. 21, 2018, and put together a hunger strike team. My name was released on the local WTOL News as one of the protesters with the Nation of Islam, who showed their support by hitting the parking lot entrance with banners to protest mass incarceration and prison slavery. A plot to kill me and poison my food by an officer was exposed. But I’m hard to kill. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

A copy of this historic document in its original form was sent to Bay View arts editor Wanda Sabir by Kumasi, a Los Angeles-based prison movement scholar and central leader of the Black August Organizing Committee who was a close comrade to George Jackson. Kumasi was reminded of this Manifesto when he learned of the National Prison Strike that began in Black August 2018 and believed Bay View readers would value the opportunity to witness prison movement evolution.

TDCJ has me classified as a “High Profile Inmate,” but no one here has actually told me why I have been placed on high profile status. The only reasons I’ve been given is “you have lawsuits.” However, this supports my argument that the prison agency TDCJ has been retaliating against me for accessing the courts. Last year I won a civil lawsuit when I challenged TDCJ’s unconstitutional beard and religious headgear policy. While I was litigating that suit I was not subjected to this humiliating treatment. So why now?

Statement regarding the Nationwide Prison Strike of 2018 issued Oct. 15, 2018, by the Prison Strike Media Team. The extent of repression and retaliation by prison authorities against suspected participants in this year’s nationwide prison strike continues to emerge slowly. The National Lawyers Guild Prisoners’ Legal Advocacy Network (NLG-PLAN) has received additional details from 12 states.

As for the events inside of this prison, with all attempts to FREE people, you first have to wake them up to their condition. In my pod, I started sharing reading material, about the value of their labor, about Black August events across the country and how just by refusing to continue to work for cops that treat them so bad that they could make a difference. Although this strike took place ahead of the nationally planned Black August dates, for three weeks this strike was every bit Black August inspired and I hope we made all our comrades past and present proud.

Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS) is currently continuing to focus energy on supporting strikers who’re suffering retaliation, raising awareness of those who continue to strike and educating policymakers of strikers’ demands. These will be our primary focuses in this season. Action points: Print and distribute Issue No. 6 of Solid Black Fist. Support prisoners still striking, raise awareness that the National Prison Strike continues in Ohio and California. Circulate the online petition to Congress demanding prisoners’ basic human rights needs be met.

Prisoners are rising up in institutions across the country – and now internationally – in protest of the living and working conditions in the prisons. The first week of the strike has just come to an end and we have seen a substantial wave of success. The mainstream media attention on the strike has been monumentally greater than we have ever seen in the past. Along with this, the public narrative towards prisoners has changed dramatically. The public eye is focused on securing and protecting prisoners’ rights. We are also committed to highlighting the injustices that are inherent to our criminal justice system.

On Friday, July 27, Siddique Abdullah Hasan was locked down on a conduct report signed by Brian Wittrup at Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) central office which referred to him speaking on and receiving information about the upcoming prison strike. It wasn’t until late Monday evening, July 30, that supporters were finally able to hear from Hasan himself via an attorney phone call with Staughton and Alice Lynd.

Across Amerika, home of the world’s largest prison population, growing numbers of the imprisoned are coming to realize that they are victims of social injustice. Foremost, they are victims of an inherently predatory and dysfunctional capitalist-imperialist system, which targets the poor and people of color for intensified policing, militaristic containment and selective criminal prosecutions, while denying them access to the basic resources, employment and institutional control needed for social and economic security.

In conjunction with our formal introduction of Free Alabama Movement to the world, I spoke of “a flicker becoming a flame.” And, the threat of that flame blazing into a wildfire for change. To be in balance with the Universal Order, myself and hundreds of men confined within the Alabama DOC decided to become the change we wanted to see. From ‘14 throughout ‘15 and ‘16 we worked, tirelessly, fanning that flicker – networking, mobilizing, organizing and educating – into a flame.