Nevada Prisoners Newsletter

# 14 (NPN Vol. 3, Nr 4, 2012-publ. 2013 Knowledge is power In a world of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act (George Orwell) Principles re-examined This goes out to all the sleepwalkers We are on the right track. Here at E.S.P. haters try to say that things are still the same as they were two years ago, but two years ago we still had certain pigs jumping every prisoner they could. We still had prisoners being stained on a daily basis. Two years ago, we didnt have a newsletter or any real outside support (now we have both and its only getting better). Two years ago we didnt have a bunch of militant anarchists dedicating their time and energy to uplifting Nevada prisoners and bringing real solutions to the problems we all face. No sir. Two years ago we didnt have near as much possibility and growth taking place. But for all of the steps weve taken towards changing the whole dynamics of this system, we still have quite a few leaps left until we make it to the finish line Something I see around here thats weighing us down are the many misconceptions on what solid means. Most of us in here are guided by some kind of principles, morals, etc. Not everyone shares the same principles. Some people hold principles based on racism, while some of us are guided by the values of A.R.A. (anti-racist action). Some of you label all drop-outs as being nogood, while some of us applaud those who drop-out from the gang/death status a bigger reputation, or even a parole approval. The guerilla on the other hand is motivated by collective gain; all that which brings positive change, not only for himself, but for all of his fellow prisoners as well (think: open yard, access to real literature and an end to pig brutality). The convict will at times compromise his self or his principles for the people around him, while the guerilla will isolate himself completely from the people around him should the conduct of these people conflict with his principles.

A convict will pursue prisoner on prisoner violence, believing it is for the good of a cause, whereas the guerilla knows that such violence is detrimental to ones cause and should work on unifying fellow prisoners so as to build a force strong enough to take down their oppressor. All-in-all, the convict is an ultra-individualist and opportunist, while the guerilla is a selfless socialist Now take the time to re-examine your principles and yourself, which of these two cultures is it you belong to? The winds change with the season. Weve been enduring a cold icy winter for some time now, but theres a warm breeze on the horizon of this new year. Real changes are coming, along with the time when the negativity of the convict culture will no longer be accepted as solid. So for those of you whove questioned what real really is, I hope this quick piece has provided you with a better understanding. To all the convicts up in age who dont want to let go of the old ways: you know from trial and error what doesnt work. Dont push your youngsters into the same traps you fell in. If you ever had any love for your people, then show them the way to a better life. To all of the comrades I cant name (here and those sent out of state), to all of the revolutionaries on the rise (S.A.M.A.E.L. we see you!) and to all of my anarchist guerillas igniting the fire of resistance within us all. Fist to heart in a warriors salute! Christopher Gonzalez Written Autumn 2012 published in 2013, because the article was never received the first time it was sent! From the editors: The Nevada Prisoners Newsletter (NPN) is a forum for and by Nevada prisoners, made by volunteers outside and inside Nevadas prisons so that people inside are more informed about prisons, rights, about new ideas and initiatives. Co-edited by Coyote and Mountain Bluebird All views expressed are those of the authors. For subscriptions we can be reached at: NPN, P.O. Box 827, Gaylord, MI 49734.

Nevadaprisonwatch.org - This NPN will be published also online: www.scribd.com/Prisonwatch. Published this time by Assata Press, thank you to our distributer South Chicago Zine Distro, after this issue we will be without Distro, so bear with us, it could be the last issue for a while again. Stamps welcome, plz send them to our postbox, thank you! Our next issue will appear when we have time, articles and money! In this issue: . About . Principles Re-examined (Christopher) . Game Tight (Ikemba) . Classical Quote . Hunger for Change (anon.) . Letter to: Mr. Senator Tick Segerblom, Presenter of SB107 (Kevin) . The Heart Speaks, Just Listen (Mashaka) . Akin Speaks! . No Real Agendas (Coyote) . News . Officer on officer violence (anon.) . Who Are We? (C.Blast) . NPN About: Assata . NPN Yellow Pages . Poetry: Defiance (Heshima) , Clarity (Kasi) . Smoke-blown (Coyote) Game tight By Ikemba Young people, to start, you must acknowledge that for everything you think you know, there is a great deal you dont know. That the first pursuit of man is to acquire knowledge. But until you can discern the real from the fake, true knowledge and the wisdom to wield it effectively will always escape you. First, understand you must re-educate yourselves, mentally and morally. You need to know that much of what youve been fed in the game is poison. For example, every day we are lied to, either by insecurities, pain or deceit; we are told that love is a weakness, that women in general are untrustworthy and conniving. The wise man knows our greatest strength is our capacity for love, empathy and understanding. Every great m an has had love at the center and source of his strength: love for the people, for life, his woman. We are lied to, told our worth in this world is based on the material. We waste our lives

chasing money, the cars, the clothes, and whatever these capitalist elitists tell us we need to be somebody. We are conditioned to accept violence as a viable means of gaining respect. But not money nor violence can make you good leaders or men; this comes from the substance of your character and the way you conduct yourself in your dealings: treating people fairly, with respect and courtesy; conducting business fairly without being greedy or underhanded; and resorting to violence only after all other means of resolution have failed even then, only when the issue is serious enough. Lesser matters can be chalked up to education. Or if the desire demands, avenged by more civilized means. The vulgarities of violence should only be tolerable when you can explain to your family, comrades and loved ones that your actions were justified, intelligent and meant to achieve a worthwhile objective based on reason and reality. If you must go to your loved ones and say youve hurt someone, put your comrades lives in jeopardy because your ego was bruised, you felt slighted or some other pettiness or if you lost your life or the life of a friend, how foolish would that be? The last thing I want to touch on here is the crimes weve committed in that predatory, criminal deathstyle many of us were into. Im not saying confess to shit; some things have no statute of limitations. But it is vital we take personal responsibility and acknowledge the damage weve caused to our communities, the people who love us and to our own lives. You must make a conscious decision to put an end to that pain. Expose this predatory deathstyle for the lie it is: not a way out, but a way to death and for our enemies to excuse their barbarity the killer cops, corrupt courts etc. We must redeem ourselves and work to repair the damage weve caused. Some of us may feel we cant make up for some of the mistakes we made. But, we can all do things and find ways to help other young people to avoid the mistakes we made. Most of us learn from our own mistakes. The trick is to learn from other peoples mistakes, so we dont repeat the same mistakes they made. One planet, one freedom! [this was also published in the SF Bay View, April 29, 2013]

Classical Quote "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Hunger for change My love, light, honour and respect to all of you who possess the desire to see (and bring about) radical and productive change to your environments! Today is September 9th, 2012, the 41st year anniversary of the Attica rebellion, where many men were murdered for daring to rise up as one and fight the oppressor. Here today in the State of Nevada, within the belly of the beast, I and others of the same nature are engaging in a rebellion of our own (one called for by the comrades of S.A.M.A.E.L.) on this day. We have given our oppressor a small glimpse of what real prisoner/guerrilla unity looks like. Through various actions across this states prison system, done according to the ability of each agitator, we are showing our oppressors that which they fear most: that real solidarity is possible. They fear unity because they know that when we cease the prisoner on prisoner violence, the chances are good that the violence will be turned against them! At this moment, I sit here three quarters of the way through our fast. Though my stomach is growling continuously from the days three skipped meals, my heart beats ardently and in sync with the sweet tune of resistance! (and resistance it is!) Through todays actions, we are saying that we refuse to fall for the states manipulation (the instigating of prisoner on prisoner violence). We show them that when our minds and hearts are functioning in an autonomous relationship (working together rather than opposed to each other) our will-power cannot be broken. Our refusal to work program or engage in anything other than solidarity work shows that we do not accept the legitimacy of the state, or its biased laws/rules!

Today we have taken the next step towards transcendence. This was the first action of its kind in Nevada, where people on each yard joined a common stand against the real enemy. Our compa[..] called for a one day solidarity demonstration, and I salute them for their initiative, and while has been written this night I urge you all to not let it end here! We must carry on this torch to the morrow and the next day and the day after that. Igniting fires every step of the way in the hea[rt] of all our fellow prisoners! For the end of chaos and the birth of anarchy He with the never ending hunger Hunger for change! Letter to: Mr. Senator Tick Segerblom Presenter of Senate Bill 107 I am writing you in response to responses made to the press by E.K. McDaniel (deputy director of NDOC), as well as comments of facts you made to the same article (by Matt Woolbright and the Associated Press http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevadalegislature/nevada-bill-aims-curb-solitaryconfinement ). Firstly the comments by Mr McDaniel could not be more misdirected or blatant lying to the public in regards of housing in Solitary Confinement. At no other time have more inmates been isolated or locked down in Nevada prisons in over a hundred years (per ratio of incarcerated percentages even) than during this time when McDaniel has taken over. It is through this mis-information and misdirection that Ely State Prison is completely locked down except (half) of a workers unit. It is not because of violence that this prison is permanently on isolated lockdown, because even with only less than 24 men able to leave their cells (as where the rest are on 24 hour lockdown) ESP continues to be the only prison with a death rate of at least one man per year caused by the inability to leave their cells. This is only a small fraction of the argument that can be made in regards to the comments made in this article. Another being segregated inmates do not have everything general population does. See AR733. Inmates are allowed a TV or radio however this becomes a game of power and abuse to the offenders. McDaniels truths dont tell you that for any rule infraction the TV or radio is taken away for 60 days more and so on goes the game. Any infraction is another 60 days. Inmates can go years without any appliance. The same game is applied to food, books, showers.

For example: inmates lose an average of 20 LBS while in Disciplinary Segregation. The portions are half and if an inmate has any altercation (verbally, because theres no recreation yard for days, weeks on end), then his food is withheld for a week! Ely State Prison is so isolated without overview, that abuses of Constitution and Human Rights are rampant in this prison. However you claim inmates are not paced in Isolation for months and years. Sir, bluntly spoken you have no clue what youre talking about. Dont go to Lovelock and presume you know how I tis for all NDOC prisoners. That kind of comment, made from blind ignorance, is just well is a farce of grotesquerie. I myself have spent 10 out of 14 years in Isolation. There are men who have spent the last 15-20 years in Isolation. The only reason being the Administration claims that there are others they will hurt, or want to hurt them. With this excuse ready able to be given by your ignorance of how people in prisons are truly being abused and are being punished that is the only excuse they used. I have been in ESP for almost 15 years. 12+ years have been spent in lockdown. .This form of confinement is still Solitary Confinement. Having one other man that you must live with 24/7 with no jobs, schools, group therapy, or contact without restraints is still isolated confinement, Sir. Try living in your bathroom for the next 12 years with no one but another stranger as company. It makes for a violent, paranoid, uncertain situation, Sir. Men are dying or beaten into a hospital bed, simply because they cant leave when/if an argument breaks out. You may argue its because we are the worst of the worst. This too is a misdirected and misinformed argument, Sir. Even still, if we are all the worst of the worst, then locking us up in a cell with 24/7 living isnt much more than putting two rabid dogs together now, isnt it? Statistics tell the truth here, Sir. No other prison is locked down like this one. Yet only Ely State Prison continues to report deaths. Each year. This is Isolation, Sir. Over 800 inmates on 23-24/7 lockdown. No classrooms, no group interaction no way to correct or give help to make an inmate learn to do & be better. Further there are men in ESP lockdown that did nothing more than give a dirty urine or had a fist fight or were informed on with no evidence,

that they were bad guys. They will go home very soon and yet they are forced to be confined and isolated with murderers, rapists and violent criminals so labeled by this abusive system. The issue Sir is that the Isolation Confinement whether it is Solitary or Double cell Confinement is the cause of more problems. The system would work if it was being worked. There are those who get flushed through at a normal rate giving the appearance of a productive system. But there are those such as myself who have had no group interaction (like any social society) in more than 11 years. I have lost most of my facial recognition skills my ability to voice complete and comprehensive discussions. My sleep patterns are extreme and my ability to tolerate spacial acceptance is very low. These are only some of the effects long term confinement causes. Yes, I will be straight forth I am a convicted murderer. However, my cellmate is a petty burglar sent here for fighting. This is the issue. There are no programs to teach me to be a better person. How can we learn to live better lives? When I do good Im still locked down I am still chained any time I leave my cell. I have not touched grass in 12 years. I am in prison, I was convicted. But am I supposed to learn and be better? If so what good does this solitary confinement do? What exactly do you know of Isolation Confinement? If Solitary Confinement is defined as 16 hours per day in a cell, then what is the limit on double cell confinement? Is 23 hours 7 days a week for 12 years good enough to meet your criteria to constitute a problem? When you really understand what its like to be confined, then I hope you folks do what is right and begin to make changes and put your $ where your mouths are to help us learn to be humans not animals in cages. Kevin Osborne The Heart Speaks, Just Listen As I sit in this cell, trying to find my way in this never-ending struggle, I cant help but battle with myself and ask myself is this shit all worth it? Catching hole-time for others I dont really care for, is it worth standing up when I just want to sit down, is it worth the heart-ache that I cause my family when in reality all I want to do

is make them proud? And I say to my readers: yes, it is. Sacrifice is the key. I guess what they say is true: if it was easy, then everybody would be doing it. So to all of my loved ones in this struggle I salute you to the fullest cuz I know what is on your plate and I know how heavy all of this can weigh on your shoulders. In Solidarity, Mashaka I Afua Akin Speaks! First & foremost, I want to send my bulletproof respects to all in solidarity and in struggle in this gulag. In my past I made plenty attempts to change my ways, but they were half-hearted and I really did not want to change. Mentally I was a kid, who was not conscious to what was really going on around me. I was promoting violence, warfare, and that whole degenerate lifestyle, while these pigs sat back & laughed at me. I use to think how could cats stop banging? I truly thought that was a sign of mental weakness, I actually believed that brothas who stopped banging were conforming to the ways of the police, basically turning into a squale - Thats how fucked up my mindset was (oohHaha Right now Im currently captured here at ESP, stuck in these oversized caskets. While captured here, I was forced to take a deep look at myself, I had to open my eyes & truly wake up. Once this happened, I knew that I had to stop gang-banging because I no longer wanted to be plagued by that gangsteristic mentality. But to stop gang-banging was one of the most challenging decisions Ive ever had to make, I was nervous, scared and worried about what people would think of me. Even though I had all of those worries I knew deep down, that I had to make that step out of the life but I didnt know what I was stepping into. While in the hole in this modern-day plantation, I met a down-ass comrade who is an active member of the BAPF (Black Autonomy Prison Federation). When I first met this rade I was skeptical about telling him about my transition. But I mustered up the confidence to tell him & when I did I was met with full acceptance, and solidarity, he told me that he was proud of me. I could not believe my ears I was so happy, and that reassured me that I was doing the right thing. I started to study and read about anarchism and the Black revolution. I cant even express to you my dear readers how it felt to start the process to start decolonizing my mind, and liberating my mind from that old slave way of thinking. I

started to question everything in my life. T ray Way could not have said it better: To be skeptical is to be a thinker, aint that the truth? Im no longer controlled by religion, gangsterism or any other artificial bullshit thats thrown my way. Mashaka i Afua really taught me how to have mental and physical discipline. He taught me the importance of having a very dangerous mind and the importance of staying ready for physical combat as well. One step I made to start decolonizing my mind was to change my name to Akin which means Brave. I chose that name because Im 21 years old and it took a lot of courage to make this transition from gangsta to guerilla. Please believe me: nothing is easy about this. Its a struggle, so I encourage all brothas who are caught up in that death style, take that step towards revolution. Dont be afraid to strive to be a real warrior. This is my first time writing to the NPN & I really wanted to introduce myself. In Solidarity & Struggle, Akin No real agendas I have been stationed here at Ely State Prison for almost 15 years and believe me when I tell you that Ive been through all the motions. Ive been through hell and Ive been through war. Ive been both on open tiers/group yards and Ive been locked down, where Ive had to endure isolation, repression, harassment and torment of all kinds, and if I were to set here and list all of the hard times Ive been through, wed be here all day I dont write any of this to complain, nor am I bragging, but just to let NPN readers know that Im not just someone writing these words to sound good, no, but as someone who has been through it all, and who still stands strong and remains unbroken, regardless of the scars that I forever carry on this hardened, heartbroken heart of mine, and so I ask that you take me seriously as I write these words to all of you. Being that I am on High Risk Potential status (H.R.P.), I am supposed to move from tier to tier, unit to unit (back here on the locked down units that is) once a month. We call this the H.R.P. rotation, they used to let me move once a month with the rest of the H.R.P.s but now they just keep me in one place and wont let me move at all. One thing that I was able to observe while I was on the H.R.P. rotation, going from tier to tier, was that there was no real agendas amongst the prisoners here at ESP. From tier to tier it

was all the same thing, there was no activism, no struggle, no sense of community, nobody coming together around real ass issues, none of that. The only agenda anybody seemed to be concerned with on each of these tiers was acquiring freak books and c.d.s. and this got to the point where prisoners were falling out with other prisoners over freak books and c.d.s, where prisoners were doing scandalous and foul ass shit over these freak books and c.d.s, where they were compromising their own principles and lowering their standards, associating with dudes they knew were foul, turning into straight opportunists, all behind some freak books and c.d.s (Well, needless to say, I was someone who had an agenda, and who still has an agenda, other than freak books and c.d.s, and its because of this that administration no longer allows me to move from tier to tier anymore). So I write this article just to try to wake up as many prisoners as I can, especially the ones with life sentences and the ones who are basically stuck here at E.S.P. and who will have to reside here at this graveyard for years and years. Im not suggesting that you become a product of your environment, no. But Im suggesting that you get activated, become involved in the everyday struggles going on around you and try to find ways to make your environment become a product of you! One way this can be done is to gather likeminded prisoners and start up your own collective. Basically, a collective is made up of 3 or more individuals, all who agree to uphold the same standards, strive towards the same goals, and use the same decision-making process. For example, lets say that you gather a few guys on your tier, and each of you agree to work on a writing project together, maybe youre writing your own zine, creating your own newsletter, or writing a book together, and lets say you want to use this piece of writing to either raise consciousness, or to generate some type of income. Well, you have just started up a writing collective. Everyone in your collective has come together to work towards the same goal, and now you are doing something productive with your time, something that will generate positive results, produce some type of change in your immediate environment, and that could possibly have a

positive impact on those around you. There are all kinds of goals that a collective could be started around. There are all kinds of goals that a collective could be started around. You could start up an exercise collective, where everyone in your group comes together at a certain time each day and engages in a group exercise. You can start up a collective that agrees to embark on some type of grievance campaign, where you try to get as many prisoners as you can to write a grievance on a legitimate issue thats taking place on your unit, or in the prison, something that needs to be changed, improved, or eliminated, like a policy, and that will benefit everybody. You could also start up a lawsuit collective, where everybody in the collective agrees to participate in a class action lawsuit, or where each collective member does their own personal lawsuit around the same issues. In my opinion, the best collectives are educational collectives, where prisoners come together to study and learn a certain object, or where prisoners start up their own study groups and strive for serious growth and development on an intellectual or academic level. You can come together to study and learn all kinds of things, from vocabulary words, cultural studies, political studies, to economics, business management, even a collective that studies and learns the law together (how to do legal work, file lawsuits, etc.). Educational collectives promote meaningful growth and intellectual progression while under stagnant conditions. Its definitely a way to stay on your toes and combat the daily deterioration that comes with being confined in a maximum security gulag, day in and day out. My advice is if youre going to commit yourself to learning something new, then its probably best that you learn something new that you can actually apply, whether it be in your everyday survival, or something that you can use later on in life. There are all kinds of collectives that prisoners could get going. Your collective could be big, or it could be small. It could be limited to your specific tier, or it could be spread out with members all throughout this gulag, maybe even all throughout the NDOC, and maybe even reaching as far as the streets! You can start collectives that would be more suitable for short-termers, that aim for short-term goals and dont require serious sacrifices, or you could start up collectives that only lifers and prisoners

with serious time would join, that might require serious activism and real sacrifices. There are all kinds of collectives that can be started up, you just have to be tuned in with whats going on around you, what types of goals youd like to strive for, and just be creative, and always be productive. Thats the main thing. I just wanted to share all of this with my NPN readers, to give prisoners some ideas, to try to inspire more prisoners to get involved in activism, to inspire more prisoners to become activated and more involved in real struggle, and to start up their own collectives and strive towards real goals. Prisoners here at ESP have no real agenda's, unfortunately, but once more prisoners begin to start up their own collectives, all this will change - I hope this article will have some type of impact. It's just an idea! Before I close this, I just want to give a shoutout to someone whos been active in struggle and someone who has tried to bring positive changes to us all: Ikemba S. Mutulu! We miss you comrade, and wish you the best out there in Colorado. Good luck to you, and keep fighting the good fight. Thanks for all your sacrifices, and congratulations on your victories! Solidarity and Respects, Coyote Anarchist Black Cross Nevada Prison Chapter News Article series in Mother Jones Magazine mentions ESP: America's 10 Worst Prisons: Dishonorable Mentions 7 runners-up, from a "gladiator school" to America's largest death row. By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella | Wed May. 15, 2013 Last of 11 parts. Serving time in prison is not supposed to be pleasant. Nor, however, is it supposed to include being raped by fellow prisoners or staff, beaten by guards for the slightest provocation, driven mad by long-term solitary confinement, or killed off by medical neglect. These are the fates of thousands of prisoners every year men, women, and children housed in lockups

that give Gitmo and Abu Ghraib a run for their money. While there's plenty of blame to go around, and while not all of the facilities described in this series have all of the problems we explore, some stand out as particularly bad actors. These dishonorable mentions make up the final installment of our 11-part series, a subjective ranking based on three years of research, correspondence with prisoners, and interviews with reform advocates concerning the penal facilities with the grimmest claims to infamy. The series Top-10 of Americas Worst Prisons: #1: ADX (federal supermax) #2: Allan B. Polunsky Unit (Texas) #3: Tent City Jail (Phoenix) #4: Orleans Parish (Louisiana) #5: LA County Jail (Los Angeles) #6: Pelican Bay (California) #7: Julia Tutwiler (Alabama) #8: Reeves Country Detention Complex (Texas) #9: Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility (Mississippi) #10: Rikers Island (New York City) Dishonorable Mentions: Attica Correctional Facility (Attica, New York): More than four decades after its famous uprising, New York's worst state prison still lives up to its brutal history. According to the Correctional Association of New York, which has a legislative mandate to track prison conditions, Attica is plagued by staff-on-prisoner violence, intimidation, and sexual abuse. Communications Management Units (Marion, Illinois, and Terre Haute, Indiana): These two federal prisons-within-prisons, whose populations are more than two-thirds Muslim, were opened secretly by the Bureau of Prisons during the Bush administration, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is challenging the facilities in a federal lawsuit. "The Bureau claims that CMUs are designed to hold dangerous terrorists and other high-risk inmates, requiring heightened monitoring of their external and internal communications," notes a lawsuit fact sheet. "Many prisoners, however, are sent to these isolation units for their constitutionally protected religious beliefs, unpopular political views, or in retaliation for challenging poor treatment or other rights violations in the federal prison system." (Also see: Pelican Bay.)

Ely State Prison (Ely, Nevada): A "shocking and callous disregard for human life" is how an auditor described medical care at Ely, which houses the state's death row along with other maximum security prisoners (PDF). The audit, which found that one prisoner was allowed to rot to death from gangrene, formed the basis of a 2008 class-action lawsuit brought by the ACLU's National Prison Project. The suit was settled in 2010, but by 2012 the prison still was not in full compliance. Idaho Correctional Center (Kuna, Idaho): Run by Corrections Corporation of America, the world's largest private prison company, ICC has been dubbed a "gladiator school" for its epidemic of gang violence. According to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by the ACLU of Idaho (PDF), the violence is not only condoned but actively promoted by the staff. The suit was settled, but last November, the ACLU said CCA appeared to be violating the agreement, which called for increased staffing and training, reporting of assaults to the local sheriff's office, and disciplinary measures for staffers who didn't take steps to stop or prevent assaults. San Quentin State Prison (Marin County, California): This decrepit prison, which sits on a $2 billion piece of bayside real estate, is home to America's largest death row. As of late-April, there were 711 men and 20 women condemned to die at San Quentinyou can find the latest stats here (PDF); the figure is constantly changing, despite a state moratorium on executions, because prisoners frequently die of illness or old age. Some even commit suicide rather than remain in solitary limbo. Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola, Louisiana): At America's largest prison, those who embrace warden Burl Cain's pet program of "moral rehabilitation" through Christianity are afforded privileges while sinners languish in institutional hell. A former slave plantation, the prison lends its name to the so-called Angola 3, two of whom have been held in solitary for 40 years, largely for their perceived political beliefs. (In March, Louisiana's attorney general declared, bafflingly, that the men had "never been in solitary confinement.") United States Penitentiary (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania): In this overcrowded supermax, the target of multiple lawsuits, prisoners are locked down for 23 to 24 hours a day in the

company of a cellmate. One lawsuit alleges that prison officials deliberately pair people with their enemies, and that this practice has led to at least two deaths. The suit also claims that prisoners have been strapped to their bunks with four-point restraints if they resist their cell assignments. Nevada prison guard arrested in Las Vegas bank robbery By Mike Blasky and Francis McCabe Las Vegas Review-Journal, 5/24/13 Benjamin Kyker is very familiar with the Nevada prisons system, but the veteran prison guard could soon be bunking with the kind of men hes been guarding. Kyker, a sergeant with the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs, was arrested Thursday and faces charges in connection to conspiring with a security guard to rob a bank. According to his Las Vegas police arrest report, Kyker, 37, went to the Wells Fargo at 10475 S. Decatur Blvd., near Cactus Avenue in the southwest valley, about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday as the ATM was being serviced. Kyker placed his .45 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun to the head of the security guard, William Stack, and said, Give me all you got, the report said. The ATM technician, a woman in her mid-60s, gave the robber two cassettes containing about $21,000 and one cassette of 84 postage stamps. The sergeant then used Stack as a human shield before speeding away in a red Volvo sedan with no license plates, the report said. But Kyker didnt make it very far. Police stopped his car five miles away, near Rainbow Boulevard and Windmill Lane. Officers say they found the stolen cash and a handgun in Kykers car. Kyker told detectives he is an 18-year veteran law enforcement officer who has fallen on hard times. His wife recently lost her job, and the couple couldnt afford to pay their bills, he said. He also told detectives he was an Army National Guard member, and recognized the bank guard, Stack, as another guardsman.

At this point, I felt Kyker and Stack had conspired to commit the robbery, Detective Craig Dunn wrote in the report. Dunn said he pressed Kyker to tell the truth, and Kyker eventually admitted that Stack had suggested it would be easy to rob the money for the ATM tech. Stack told Kyker that he was guarding an older lady, the report said. He told police he didnt load his handgun as a precaution against an accidental discharge. Stack, 25, first told police he didnt know Kyker and hadnt seen the robbers face, but eventually revealed that he knew Kyker for six years through the National Guard. Stack, who worked with Southern Nevada Security Patrol, said the ATM technician didnt know about the plan and was very scared during the robbery, the report said. Stack and Kyker were booked at the Clark County jail on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Kyker was being held without bail. Stacks bail status remained unclear; he was not listed in Clark County jail records Friday. Kyker told police he knows what he did was wrong and was very remorseful. The Nevada Department of Corrections did not return a call seeking comment about Kykers job status. Support the California Prison Hunger Strikers! From: Stopmassincarceration.org: Peaceful Protest to Resume July 8th 2013, If Demands Are Not Met People imprisoned at Pelican Bay State Prison in California have called for a nationwide Hunger Strike to begin on July 8, 2013. They have also issued a call for unity among people from different racial groups, inside and outside the prisons. People who are locked down in segregation units of this societys prisons, condemned as the worst of the worst, are standing up against injustice, asserting their humanity in the process. We must have the humanity to hear their call, and answer it with powerful support!

A nationwide and worldwide struggle needs to be launched NOW to bring an end to this widespread torture BEFORE those in the prisons are forced to take the desperate step of going on hunger strikes and putting their lives on the line! The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is calling on people to help develop plans to support the prisoners. Support Pelican Bay SHU Prisoners' Five Core Demands The 5 Core Demands: 1. Eliminate group punishments. Instead, practice individual accountability. When an individual prisoner breaks a rule, the prison often punishes a whole group of prisoners of the same race. This policy has been applied to keep prisoners in the SHU indefinitely and to make conditions increasingly harsh. 2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status criteria. Prisoners are accused of being active or inactive participants of prison gangs using false or highly dubious evidence, and are then sent to longterm isolation (SHU). They can escape these tortuous conditions only if they "debrief," that is, become informants on other prisoners. Debriefing produces false information (wrongly landing other prisoners in SHU, in an endless cycle) and can endanger the lives of debriefing prisoners and their families. 3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to longterm solitary confinement. This bipartisan commission specifically recommended to "make segregation a last resort" and "end conditions of isolation." Yet as of May 18, 2011, California kept 3,259 prisoners in SHUs and hundreds more in Administrative Segregation waiting for a SHU cell to open up. Some prisoners have been kept in isolation for more than thirty years. 4. Provide adequate and nutritious food. Prisoners report unsanitary conditions and small quantities of food that do not conform to prison regulations. There is no accountability or independent quality control of meals. 5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates. The hunger strikers are pressing for opportunities to engage in self-help treatment, education, religious and other productive activities..." Currently these opportunities are routinely denied, even if the prisoners want to pay for correspondence courses themselves. Examples

of privileges the prisoners want are: one phone call per week, and permission to have sweatsuits and watch caps. (Often warm clothing is denied, though the cells and exercise cage can be bitterly cold.) All of the privileges mentioned in the demands are already allowed at other SuperMax prisons (in the federal prison system and other states). Note: After the second hunger strike, the CDCR issued watch caps to the prisoners, and now allows them to buy sweat suits. Note by NPN: The prisoners in the SHU can now have 1 (one) picture a year made. Seven Days in Solitary [7/14/13] a weekly column on SolitaryWatch, by Lisa Dawson (in the week the hunger strike in California started, and when on the first day, 30,ooo prisoners were reported on hunger strike!) The following roundup features noteworthy news, reports and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts. According to the tally kept by The Miami Herald, 81 of the 166 men held captive at Guantanamo are now hunger-striking, with 45 being force-fed and three hospitalized. The New York Times reports that, while a federal judge ruled that she had no power to order the military to halt the force-feeding of a detainee, the judge urged President Obama to address the hunger strike. MSNBC reports on the use of isolation in U.S. prisons, stating that [s]olitary confinement is not a punishment only the most hardened and dangerous criminals have to endure. In the United States, more than 81,000 people are being held in isolation cells, sometimes for years on end. The Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC) and Jails Action Coalition announce that activists in New York are participating in a rolling fast to express their solidarity with the thousands who are on hunger strike at Pelican Bay and other California prisons. The fast began on July 8, on the same day as the California hunger strike, and will continue as long as the prison hunger strike continues. Solitary Watch reports on the hunger strike here and here. Following the launch of the mass prison hunger strike in the state of California, ProPublica reports on the issue of force-feeding on U.S. soil, stating that [a]s lawmakers call for

an end to the force-feeding of Guantanamo detainees, the California strike serves as a reminder: inmates on U.S. soil can ultimately be given the same treatment. In a recent piece on the ACLUs blog, Raphael Sperry, President of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, writes on the meaning of the prison hunger strikes from the perspective of an architect. Sperry writes, Frankly, there are some buildings that never should have been built buildings that constitute human rights violations by their very existence Prisons intended for prolonged solitary confinement should also never be built. Democracy Now! reports on the statewide prison hunger strike in California, stating that hunger strike participants are calling for an end to long-term solitary confinement, improved food quality and increased access to education programs and healthcare services. Guest Shane Bauer discusses inhumane prison conditions from California to Iran. The Nation reports on the mass hunger strike in California, launched July 8 by tens of thousands of people incarcerated throughout the state, noting that hunger strike participants are calling for an end to prolonged solitary confinement and inhumane conditions in prison. Los Angeles Times covers reports of retaliation by corrections officials following the launch of the California prison hunger strike. According to the story, State prisoners said Wednesday evening that corrections officials are threatening to search their cells, seize their food stashes and possibly move them to solitary confinement if they continue their meal strike. The Colorado Independent reports that prison officials in Colorado acknowledge that the murder of corrections chief Tom Clements is connected to solitary confinement policies. The article states, If nothing else, Clements death is more evidence that solitary confinement isnt just an abstract ethical and legal question about torture and the evolving standards of human decency as defined by the 8th Amendment. It is, as Clements argued, an issue of immediate public safety. Solitary Watch, PO Box 11374, Washington, D.C., 20008

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Officer on officer violence at Ely State Prison Recently, here at Ely State Prison, a peaceofficer who at the time was a lieutenant assaulted another peace officer, and was demoted in rank (rather than fired), to a sergeant as a result. Lt. D. W. was holding a gas canister and standing around with some of the other peaceofficers while talking to Warden Renee B.; upon asking Warden B. if he could spray peaceofficer S. in the face with the gas, Warden B. was reported to reply: Only if I could be the one to spray him. After this comment was made, Lt W. sprayed peace-officer S. in the face with the gas. After peace-officer S. was sprayed in the face he began to choke, and the gas was so suffocating he couldnt breathe and said he felt like he was dying. This is the same chemical agent that is used on recalcitrant prisoners in cell extractions. In fact, this was the kind of chemical agent used in the cell extraction of Timothy Redman, who died of asphyxiation that was attributed to suicide by hanging, according to ESP peace-officers. This unprofessional remark by Warden B., essentially condoning unbecoming conduct in the work environment, no doubt encouraged an all too common disregard for procedure and safety by one of the more sadistic lieutenants at ESP, whose reputation for violence and abuse towards prisoners in lieu of constitutional mandates, was never more on display than the disregard for a fellow workmate. This is not an isolated incident egged on by the trickle-down effect of monkey see monkey do, as in 2010, Lt. M. was fired from ESP after cameras had recorded him savagely beating over a dozen prisoners in handcuffs, as attested to in multiple lawsuits, in an incident that is widely known as Bloody Sunday. The failure t o train officers is perpetuated by high-ranking officers who adopt their own methods of intolerance and aggression towards prisoners that becomes routine entertainment at a prisoners expense and misery. That W. was only demoted for this act is reflective of Warden B.s own part in the incident where firing Waggener for something that was partly her fault demonstrates the ineptitude of the E.S.P. administration as a whole. There are many here at E.S.P., prisoners and peace-officers alike, who believe things are

better now that D. Br. is gone. Why should one evil person whose tenure at E.S.P. starting at the lowest level, working her way up be anything other than a reflection of the evilness taught to her by the traditionalists of barbarity thats a continuing abuse of power and authority? For example, it is said that Lt. R. B. has more influence and control here at ESP than even the wardens. Yet, in reports obtained from the Federal Indictments of Joey Sellers, Federal Prosecutors (F.B.I.) refused to use Lt. B. as a witness, due to the [reason] that he was a very incompetent CERT officer who was prone to conduct [that] was unbecoming an officer. When a lieutenant sprays a subordinate officer in the face with chemical agents, how can that officer go home and merely brush this off as a typical [day] at the job? I dont think he could. How could an officer trust, or even respect a sergeant or a lieutenant after being subjected to such abuse? Not only does this type of behavior show that this lieutenant has a complete disregard for his fellow correctional officers, but this also depicts the common violent, oafish mentality that many of these officers have, as they stand around the water cooler, joking and talking about committing miscellaneous acts of abuse and terror (torture) on prisoners, and now in this case, each other. The more these types of violent acts happen, perpetuated by high-ranking officers themselves, most showcases a system that promotes violence and aggression amongst its rank and file. The [more] violent an officer is, the higher the officer will rise in rank and stature. From all of the testimonies Ive read and the reports Ive been getting, it seems that the prisoners of Ely State Prison have always known this to be true. Yes, this Lt. had one of his stripes taken away from him and was promptly demoted to the rank of a sergeant for assaulting an officer. Yet he still holds rank over other guards, and therefore still beholds an opportunity to belittle his subordinate officers and to abuse them, as is in his nature to do (judging from his history and character). While in incidents where an unruly prisoner has been written up for throwing water in an officers face through the food slot, he gets charged with assault, all of his privileges are taken away, and he gets placed in a cell of solitary confinement for 2 years, under the foulest conditions ever, with an Attorney Generals referral hanging over his head. While in the hole, he continuously gets harassed and treated like a speck of dirt by the other officers, as he slowly goes mad without a book to read,

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or any other productive stimuli to keep him occupied. The whole reason of placing this recalcitrant prisoner under such brutal conditions is not only to punish this type of defiant, unruly behavior, but it is also an attempt to crush his spirit and weaken his will to resist. But resist is all he can do, because to surrender to such torment is to descend into the deepest depths of an abysm with no hope of ever resurfacing again. And all the while, the real violent, abusive ones run around this prison wearing a uniform, holding rank, and using that rank not only to commit various acts of Barbary on prisoners, but as we see now, also on their own subordinate officers. Here at Ely State Prison, there is a Sergeant who works here, whose wife is reported as currently being in jail, facing criminal charges. I do not need to mention that she has been working here in the E.S.P. Law Library for over 15 years. Several weeks after seeing her taken away in cuffs and escorted off of the premises, two concerned prisoners simply asked this Sgt where his wife was at, the Sgt aggressively threatens to write both prisoners up. Yet these are the Sergeants and Lieutenants in charge here at E.S.P. and if history tells us anything, it tells us that when the people in power are corrupt (as they usually are), then the people as a whole are corrupt, and the entire system becomes corrupt. I think we can say the same thing about those who are incompetent too. Ely State Prison continues to be a graveyard, where the ones in power are either incompetent, or just have a complete disregard for anyone below them, guards and prisoners alike. This is a wasteland that perpetually promotes a system of stagnation, ignorance and degradation, namely by placing snitches and cowards amongst the rank and file of prisoners, within a level/reward system that was designed to encourage snitching and boot-licking and other cowardly behaviors that eat away at the basic characteristics of manhood. Thus keeping its prisoners disorganized and lacking the social consciousness necessary to take hold and control the destiny of their own lives, upon being released from these horrendous confines. This is a system where officer on officer violence gets swept under the rug, where officer on inmate violence gets rewarded, and where inmate on inmate violence is used as a tool and an excuse to keep all ESP prisoner locked down til the end of time.

Solidarity forever (the author wishes to remain anonymous) October 2012 Who are we? By C. Blast aka Lil Mutulu Warning: This is a strong anti-authoritarian message, so if you are a pig-loving conformist I suggest you put this down because you will get your feelings hurt! These cowards dont love you! So love yourself. These pompous bigots arent here (Ely State Prison to protect you! So protect yourself and your loved ones (by any means necessary) because they want you dead! These hideous punks dont want to see you make it out of this dungeon Ely State Prison alive! So stay strong mentally and physically and youll make it out of here alive! They dont wanna see you smile! So keep a smile on your face! They dont want you to be well-educated so that you could teach others what you know. So educate yourself so that you could teach others what you know! What can these mark-ass busters teach you? They can teach you how to lay down (like a good boy) and accept all of the bull-shit that they all love to bring to work with them. They can teach you how to be secretive and deceptive towards your own people, because thats how they are towards us, and their own people. They want you to rob, cheat, and be anything but real to your people they want you to be destructive instead of being constructive but you all of you prisoners here at Ely State Prison you can change yourself, train yourself mentally and physically, and educate yourself. And who are they? They are not our people. They are not one who care about us (people). They are not the ones who will help the people when were in trouble. They are the ones in power and want to dominate over us. They are the ones who want the people to stay ignorant and destructive towards each other. They are liars. They are pigs! They are cowards!! They are the ones who kill the people and want the people to kill each other!!! They dont give a fuck about us!!!! And they are our enemies! We grow as we go! And as we go we show others that we know who we are, what we stand up for, what we live for, what we fight for, who we fight for, and why we fight for the people we fight for!

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Who are we? We are the people! We are the rebels, the true, solid comrades in this neverending struggle, who are not afraid to face our enemies. We are the people who want all of our people to be Free! Free from oppression. Free from discrimination, and free from the pigs brutality! What do we stand up for? Not for no suckas or no busters! We stand up for our rights! We stand up to show the enemy that we are not going to sit down and let them treat us like wild animals, like slaves, or like cowards. We will stand together. If one falls, we will help him back up on his feet, but if one falls and cant get up on his feet with our help, then the rest of the comrades will continue to fight the enemymentally or physically! What do we live for? We live to fight another day! We live to show the enemies (the pigs) that we cannot, and will not, allow them to treat our people like trash. We live to be treated equal, we live to be free (not held in bondage), and we live to enjoy our lives, in our communities/hoods with our family and friends, and we live to crush our enemies (the coward-ass pigs) where ever they rise! What do we fight for? For our rights to be respected! We fight for our freedom, we fight for our families, we fight for changes in this fuckedup system, and we will never give up on this fight, because the only way we will lose this fight is if we dont fight back! Who do we fight for? We fight for the people- all of the people, black, brown, white, it doesnt matter what race they are- who are being oppressed, brutalized, robbed, discriminated against, and killed by the pigs and anyone else who works with or for them. Why do we fight for the people? Why not fight for the people?! We must fight for the people to show them that we are not nothing like these oppressors! We must fight for the people so that the people know that we care about other human beings lives! We fight for the people we uplift the people and we die for the people! And if and when we die for the people, well die on our feet! Not on our knees like cowards but on our feet!!! Now that Ive said what I had to say, I want to end this by saying: Free Coyote! Free Ikemba S. Mutulu! And fuck all pigs and the system!! Fearlessly and Sincerely, C. Blast aka Lil Mutulu

NPN About: Assata Shakur From: http://www.afrocubaweb.com/assata.htm On May 2, 2013, the FBI placed Assata Shakur, now living in Cuba, on its Most Wanted Terrorists list, which has included the likes of Osama Bin Laden and other Al Quaeda figures, some of whom were executed by drones. This was the day after the State Department was due to release its list of terrorist countries from which Cuba was widely expected to be removed, as even the Miami Herald reported. Release of that list has been postponed and the State Department has asserted Cuba will remain on it, handing a victory to the exiled Cuban plantocracy and the half century campaign to restore their rule over Cuba. This has also been experienced as an assault on African Americans Assata Shakur has been living in Cuba since 1986, after escaping from prison where she was serving a life sentence imposed in a highly disputed trial. Assata was a Black Panther then a Black Liberation Army (BLA) leader in the early '70s, so she was a target of the FBI's COINTELPRO. Assata was captured in a shootout resulting from resistance to yet another "driving while black" police action in 1973 on the New Jersey State Turnpike. This time a State Trooper was killed. Zayd Shakur, traveling in the car with Assata, was also killed. The third person in the car, Sundiata Acoli, is still serving time over 30 years later and has recently been denied parole for another 20 years. According to one of Sundiata' attorney, Joan P. Gibbs, "Assata, at the time of her arrest, was 'wanted' on federal and state charges in New York, all of which juries subsequently found her not guilty of or were dismissed." As was later proved through medical forensics, Assata was wounded at the time of her capture by a cowardly shot from the rear, while she had her hands up. This fact is frequently the subject of lies by law enforcement as is the fact that she was given a paraffin test, which failed to reveal any gunpowder residue, meaning it would have been hard for her to have fired a gun. While recovering from her wounds, she was tortured at the hands of the State Police Nazis (no hyperbole here, they were WWII Nazis brought to America). She was convicted by an all white jury in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison.

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Before her daring escape from prison in 1979, Assata Shakur served a total of six years behind bars where she would also give birth to her daughter Kakuya. An Open Letter From Assata Assatashakur.org: Assata: In her own words My name is Assata (she who struggles) Olugbala (for the people) Shakur (the thankful one), and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government's policy towards people of color. I am an ex political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984. I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one. In the 1960s, I participated in various struggles: the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. I joined the Black Panther Party. By 1969 the Black Panther Party had become the number one organization targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO program. because the Black Panther Party demanded the total liberation of black people, J. Edgar Hoover called it "greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists. Political Prisoner to Exiled On May 2, 1973 I, along with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike, supposedly for a "faulty tail light." Sundiata Acoli got out of the car to determine why we were stopped. Zayd and I remained in the car. State trooper Harper then came to the car, opened the door and began to question us. Because we were black, and riding in a car with Vermont license plates, he claimed he became "suspicious." He then drew his gun, pointed it at us, and told us to put our hands up in the air, in front of us, where he could see them. I complied and in a split second, there was a sound that came from outside the car, there was a sudden movement, and I was shot once with my arms held up in the air, and then once again from the back. Zayd Malik Shakur was later killed, trooper Werner Forester was killed, and even though trooper Harper admitted that he shot and killed Zayd Malik Shakur, under the New Jersey felony murder law, I was charged with killing both Zayd Malik Shakur, who was my closest friend and comrade, and charged in the death of trooper Forester. Never in my life have I felt such grief. Zayd had vowed

to protect me, and to help me to get to a safe place, and it was clear that he had lost his life, trying to protect both me and Sundiata. Although he was also unarmed, and the gun that killed trooper Forester was found under Zayds leg, Sundiata Acoli, who was captured later, was also charged with both deaths. Neither Sundiata Acoli nor I ever received a fair trial. We were both convicted in the news media way before our trials. No news media was ever permitted to interview us, although the New Jersey police and the FBI fed stories to the press on a daily basis. In 1977, I was convicted by an all- white jury and sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison. In 1979, fearing that I would be murdered in prison, and knowing that I would never receive any justice, I was liberated from prison, aided by committed comrades who understood the depths of the injustices in my case, and who were also extremely fearful for my life. NPN Yellow Pages: Center for Constitutional Rights 666 Broadway 7th floor New York, NY 10012 Write them if you want to request their JHL Handbook, they will send it to you if you provide your address, and it is without charge for prisoners. You may have to have it approved before you order it or while you order it. Nevada Cure: Support- and advocacy group of people whose life has been negatively affected by Nevadas criminal justice system. Contact: Nevada Cure 540 E. St. Louis Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89104 Tel: 702.347.1731 FFIP: For family and friends, supporting them supporting you: Contact: Family and Friends of Incarcerated persons (FFIP) PO Box 27708 Las Vegas, NV 89126 www.ffipnv.org For visitors: Inmate Family Connections Bus service to prisons for visitors Address: 800 N. Rainbow Suite 162 Las Vegas , NV, 89107 http://www.inmatefamilyconnections.com

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Important organizations in other States: Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC) PO Box 70447 Oakland, CA 94612 510.893.4648 info@prisonactivist.org PARC is a prison abolitionist group based on Oakland, CA, committed to exposing and challenging the institutionalized racism, sexism, ableism, heterosexism, and classism of the Prison Industrial Complex. Our Projects: Prisoners Voices With the thousands of letters received from prisoners we are given a window into the lives and experiences of people inside. The letters come in many forms: personal accounts, essays, poetry, etc. We have picked through and chosen the most powerful writings and retyped them unedited so that the public is aware of the terrible abuses and the amazing examples of survival and strength that these prisoners show. Prisoner Support Directory PARC corresponds with and mails this resource packet to prisoners, their friends and family members. We are often the first point of contact for people to connect with prisoners rights organizations, community organizations, prison literature and arts projects, family and visiting resources, health care and legal resources, parole and pre-release resources, and the prison abolition movement. ABC South Chicago Zine Distro A.Rayson/South Chicago ABC Zine Distro, PO Box 721, Homewood IL, 60430-8721 Offers a wide variety of political zines at low cost to prisoners. Specializes in helping get the truth out of the gulags, in zine form. Supports prisoner initiatives such as prisoner labor unions. Offers zines for women prisoners. Sorry, available in English only. Kersplebedeb, CP 63560, CCCP Van Horne, Montreal, Qc, Canada, H3W 3H8 Currently makes the email newsletter on a daily basis of news roundups concerning the CA hunger strike. Also publishes rad. Literature.

Also has a page called Voices from Solitary, featuring prisoners writings from solitary confinement.

Poetry Defiance
Defiantly I stand in the midst of adversity and persecution, like a stone golem of old I am Impervious to the storm of conviction allayed against my very soul. Defiantly I face those whose power is greater than my own. Like a warrior who is faced with unbeatable odds I fight on without pause. Defiantly I look evil in its deceitful face though masked by false justice and spit in the eye of the oppressor. Defiantly I march against my enemy, its allies and all who would advocate my destruction. I am rebellion unbound. Defiantly I face death and stand in prison like a standard that rallies all those who will no longer tolerate unjust imprisonment and who dare not falter in their battle for true democracy. Defiantly I speak, defiantly I stand, defiantly I fight on, and will never surrender, never submit, never give in. I am the unimprisonable, the unkillable, the unstoppable, the unenslavable; I am he who is spurned the world over yet who holds his head hight in the light of day. I am the seed of ham. I am the Blackman. The Afrikan. I am defiance. Heshima (from a California SHU)

Solitary Watch PO Box 11374, Washington, D.C., 20008 Has a well-visited website and is the specialist in all things Solitary or Control Unit or Permanent Lockdown.

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Clarity
They say God makes a way, And Karma hits those the hardest Who should know better. Everyone and everything are exposed, As it should be. I stand alone, Back against the wall. Yet, the truth has set me free. Thanks for the clarity To those full of hate, envy and misery. Brother sister friendLover family?! Forgive me, For I too have been Our own worst enemy. Die, nigga! Die! Then come rise with me. That we may become true men Of our people and humanity, In demand of a greater destiny. Kasi

Smoke-blown
Her watery words were larded with lies. The cold and calculated diffidence in her persona was to fool only fools, but never the wise. Weve been down that well-trodden road many times before, enough times to know when smoke is being blown The things that at first glance seem alluring, can oftentimes be quite dreadful upon closer examination Though She may be unduly revered by the unseeing and the unknowing, she has become abominated by those who have already felt the ice-cold tactility of her suffocating embrace. One slight glance upon her uncaring, opaque eyes would be a definite result in ones untimely demise. High and mightily, She sits on her peremptory throne, looking down on her civilized society with a subtle hint of unhinged brutality. Mores the pity for those who do not obey, Id say. Theyd be lucky to be down into a prison, never again to see another sunshiny day. Dishonest, dishonorable, despicable, manipulative, cruel and vindictive, conniving, condescending, and carnivorous, is She. What is Her name, you ask? Well, surely my friend, youve heard of her before Her name is: Authority From the confines of a captured mans heart , Coyote - Ely State Prison (2013)

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