Working to Extend Democracy to All 
Volume
V
l
1
1, N
Number
b 1

March
M
h 2012

The Road Ahead
And The Dialectics of Change

Applying the science of dialectical
and historical materialism to the
prison construct as it exists within
the California prison system today.

Introduction
By Ed Mead
ou know what the situation is:
Slavery legally sanctioned today
in America by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As a result
of this crime an entire segment of the U.S.
population has been systematically disenfranchised, and much worse.
How big a deal is it? This is how big it
is. If ex-prisoners in just Florida alone had
been permitted to vote in the 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush would
never have been president—100,000 plus
Iraqi civilians (mostly women and children) would still be alive, not to mention
the thousands of dead and wounded Americans. If prisoners had the vote, not just absentee ballots but the right to vote in the
communities where their census is taken,
where they are incarcerated, then the local politicians in these remote areas would
be seriously wooing the prisoners’ ballot.
When that day comes there would be measurable change.
Of course the roots of crime and prisons lie in the nature of the existing social
system, and cannot be changed through
the electoral process. Indeed, if elections
would be illegal if they had the potential to
actually result in fundamental change.
In this day and age who in their right
mind would oppose a mass struggle against
slavery? Who is against all citizens having
their human right to vote? Talk about having justice on our side! But where is our

Y

struggle for these basics of democracy? It
is lost in the alienation that has been conditioned into us.
Every time you turn on your radio, television, or pick up a newspaper, magazine,
etc., on some level you are being told what
to think. The cumulative effect of this incessant bombardment is adjustment oriented politics. Yes, even as you read this I
too am working to twist your thinking in a
certain direction, to wrap your mind around
the concept of prisoner empowerment and
progressive change. This is what I do, I am
a propaganda officer for a revolutionary
prisoner rights movement that does not yet
exist.

Yet the article that follows does not at
attempt to teach you what to think. Rather, its
purpose is to start the process of teaching
you how to think. It applies the science of
dialectical and historical materialism to the
prison construct as it exists within the California prison system today. This document
is an introduction to this science; a jumping
off point from which you can start implementing the dialectical process of constructive personal and social change.
Like any science, the material in these
pages will require study. The information
is not going to passively wash over you,

like some television program or fiction
novel, you are going to have to do some
actual mental work. Unlearning old idealist
thinking patterns and replacing them with
materialist methods and analysis is not
easy. But the reward of being in touch with
the material realities around you, and in finally understanding the world, the whole
global construct, is the reward at the end
of the rainbow. There is also the additional
satisfaction of being on the side of justice,
democracy, and truth—on the side of poor
and oppressed people everywhere.

The Road Ahead
By C.L., A California Prisoner
The “state” is a powerful tool of the ruling class. It consists of the military, the
intelligence, the judicial system, security,
the police, etc., including the prison system. The state is not the product of external forces imposed on society from without
as the metaphysicians contend, but came
into being as a result of the internal contradictions within society itself. The state
has not existed since time immemorial, but
came into existence with the introduction
at a certain stage of social development,
that being with the introduction of property
rights.
With the introduction of property rights,
wealth and the means of production (tools,
land, natural resources, etc.) became more
accumulated and concentrated in the hands
of a small and ever-growing wealthy minority of society’s population, thus resulting in a society consisting of social classes,
hence great social inequalities. This extremely wealthy minority gained its wealth,
power, and privileges through the exploited
labor of slaves and the lowest classes. For

the preservation and continuance of this
status quo, it became necessary for the ruling classes to protect their so-called “property rights,” i.e., their right to exploit, and
this led to the creation of the state. The
history of prisons is the history of class society. Lenin was correct when he said the
“state is a machine for maintaining the rule
of one class over another,” that is, the class
that dominates economically. And today
in the epoch of imperialism, the relations
between nations become like the relations
between social classes, where a small minority of the world’s nations exploit the labor and natural resources of other nations.
Despite the various transformations the
economic base has and continues to develop through (slave-owning society of antiquity, feudalism, capitalism-imperialism)
the function of the state remains the same
today. Whether it’s the U.S. imperialist war
machine killing and plundering the natural
resources, labor and populations of third
world countries in order to further increase
its wealth and continue its privileged status, or imprisoning over two million of its
own population in an effort to maintain social control, i.e., protect its property rights,
the essence of the state remains the same.
I.
“Never try to teach a people that through
education alone they can conquer their
rights. Teach them, first and foremost, to
conquer their rights…”
– Che Guevara
In the last ten to fifteen years, we have
undeniably experienced and continue to
experience drastic transformations within
the California prison system. The two most
noticeable changes are the number of prisons being built, including various solitary
confinement facilities. The second most
noticeable change is the deteriorating quality of our living conditions and the mentality of the overall prison population itself.
These two developments, the increase of
new prisons and their populations accompanied with the declining quality of our
material conditions, is interconnected and
having a profound impact on the entire
prison population.
Over a decade ago with the opening of
Pelican Bay SHU, followed by Corcoran
and then Tehachapi SHU, the CDC implemented its first stage in a steady campaign
aimed at all of us with the intention of
creating a passive and compliant prison
population. As convenient as it is for most
2

not to acknowledge this, so far the CDC’s
strategy an tactics are proving very effective, but worse and self destructively, we’re
unknowingly assisting them in achieving
their agenda. One look at the rapidly expanding “soft yards” will confirm this. If
we have any intentions of reversing this
course of deterioration, we not only have to
acknowledge what is happening, but more
importantly, recognize that it will require
mass cooperation from all sectors of the
prison population before we can implement
a correct plan of action.
In the early- to mid-1990s, the CDC began taking everything from us, a little bit
here and a little bit there and only from
one yard at a time to avoid the possibility
of mass organized resistance from the entire prison population (level 3 and 4 yards).
These are the rights that the convicts of
prior generations had fought and struggled
to achieve, the very rights that we are now
shamefully giving up freely without any
form of resistance. Our living conditions
have and continue to deteriorate, and as a
prison population we are experiencing its
effects daily in numerous forms. No individual, race, or group, is immune from
these changes, and the essence of these
changes run much deeper than what appears on the surface.
Our access to medical treatment is becoming more difficult and accompanied
with longer waits for treatments, if any. In
regards to hepatitis and other life-threatening afflictions, as a result of financial
interests, our treatment is either intentionally thwarted or blatantly denied. In many
circumstances we’re being denied adequate
clothing, sufficient hygiene and supplies to
maintain healthy living quarters, adequate
access to legal materials for relief and defense. They’re increasingly denying us
the ability to develop socially while their
practice of permanently isolating us is simultaneously increasing. They’ve taken
family visits from all lifers, the weights,
educational and recreational programs, and
day room from most lifers in G.P. They’ve
already begun cell feeding on most level
four yards and have put most level four
prisoners in jumpsuits. They’ve taken all
concrete SHU yards from the convicts
and have put us in individual isolated dog
cages, while rewarding those in protective
custody with the concrete yards. They’ve
taken the tobacco. They’ve monopolized
the packages by replacing personal packages with state approved vendor packages
so they can work less passing them out

and the CDC can receive kickbacks from
these “ex-correctional officer”-owned
businesses that they’ve given these package contracts to. The CDC, hand in hand
with MCI, have even monopolized our collect calls and are further victimizing our
families by charging up to six times over
the normal rate for a collect call. They’ve
discontinued many of the appliances and
the ones they do offer, for the most part,
are overpriced. Under the guise of institutional security they’ve imposed a fascist
policy concerning the educational material
we can study. No more culture, history, or
political literature that doesn’t correspond
with their personal views, i.e., class interest. Relying on the history of other prisons
and as well as our own and the direction in
which it is developing, it’s only a matter of
time before the number of books allowed
is greatly reduced and we’re required to
purchase books through a state-approved
vendor and we know how that will be: Ten
percent inmate welfare fund and a large selection of “idiot” books. As for the history,
political, cultural literature, it’ll be ideologically limited to the interests of our captors.
For those who owe restitution, the CDC
has convinced themselves that they’re not
stealing when they slip their greasy hands
into the pockets of our family members
and tax them for restitution debts that have
been imposed on us. In the last ten years
the CDC has extracted $50 million dollars
form our families, and let’s not forget the
restitution will be increased to 55% in the
near future. (Can the CDC account for this
$50 million dollars?) The prison administration and its lazy army of correctional
officers have been sniveling budget crisis
because they’ve plundered the state budget
allocated to them by clocking in excessive
amounts of overtime hours in a greedy
frenzy to fatten their paychecks even further. And instead of cutting back on excessive overtime hours, they’ve cut corners in
other areas which amounts to further stripping us of what little we do have left. They
recently attempted to discontinue all appliances form the SHU facilities in order for
the CDC to save money on electricity, allowing for them to continue collecting their
overtime pay. It would not only be naïve,
but another mistake on our part to believe
that the CDC won’t be back at a later date
for our appliances once they’re convinced
that we’ve lost our leverage and ability to
resist. They’ve gone so far as to shorten
our food portions and for those who are
confined within the hole or a SHU facility,
¡Roca!

this is a compromization of our health. This
deterioration of our material conditions is
continuous and only increasing. It was
Emiliano Zapata who said, “I prefer dying
on my feet than living on my knees…” The
question I ask: Why do we continue living
on our knees?!
In regards to the 602 process, it’s an important and necessary aspect of struggle,
but it’s ineffective when we rely on it as
the only form of struggle. When utilized
by itself, we shouldn’t continue deceiving
ourselves and those around us. It doesn’t,
and it never has produced any long term
or meaningful results, and on the rare occasions that it does, these victories are
short-lived and in appearance only. These
so-called victories are nothing more than illusions and temporary crumbs being tossed
to us with the intentions of pacifying us
while they’re simultaneously depriving us
of something else and implementing other
measures to counteract and neutralize the
victory we supposedly achieved. This is
the same old story of taking one step forward and three steps back. The 602 process
serves two main simultaneous functions:
1) By seeking relief on an individual basis,
it distracts and divides us from the issues
that effect all of us as a group. 2) The administrative process is dragged out for so
long and the petitioner is required to jump
through so many unnecessary hoops that
eventually the petitioner grows exhausted
and abandons all attempts at seeking relief
from violations committed by the state.
The CDC’s fascist validation policy is a
prime example in regards to the 602 process and it’s futility when utilized by itself.
The ten year long legal battle to overturn
the validation process has recently come
to a conclusion without victory. Although
prior to its conclusion the CDC was growing concerned with the possibility that the
courts might rule in our favor. So to counteract and neutralize this possibility, the
CDC began and continues to hand out indeterminate SHU terms to prisoners who
have a record of serving prior SHU terms
regardless of the alleged offense. Despite
the CDC’s claim that indeterminate SHUs
(validation) is solely to deter violence associated with prison gang activity, what
this truly demonstrates in practice is that
the CDC’s primary objective is to create a
defeated and passive prison population by
repressing and dismantling those prisoners they perceive as potential threats and
obstacles blocking the path to their goals,
regardless of alleged gang association or
Vol. 1 Number 1

violence.
As for those select few who are released
back into general population under the six
year inactive status, not only has this proven to be a sham, it’s not a solution. Seeking
relief on an individual basis (602 process)
only serves to divide and distract us, while
leaving the foundation of the validation
process as a whole intact and untouched.
For the majority of the small number of
individuals who are released into general
population, they’re soon snatched back up
off the yards and slammed down again.
And as usual the CDC applies their standard tactics to secure their revalidation
with fabricated 10-30’s and unreliable confidential informants who can’t be cross examined or challenged in the 602 process.
This is nothing less than the CDC’s version
of an illegal military tribunal. Snatching
these individuals back up off the yards is
part of IGI’s agenda before they even cut
them loose. They use this farce as justification to Sacramento that inactive validators
are active and cannot be reintegrated back
into general population. This farce not only
justifies the continuation and existence of
the SHU, but worse, it can only work so
long as we continue to participate in its process. And aside from the fact that this is just
another one of their numerous tactics being implemented to further their long term
objective of creating a defeated and passive
population, this is also a clear demonstration that reforming the validation process
will not work. Besides the validation process, they’ve now designed other methods
of keeping us permanently confined. Our
only solution, as overwhelming as it may
seem, is to launch a long protracted campaign of resistance throughout the prison
system (level three and four yards), not
only to close the SHU facilities down completely, but to gain back everything we’ve
given up over the years. The time for us to
get off our knees is long overdue. With the
application of “new” and “correct” tactics
employed throughout the system, accompanied with class action 502s and lawsuits,
“coordinated” written statements from us
to the media and support form the various
prison activist groups, and of greatest significance, mass solidarity, we can achieve
this.
Although before there can be a mobilization within the population of this magnitude and in order for us to be successful,
some very important questions must be addressed first. For example, the legal struggle that was being waged in the interests of

the entire population to overturn the validation process failed to provoke a unified
response. This was our shortcoming and it
has cost us a huge setback. We as a prison
population are oppressed as an entire population; therefore the solution is to be found
in a group response. Several forms of
struggle should have coincided with the legal one. The question is, why weren’t other
forms of struggle pursued on a large and
coordinated scale? Addressing this in itself
draws forth other pertinent questions that
must be addressed before we can transform
ourselves into an effective material force.
As was acknowledged above, over the
years and increasingly more so in the last
ten, our living conditions continue to deteriorate. And as convenient as it may be
for most to turn a blind eye to all of this,
the quality of the overall population’s way
of thinking is also deteriorating. The deteriorating, material conditions and the
population’s deteriorating way of thinking is interrelated and goes hand in hand.
Not only are they reflections of one another, they influence the development of
each other’s deterioration in a continuous
interacting process. We as a prison population are becoming increasingly more selfcentered and driven by self interests as our
material conditions continue to deteriorate,
and in turn we become contributors and accomplices to the CDC’s agendas and the
further downward spiral of our own deterioration, and more often than not, we do
so unconsciously, that is, we do so unintentionally and unknowingly. We live within
circumstances where the existing and predominating ideology of “individualism” is
self defeating and destructive to all of us
as a population and where the “collective”
mentality is an absolute necessity for the
improvement of our living conditions.
The vast majority of prisoners were not
only indifferent, but made no effort to push
for other forms of struggle to coincide with
the legal one that was being waged to overturn the CDC’s validation process. Prisoners from all sectors of the prison population
would rather take a free ride and let others sweat for them and bring change rather
than do everything in their ability to push
for and participate in one capacity or another. Why? This is just one demonstration
of the many we see on a daily basis of the
backward and individualist mentality that
has not only poisoned the consciousness of
the prison population but has contaminated
it on every level. And with continued and
increasing momentum, this mentality and
3

practice when fully developed to its conclusion, becomes the 10-30, the confidential informant, etc. As a population we are
in the later stages of transforming into our
opposite, not only in regards to our material
conditions, but in our way of thinking also.
Everything we are opposed to (at least in
words), we are in the later stages of becoming. If we are going to change the direction
of this deterioration, we must “struggle” to
improve our living conditions and this process we will simultaneously improve the
thinking of the overall population. A correct line and guide to action must be introduced and applied, and dialectical materialism provides us with these necessary tools.
II.
“Marxist philosophy holds that the most
important problem does not lie in understanding the laws of the objective world
and thus being able to explain it, but in
applying the knowledge of these laws actively to change the world…”
– Mao Tse-Tung
Though most are not conscious of it, the
fallacious thinking of “idealism” prevails
and is interwoven within the consciousness of not only mainstream society, but
within prison society as well. This convenient mode of thinking is not only incorrect, it’s self-deceiving and destructive to
us as a prison population. For example, we
convince ourselves that “we can do our life
in solitary confinement” because “nobody
can break us” and “we know how to do
our time,” etc., etc. Well this may be true
for many, but regardless of what we conveniently convince ourselves of, “Truth”
is found in the external world and exists independently of our minds, and the
truth is, we’re still being oppressed when
we are subjected to a lifetime sentence of
solitary confinement behind fabricated and
frivolous information no matter what we
conveniently convince ourselves of. Once
we make up these convenient excuses to
justify our inaction, we’re essentially laying down in defeat and accepting our oppression. Not only is idealism poisonous,
it must be discarded as a way of thinking if
we are to progress in any meaningful way.
Idealism and this mode of thinking is
incorrect on a scientific level because it
doesn’t correspond with objective reality;
that is, it doesn’t correctly reflect the external world around us, and therefore it is
untruthful. This way of thinking must be
4

corrected if we are going to stop being accomplices (dead weight) of the CDC and
agents of our own oppression and improve
our living conditions on a material and conscious level.
Dialectical materialism, the opposing
thought and philosophy of idealism, serves
as a scientific guide to the action necessary
for changing the course of this deterioration that is now in motion.
There is nothing in this world except
matter, and all matter without exception,
is in continuous motion. And the source
of this motion is primarily internal, that is,
the source of motion is primarily the result
of the internal conflicts of opposing forces
(unification of opposites) that is present
and struggles within all things, i.e., its development and movement. This is true of
social development, the development of
human thought and knowledge, organic development and inorganic development, all
development including the developments
that are in motion throughout the CDC.
Although the source of motion (change,
development) is primarily the result of internal contradictions, external forces and
influences play a significant role in motion. External forces and influences create
the conditions necessary for change but are
only operable through the internal contradictions themselves.

ADX SWAT by Tommy Silverstein

ll ““quantitative”
i i ” changes
h
i h iinAll
off either
crease or decrease at a certain point will
inevitably leap to a change in “quality.”
For example, water can undergo a certain
quantitative change of either increase or
decrease in its temperature without undergoing a change in its quality, so long as its
temperature doesn’t increase beyond 99
degrees or decrease below 31 degrees. Although as soon as it increases beyond 99
degrees it is at this point that it undergoes a
quantity-quality transformation and chang-

es from a liquid to a gas. The same is true
of a decrease in its temperature. As soon
as it decreases below 31 degrees, it is at
this point that it also undergoes a quantityquality transformation and changes from a
liquid to a solid.
All things in the universe are not only in
continuous motion, but are continuously
transforming themselves at certain stages
of their development into other things
through quantitative increases and decreases. It is no coincidence that with the drastic
increase in new prisons and their populations, that this has led to a drastic change
(deterioration) in the quality of our prison
conditions. It is also important to remember, external forces and influences can only
create the conditions necessary for change
and are only operable through the internal
contradictions themselves and that the actual basis of change and development takes
place internally. For example, the CDC
has only been successful in imposing these
changes on us as a result of the internal
contradictions that exist within the prison
population itself.
As was mentioned above, our minds, that
is, our consciousness also develops in this
way, through the continuous interaction
and struggle of the unification of theory and
practice. Dialectical materialism teaches us
that the external world (matter) is reflected
in our brains through our five sense organs:
sight, hearing, smell taste and touch. What
is first perceived through the five senses is
known as “perceptual knowledge.” When
enough perceptual knowledge has been accumulated in our brains, perceptual knowledge will leap to “conceptual knowledge”
(the formation of ideas, theories, plans,
policies, measures, etc.), that is, from objective matter to subjective consciousness,
from existence to ideas. This is the first
state of cognition.
The second stage of cognition begins
when we test the truth and validity of our
ideas by putting them into practice, that
is, transforming subjective consciousness
back into objective matter, from ideas back
into existence. Those ideas that fail to correspond with the external world are incorrect and untruthful, while those ideas that
do correspond with the external world and
achieve their intended results, are correct
and truthful. The continuous interaction
and struggle between the material world
and our ideas is inseparable, and through
this continuous struggle and interaction,
knowledge is gained, our consciousness is
raised, and we simultaneously transform
¡Roca!

the external world around us which inevitably gives shape to new ideas and ways of
thinking in a continuous process of practice-theory-practice.
Although there are times when our consciousness (ideas and ways of thinking)
lags behind the changes taking place in the
external world around us, and it is at this
point when once correct and truthful ideas
become incorrect and untruthful and no
longer correspond with the external world
that we must form new judgments according to fresh knowledge and make new decisions that will correspond with the new and
developing situations.
As was pointed out above, “truth” is
found in objective reality, that is, in the
external world that exists outside of our
minds and the truth is only true so long as it
correctly reflects and corresponds with the
external world. As a result of the poisonous
idealism that runs so rampantly amongst
us, we hold “personal” feelings and views
that do not correspond or reflect reality correctly as being true. By holding these “personal views,” we not only deny ourselves
of truth but we deny ourselves of correct
ideas, thus preventing ourselves from developing in a direction that is necessary for
the improvement of our living conditions.
All possible development for struggle – social relations, ideas, communication, solidarity, cooperation, etc., are hindered and
retarded as a result of these incorrect and
untruthful ideas that do not correspond to
our changing conditions. And to further
function as a break on progress, this creates the conditions that allow for the CDC
to exploit these incorrect ideas in an effort
to further their campaign against us.
All things are in continuous motion and
are continuously changing from one thing
into another. Prison conditions have and
will also continue to transform, in our material conditions and in our reflections of
them. Although currently our consciousness (ideas) lags behind the material transformations that have been in motion over
the last ten to fifteen years.
We’ve lost a great deal and have been
subjected to a great deal of changes in
our material conditions. The CDC has advanced and developed their methods of repressing us and yet we haven’t advanced
or developed our forms of resistance. In
our minds (idealism) we have convinced
ourselves and each other that we are warriors, soldiers, soldados, etc., and although
the potential exists, preying on one another doesn’t make us soldiers. It makes
Vol. 1 Number 1

us accomplices to the CDD and furthers its
agendas, because in truth, that is, in practice, we have laid down and submitted to
the changes the CDC has and continues to
impose on us without any form of organization and resistance. We have stagnated
in our old ways of thinking and have thus
become contributors to our own conditions,
especially by the utter lack of cooperation
between the prison population when it
comes to improving the quality of our lives.
In other words, the material conditions
within prison has and continues to change
drastically with every passing year month,
and day, and our ideas and methods of resistance does not correspond to these changes
in order to struggle effectively and counter them, therefore our ideas have become
untruthful and no longer reflect reality correctly. And as a result of this stagnation in
our consciousness and lack of action, we
have allowed our living conditions to deteriorate and this deterioration finds its reflection in the self-destructive and defeatist idealism that has spread like a disease
contaminating an extremely large portion
of the prison population’s way of thinking
and finds its ultimate reflection amongst the
so-called “soft yards” – the most defeatist
sectors of the population. As a result of
the existing status quo within prison society and its current way of functioning, we
unwittingly contribute to the creations of
these “soft yards” and the mentality that
accompanies them. This mentality and way
of thinking first originates and begins its
development from within us, the so-called
“solid yards.” It is of absolute necessity
that we develop in the opposite direction
and struggle to unify and create cooperation, organization and solidarity amongst
the prison population so that we can begin
to improve the quality of the convict, gain
back what we have given up and stop being
accomplices to the CDC and its agendas as
we have become over the years.
Cooperation, solidarity, and organization
at this stage is a necessity. A new and correct theory for the prison masses must be
introduced, studied, and applied to lead us
out of these deteriorating changes that continue to transpire throughout the prison system. Otherwise our situation may deteriorate beyond repairability. With the prison
population completely divided and the will
of the people completely defeated, there
will be no ability to effectively organize
and counteract the damage that is now in
motion. The SHU facilities and the repression will continue to increase and what lit-

tle we do have left will continue to be used
as incentive for so-called “solid” convicts
to betray other prisoners, and eventually
there will be no distinguishing between socalled “soft” or “solid” yards as is already
becoming the case. This course of deterioration has been in motion for years and it
continues to develop in this direction with
increasing momentum. We must adhere to
the scientific revolutionary concept: It is
not enough to interpret the world, it must
be transformed.
III.
Can a bad thing be transformed into a
good thing, that is, can unfavorable circumstances be transformed into favorable circumstances? As was previously explained,
contradiction (unification of opposites) is
the source of motion, i.e., development,
change, movement, etc., In fact, motion
itself is contradiction. To further expand
on this universal law, in the development
of a complex process or thing, there are
numerous contradictions involved that are
all interconnected and which struggle with
one another pushing development forward.
And within the development of a complex
process or thing and its various interpenetrating contradictions, there is always one
“principal contradiction,” that is, one dominating contradiction whose existence and
development determines and influences
the existence and development of the other
lesser and secondary contradictions. Only
by correctly identifying the principal contradiction can we then harness and guide
the direction of its development for a resolution, will the secondary ones be resolved.
It is important to remember that there are
two states of motion (contradiction), “relative rest” and “conspicuous change.” Like
the example of the quantity-quality transformation of water that was given above,
relative rest is a non-antagonistic state of
motion that goes through purely “quantitative” changes without undergoing a change
in quality. This state of motion is relative,
that is, it is only temporary. Conspicuous
change is an open antagonistic state, when
at a certain point quantitative change leaps
to a change in quality. It is only through the
state of conspicuous change that true progress in our living conditions and the raising
of our consciousness will be achieved.
The principal contradiction within the
prison system is that between the prison
population as a whole and the CDC. This is
an interdependent contradiction, that is, we
create the conditions for each others’ exis5

tence. Without the CDC there would be no
prisoners, and without the prisoners there
would be no CDC. Not only is this principal contradiction interdependent, but so
long as the prison system exists, i.e., class
society, this contradiction is “inseparable.”
The other contradictions that exists within
the prison population itself are secondary
contradictions. It is the contradiction between us and the CDC that is principal and
that will continue determining and influencing the development of our existence.
Within a principal contradiction, of the
two aspects engaged in struggle, there is
one “principal aspect” which determines
the struggle’s direction and development,
although at certain stages in the process
of struggle (development), the roles of the
principal aspect and the non-principal aspect are reversed as a result of an increase
or decrease in the force of each aspect engaged in struggle. That is, at certain stages
in struggle, the principal aspect and the
non-principal aspect are transformed into
their opposites. By correctly identifying
the principal contraction within the prison
system as that between all prisoners and the
CDC, and by correctly identifying the CDC
as the principal aspect of this principal contradiction, we can correctly focus our energies and efforts to reversing these roles and
improving our living conditions on a material and conscious level. That is, we can
transform unfavorable circumstances into
favorable circumstances.
In order to transform unfavorable circumstances into favorable circumstances
and wage successful struggles to improve
the quality of our living conditions, there
are necessary conditions that must be present as prerequisites for conspicuous (qualitative) change. “Objective” and “subjec-

6

tive” conditions must be ripe and coincide
with one another. The objective conditions,
that being our deteriorating material conditions, already exist. The subjective conditions, that being the consciousness (ideas
and ways of thinking) of the prison population is lacking and does not correspond
with the objective conditions. The consciousness of the prison population must
be raised through correct political education and guidance. In other words, not only
must we be aware of our oppression, its
origins, and the various stages it has and
continues to develop through, we must all
be on the same page before a qualitative
improvement and transformation in our living conditions can materialize.
At this point it is necessary to address the
question of strategy and tactics and their
interdependent relationship. A strategy is
a long term, more or less, stable plan of
actions for achieving a specific long term
goal, while tactics are the more fluid aspects of that strategy.
Moreover, what is our strategy and tactics? Our main objective must be to close
down the SHU facilities and gain back all
that we have given up, while our strategy
for achieving this objective needs to consist
of legal struggles accompanied with acts of
physical demonstration. In order to pursue this strategy effectively, our tactics of
struggle will have to remain fluid, changing with, and corresponding to the new and
developing situations that will emerge as a
result of the CDC’s countermeasures that
they will take against us.
More specifically, what should our primary goals consist of? Close down the
SHU facilities, end the CDC’s unwritten
policy of no parole for lifers, reinstate family visits weights, recreational programs,
college education financed by the state, end
the criminal taxing of our family members
for restitution debts that have been imposed
on us, guarantee our constitutional rights
to read and study the history, culture, language and political education of our choosing, provide adequate access to legal materials and defense, adequate access to timely
medical treatment, reinstate personal packages, and end the monopolization of our
telephone calls. Provide a minimum wage
for all prison labor and end the use of prison labor that produces goods for profit.1
As mentioned above, when our consciousness (ideas) lags behind and does not
correspond with the changes transpiring in
the external world around us, our ideas become incorrect and untruthful. This is the

result of the world around us continuing to
develop while our ideas and ways of thinking become stagnate and left behind undeveloped and unmatched with the changes
transpiring around us. This is true of our
tactics, that is our methods of struggle have
not developed an inch in years. Our methods have become worn out and rigid, thus
rendering them ineffective as a result of the
CDC’s tactics and methods of repression
becoming more refined and improved in all
aspects over the years. To be effective we
must break with tradition and its unchanging rigid methods and adopt a more fluid
guerilla tactic of hit and run struggle where
defensive maneuvers are transformed into
offensive maneuvers so that our tactics will
correspond and counteract theirs.
When they raise the alarm bells and announce “budget crisis,” rather than continue to lay down in passive defeat and allow
ourselves to be relegated to the victims of
their budget cuts, transform these unfavorable circumstances into favorable circumstances in order to further our struggle and
improve our living conditions. Make them
spend as much money as possible while simultaneously depriving them of the monies
they extract from us and our family members. Make it more expensive to take our
rights than it would be to give them back to
us. Wear them down in every possible aspect. Be unpredictable as possible and keep
them continually guessing while causing
them to expend as much of their resources
as possible through a long, organized and
centrally led protracted struggle of our
own. We’d have to deny them kickback and
profits from those who they do business
with. This would require that we boycott all
packages, store, and special purchases and
stop receiving money orders. We’d also
have to create as big of a work stoppage
as possible. No doubt the CDC will have
their countermeasures for our tactics, such
as bring in workers form the lower levels
to break the work stoppages, etc. It is important to recognize that nothing develops
exactly straight, that is, nothing goes exactly according to plan, so when the CDC
applies countermeasures to our tactics,
we must not continue to commit the same
mistakes as we have and continue to do by
sticking to the same unbending and rigid
tactics. The creativity and ingenuity of the
prison masses must not only be unleashed,
it must be continuously developed. Improvise when necessary and remain fluid.
And although the fluidity of our tactics is
essential to counter and correspond to their
¡Roca!

tactics, the one thing that must remain solid
and firm is our objectives. We must not
deviate form our objectives and sell them
short with a compromise, that is, with a
surrender and betrayal.
And also essential to the continued progression of our living conditions, we must
not repeat the same mistake as we have in
the past and retreat into a passive and content state of mind and abandon the struggle
as gains are achieved. As was pointed out
above, prisoners and the CDC create the
conditions for each others’ existence. Ad so
long as the prison system exists, i.e., class
society, this contradiction between the
CDC and ourselves is inseparable and will
continue with or without our participation.
Therefore, we must actively and consciously participate in it in order to maintain what
we gain. Without contradiction there can be
no progress. 
_________________
Note. 1: When the state contracts our
prison labor to companies, the companies
not only provide the state with a kickback
(percentage) for using this source of cheap
labor, the companies sometimes provide a
minimum wage to the prisoners as incentive. In appearance, that is, on the surface,
the prisoners who participate in this labor
believe they are benefiting, and in the immediate short term individualist sense they
are. Although in essence, whether prisoners receive a minimum wage or not, what
is essential to recognize is that these same
companies would have to pay workers outside of prison higher wages for the same
labor. Being that these companies could
use prison labor at a much lower cost, this
creates for these companies and the CDC a
financial interest in the availability of this
cheap source of labor. Therefore, not only
will these companies contribute financially
and any other way they can to politicians
who support and propose harsh and mandatory sentencing laws, etc., the CDC also
has a financial interest in the creation of a
defeated and submissive prison population
(labor force) for the percentage they will
receive from the companies who use prison
labor. By participating in these work programs that produce goods or services for
profit, not only are we essentially contributing to our own incarceration, we’re contributing to the existence and expansion of
SHUs and internal repressive policies such
as the validation process which is designed
to break us up into a defeated and submissive mass.
Although the use of prison labor which
Vol. 1 Number 1

produces goods and services for profit is
fairly low on the level three and four yards
at this time, we should expect as the CDC
continues its campaign to dismantle and
break us up, prison labor for profit will
simultaneously increase as the population
becomes more defeated and compliant and
the “soft yards” continue to expand.

ADX cell by Tommy Silverstein

PELICAN BAY
SHU CONVICT’S
LETTER TO H.S.
SOLIDARITY
COALITION
By by Todd Ashker
(Reprinted from SF Bay View Feb. 29,
who received it from the Prison Activist
Resource Center)
iscussions are underway with the
intent to set short term and long
term goals in the resistance struggle against SHU practices and the prison industrial complex. People are indoctrinated,
brainwashed into believing they are weak
or powerless – that prisoners in this state
are evil and deserve to be punished and
treated as some type of sub-human animal,
based on their felon status. By “people,”
I’m referring to prisoners, their families,
friends and supporters, as well as the general public at large. This is the wrong way
to see things and it has to change!
Here in the prison system, it’s become
the norm for men to brag that they have
become “institutionalized,” complacently
accepting more and more abuse and deprivations. They talk about “I can take whatever they do to me and won’t give them the
satisfaction of complaining about it.” This
is the example set by many older cons for
the younger cons.
I don’t agree with this type of mind set!
We should never accept being abused or
mistreated. It’s our duty as human beings

D

to FULLY RESIST! Our hunger strike
activity over the past year has shown that
solid resistance is not only possible, but
also very effective, and it can be done in
smart, fully advantageous ways. It simply
requires prisoners to come together collectively for the common good of all and with
the support of the people outside, forming a
ppowerful force to force the changes that are
long overdue. Changes dictated by morals
and common sense principles which the
lawmakers and courts refuse to make are
bbased upon the politics and greed related to
manipulative special interest groups.
m
We need to do all we can to open peopple’s eyes and minds to the following reality: Most prisoners are not serving valid,
legal sentences! Our sentencing laws are
nnot based on valid, sensible public safety
interests. Rather, our sentencing laws are
bbased on the politics associated with failed
policies – e.g., the war on drugs.
We are not serving valid sentences. Most
prisoners serving “term-to-life” sentences
are many years beyond minimum terms.
We’re in prison based on the money made
off of us by special interests! Thus, we
need to resist and by our resistance gain additional exposure and outside support.
Our compliance and recognition of the
prison’s power over us is our downfall. If
we collectively refuse to comply, and refuse to recognize the prisoncrats having
any power over us via refusal to work, refusal to follow orders, then these prisons
cannot operate! Our goal needs to be to
force major changes, beneficial to prisoners
and our families and loved ones regarding
prison conditions and the amount of time
people serve. Our supporters outside need
to make a hard core, serious stand on the
same agenda.
People need to see that we are not in here
legally. We’ve served our time – a great
many of us have – and paid our debt and
then some! We are no longer accepting the
abuse and torture. We are human beings
and demand humane, non-punitive treatment from this point on. And until there are
major changes toward this end, we collectively refuse to comply with orders – and
will possibly go back on hunger strike. Our
outside supporters can rally and demand
out release!
On the radio today we heard that a
27-year-old man at Corcoran died Feb. 2 in
Ad Seg. How many more have to die this
way? Here we are in 2012 and prisoners are
dying in peaceful protest of prison conditions. What is really going on?! 
7

HUNGER-STRIKER DIES
By Nicole Jones
spokesperson with California’s
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has confirmed that an
inmate on a hunger strike at Corcoran State
Prison died on Feb. 2 after refusing food
for four days.
Gomez began fasting to protest conditions in the Administration Segregation
Unit at Corcoran. Over thirty inmates
housed in the isolation unit at Corcoran had
also been refusing food since January for
the same reason. On Feb. 13, all inmates
resumed eating, according to CDCR’s

A

spokesperson Terry Thornton.
Correctional Healthcare Service spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid once he started missing meals the medical staff monitored him
daily. The effects of starvation typically
start to show in the third week of fasting,
but someone who is diabetic or has other
health complications is going to feel the
impacts quicker, she said.
Isaac Ontiveros, spokesperson for the
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition, said inmates in Corcoran’s segregation unit report being kept in “horrendous
conditions” for months after they’ve served
their assigned terms. In an open letter to
CDCR’s Director Mathew Cate and Cor-

coran Chief Deputy Warden C. Gipson last
December, strikers listed demands that included access to educational and rehabilitative programming, adequate and timely
medical care, and timely hearings on their
cases and petitions.
Thornton said revisions to its policies regarding security threat group management
and changes to the gang validation process
is nearly complete. He anticipates the revision will go out for legislators and inmate
advocacy groups to review near the end of
this month. 
http://informant.kalwnews.org/2012/02/
hunger-striking-inmate-dies-in-california/

Ed Mead
P.O. Box 47439
Seattle, WA 98146

FIRST CLASS MAIL