Working

W
Working
ki to
t Extend
E t d Democracy
D
to
t All 
Volume
Volume
V
V l
2, N
2
Number
b 6
6

June

J
J
June
2013
2013


GUANTÁNAMO IS NOT AN ANOMALY
PRISONERS IN THE US ARE FORCE-FED EVERY DAY
Ann Neumann, May 4, 2013
know a hunger-striking prisoner who
hasn’t eaten solid food in more than
five years. He is being force-fed by
the medical staff where he’s incarcerated.
Starving himself, he told me during one of
our biweekly phone calls last year, is the
only way he has to exercise his first amendment rights and to protest his conviction.
Not eating is his only available free speech
act.
The prisoner has lost half his body weight
and four teeth to malnutrition. He and his
lawyer have gone to court to stop the forcefeedings, but a judge ruled against him in
March. If I asked you to guess where Coleman is being held, you’d likely say Guantánamo — “America’s offshore war-on-terror camp” — where a mass hunger strike
of 100 prisoners has brought the ethics of
force-feeding to American newspapers, if
not American consciences. Twenty-five of

I

CONTENTS
Guantánamo Not Anomaly .......1
Late Arriving Letters .................2
Editorial Comments..................3
Letters ......................................4
Free Us All Meeting Notes .......9
Advertisements ........................10

those prisoners are now being manually fed
with tubes.
But William Coleman is not at Guantánamo. He’s in Connecticut. The prison
medical staff force-feeding him are on contract from the University of Connecticut,
not the U.S. Navy. Guantánamo is not an
anomaly. Prisoners — who are on U.S. soil
and not an inaccessible island military base
— are routinely and systematically forcefed every day.
The accounts of force-feeding coming
out of Guantánamo, including Samir Naji
al Hasan Moqbel’s “Gitmo is Killing Me”
in The New York Times two weeks ago,
are consistent with how Coleman has described the process to me — and to the Supreme Court of Connecticut.
On Oct. 23, 2008, medical staff and corrections officers first strapped Coleman at
four points to a vinyl medical table and
snaked a rubber tube up his nose, down his
throat and into his stomach. When the tube
kinked, they thought his reaction to the
pain was resistance and tied him across the
chest with mesh straps. They reinserted the
tube and Coleman gagged as they drained
Ensure, a nutrient drink, into it. He continued to gag. He bled. He vomited. He felt
violated, not medically treated. Coleman
is still being force-fed; sometimes the staff
put a semi-permanent tube up his nose,
sometimes they don’t. They no longer strap
him down. He knows the staff. They are, he
says, following orders.
The fact that force feedings are being
discussed in the context of Guantánamo
is dangerously misleading; it obscures the
routine use of feeding tubes in American
prisons. Other recent feeding tube cases

have taken place in Washington state,
Utah, Illinois and Wisconsin — all prisoners who had the resources to contest their
treatment in court. No sweeping study of
force-feeding has been done, so statistics
on usage don’t exist. Only three states
have laws against force-feeding prisoners:
Florida, Georgia and California, where a
hunger strike in 2011 at a facility in Pelican
Bay effectively caused a court examination
of prison conditions. Just this week Leroy
Dorsey, who sued New York state to have
his force-feedings stopped, lost his case.
“Force-feeding order did not violate inmate’s rights,” the Reuters headline reads.
No matter where force-feedings take
place, whether in Guantánamo or Connecticut, they are considered torture by most of
the world’s medical and governing bodies.
As U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights Rupert Coville said this week about

By Fernando Bermudez

tube usage, “If it’s perceived as torture or
inhuman treatment — and it’s the case, it’s
painful — then it is prohibited by international law.” At The Daily Beast, Kent Sepkowitz, a doctor, writes, “Without question,
[force-feeding] is the most painful procedure doctors routinely inflict on conscious
patients,” and calls it “barbaric.”
In 2005, when 142 Guantánamo detainees stopped eating, their subsequent forcefeedings caused 263 international doctors
to write an open letter in the medical journal The Lancet that denounced the practice
and called on doctors to stop participating.
They wrote, “Physicians do not have to
agree with the prisoner, but they must respect their informed decision.”
To little effect, the American Medical
Association condemned the force feedings
in 2005, 2009 and again last week, saying
that “every competent patient has the right
to refuse medical intervention, including
life-sustaining interventions.”
Yet most media outlets continue to portray feeding tube use as a “complex ethical
debate.” It’s not. Competent prisoners go on
hunger strike because they have something
to say and no other way to say it. Prison
officials choose not to hear — and silence
them with tubes. In court documents, wardens cite two primary concerns: the health
of the prisoner, whose well-being they are
responsible for (and for whose “suicide”
they could be blamed); and prison order,
including disruption of facility routine,
copycat hunger strikers, and low morale
among corrections officers and staff.
According to Mara Silver, who wrote
By Chris Garcia

2

about prison hunger strikes for Stanford
Law Review in 2005, there is scant evidence that hunger strikers disrupt prison
order. In fact, she notes, wardens often
aren’t required to show proof when challenged. Consistently, routinely, wardens
are deferred to in these cases.
Last week The Chicago Tribune reported
that President Obama, who has not yet fulfilled a campaign promise to close Guantánamo, had courts on his side:
Most U.S. judges who have examined
forced feeding in prisons have concluded
that the measure may violate the rights of
inmates to control their own bodies and to
privacy — rights rooted in the U.S. Constitution and in common law. But they have
found that the needs of operating a prison
are more important.
Prisoners’ rights activists have long acknowledged courts’ reluctance to reconsider application of common law and constitutional rights to those inside. This status quo
works so long as it is supported by public
opinion — or public ignorance of the practice.
Hunger strikes have the power to change
public opinion. This might be why the warden of Coleman’s prison has refused my
request for a visit — and that of any other
journalist. As the warden put it in a brief
letter, they think my presence might “exacerbate” the inmate’s condition or “contribute to his detriment.” Or, perhaps, bring
attention to Coleman’s case. So long as
force-feeding is considered an exceptional
practice, applied to less than two dozen
men from foreign countries, and on foreign
soil, the public and the medical community can remain ignorant of the
torture within our growing domestic
prison industry.
For an article on William Coleman that appeared in Guernica
magazine in January, I spoke with
American bioethicist Jacob Appel,
who has written extensively about
Coleman and feeding-tube usage in
U.S. prisons. The public discourse
about Guantánamo, Appel told me,
had falsely assumed that torture and
abuse are an exception rather than
the general rule. Guantánamo, he
said, “was presented as … an extraordinary set of circumstances, not
an outflow of American law.” ●
http://wagingnonviolence.org/
feature/guantanamo-is-not-ananomaly-prisoners-in-the-us-areforce-fed-every-day/

LATE ARRIVING
LETTERS
CSPAL
We, the “California SHU Prisoners Activist League” (CSPAL) extend our profoundest of regards and gratitude to your
unflinching dedication to prison reform and
progressive consciousness building among
all races, ethnicities, classes, and geographical affiliations.
We are the 4B-4R pod progressiveminded prisoners of all dimensions above,
and we are constantly seeking and adding
to our small reserves of information and
knowledge, forever moving forward as a
collective to gain higher and higher ground
in our understanding and collective powers.
We of the CSPAL in such pursuit request
that you accept our collective stamps (47)
for the donation/purchase of a subscription to both the PHSS News and Rock!. We
will continue to do our best with sending
stamps, our finds are meager, but we will
stand strong and together, we will continue
to support those who support us.
[Name Withheld by Ed]
From Tehachapi SHU
Greetings from Tehachapi SHU 4A yard.
We have been receiving the newsletters and
appreciate the time and effort that gets put
into them. Hearing the thoughts and opinions of others on such topics are always appreciated.
We agree fully on all points of demands,
and are committed on bringing change, not
only for those who’ve been “labeled” in the
past and present, but as well as those in the
future. We stand firm and in solidarity with
all those who feel and think as we all do.
As it was mentioned, it’s time to stand up
and be counted. We especially appreciate
the sacrifices and effort on the legal aspect
from all of the collective reps. It is nice to
know that we are not alone in our battles.
Thanks for all the support from those of
you on the outside.
In solidarity,
Mino Korn Villalobos
Out of State Inmates
CDCR still must reduce their inmate
population by 9,000 inmates to meet the
population cap imposed by the court. California inmates who are housed out of state
do not count towards the population cap.
Rock!

California inmates who are housed out of
state are there voluntarily. There are about
10,000 California inmates currently housed
out of state, voluntarily. Those inmate do
not count towards the population cap. If
CDCR asked me to volunteer to be housed
out of state, I will refuse. Why would I
agree to help them meet their population
cap by agreeing to be transferred out of
state? Instead of transferring me out of
state to meet their cap. They should focus
on much needed and long overdue sentencing reform for first and second strikers (not
just “low risk” offenders).
[Name withheld by Ed]

EDITORIAL 2-6
Censorship
California’s written regulations require
that CDCR issue the written reasons for a
rejection or censorship of any publication.
Those regulations require that the publisher
be notified within 15 days of the rejection.
California Prison Focus received notice of
the rejection of their last issue of Prison
Focus from Pelican Bay about two months
later. The reason given for the rejection, was
that it promoted prohibited group activity
by prisoners. What your captors fail to
understand, and what they will eventually
learn in the courts, it that reporting the news
is not the same as encouraging. In other
words, if this writer reports that a prisoner
killed his cell-mate, as I have done in the
past, I am not advocating that prisoners kill
their cellies. Similarly, if I report that there
will be a state-wide hunger and work strike
taking place in California prisons on July
8th, I am not advocating that this happen.
This very information, including dates,
has been printed in the L.A. Times and
frequently reported elsewhere. It is news!
What’s interesting is that in the rejection
notices given to prisoners immediately
after the rejection of the last Prison Focus,
prison officials at Pelican Bay cited the
content in pages 8, 9, and 10 as the reason
for the rejection. Those pages contained
an open letter to the governor and to the
new corrections boss—public documents!
The fact that they were censoring a
publication because it contained a public
document must have finally dawning on
them, as a month or so later they told the
publisher the reason for the rejection was
because it supposedly promoted prohibited
group activity by prisoners. I say to those
supporters of slavery, to those enemies of
Volume 2, Number 6

freedom and democracy: “Nice try; see you
at the finish line.”
Corrections Theory
Moving right along, on September 1,
1939, W.H. Auden wrote a rather lengthy
poem, one stanza of which says:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
Thus follows the failure of rehabilitation
and accompanying high recidivism rate,
not only in California, but across the nation. Simply put, you don’t get good results
by doing bad things to people. As you well
know, it would be cheaper to enroll a prisoner into Yale or Harvard than to keep them
in prison for a year. And the state would get
far better results, too. But like they say,
there are none so blind as those who won’t
see.
Newsletter Stuff
I have noticed some errors in the
Rock mailing list. For example the word
“unknown” in a part of your name. If I
have any part of your contact information
spelled wrong or otherwise incorrect please
send me a note letting me know so I can
change it in the database. Also, when you
send stamps, try not to get the tape over the
face of the stamps, put the tape on the back,
as I ruin the postage when trying to peel off
the tape.
A couple of prisoners have written asking
if they could donate art in place of postage
or money. The answer is yes. I’ll post the
artwork on the Prison Art website and the
proceeds from any sale will go to support
the newsletter. Just make it clear that the
art is a donation.
Speaking of art, many thanks to the fine
artists who grace the pages of this miserable
little rag. In this issue they are Michael
Russell, Chris Garcia, and Fernando
Bermúdez. Thanks guys for a great job.
Our readership in Oregon is now up to
thirty prisoners; nearly all are Intensive
Management Unit (IMU) convicts. It
would be nice to see that grow some more,
and expand into Washington as well.
In the past few issues there has been a
paucity of letters from readers. This month
I am making up for that failure. There
are more letters from readers than news.
Which I suppose is the way it should be,
since you’re paying for it. Like they say, he
who pays the piper calls the tune. Actually,
I usually do try to strike a balance between

news and reader comments.
I am getting letters from prisoners asking
me to print stuff about their cases, you
know, the innocent victims of blind justice,
etc. Just so you know, I don’t publish
material about individual cases. I don’t
care if you were railroaded; you are one
of millions who’ve been similarly messed
over by a process of systematic injustice. It
is that system of injustice I want to change,
not your individual case. Moreover, when
I was in prison people offered to form
defense committees and what not for me.
I turned them down, saying all resources
need to go into the struggle. If I won’t pimp
myself I’m not gonna pimp you.
Political Babbling
I was watching Dan Rather back before
he retired from the news business—he
was on the David Letterman show. When
Letterman asked him “why do they [the
terrorists] hate us” the response from
Rather, parroting George W. Bush, was
“because they are jealous of us.” Really,
people strap on bombs and blow themselves
up out of mere jealousy?
Why do the hate us? Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,
the surviving Boston Marathon bomber
scribbled the following on the side of
the boat as he lay bleeding from multiple
gunshot wounds. Here is what his note said:
“The [Boston] bombings were in
retribution for the U.S. crimes in places like
Iraq and Afghanistan [and] that the victims
of the Boston bombing were collateral
damage, in the same way innocent victims
have been collateral damage in U.S. wars
around the world. Summing up, that when
you attack one Muslim you attack all
Muslims.”
It is important to understand why, what
is the motive. Understanding “why” does
not mean you agree with what someone
did, it is merely a path toward a better
understanding of reality. ●

By Chris Garcia

3

[Note: Names of letter writers will be
withheld unless the author of the letter explicitly approves printing of their name.]
C-9 Update
Greeting and salutations, I send mines in
full to you as well as to all those who continue to push for equal justice both inside
as well as outside the walls. I wanted to
keep you abreast of what’s been going on
around here in Pelican Bay SHU C-9 and
in my immediate vicinity.
Now first and foremost I wanted to acknowledge that you are correct in the fact
that it is only fair that most of us pull our
weight and assist this newsletter financially. I say this because it is a very informative newsletter that helps many throughout
California and beyond stay up to date as to
the current status of a great number of issues. Therefore if we wish to continue to
help the Rock thrive and keep the information flowing then it is of the utmost importance that we support it both financially and
information ally.
However, let’s not forget those less fortunate because there are a fair amount of solid individuals who are not financially stable
but still are pushing for prisoners’ rights.
That’s why it’s up to those of us who can to
contribute so that we can pick up the slack
for those brothers who don’t have it like
that. Anyhow, I’m enclosing some stamps
for now and my cellie will be sending out a
fifteen dollar mail out in your name to help
you out. You should get the check within a
couple of weeks if not sooner. Thank you
for the work that you do, it is appreciated
by us all.
Moving right along, I received the April
issue of Rock as well as the most recent issues of Prison Focus and P.H.S.S. News. So
mail has been making it in to us more often
but it is still being denied far too frequently. Although I received the Prison Focus I
heard that the mailroom started denying it
from coming in shortly thereafter so I don’t
know what that’s about. I believe that they
stopped it because of the short corridor collective’s open letter to the Governor and
the forty supplemental demands. None the
less I still received it and shared it with all
the groups segments around me so the information was spread and will continue to
be spread.
It is to be expected that the prison admin4

By Fernando Bermudez

to manipulate the situation and
count it as food. So use your better judgment and proceed from
there.
A new arrival just came from
Pelican Bay SHU stand-alone
Ad-Seg and he said that it is fairly empty over there right now.
Apparently they are not even
double celling mainline Ad-Seg
inmates because they don’t need
the space. I think that almost all
of the validated inmates waiting in the AdSeg for a SHU bed space have all made it
back here already and pretty soon SHU inmates getting off the buses will once again
start coming straight back to the SHU. So
that is an improvement because up to a
hundred SHU inmates had been in PBSP
Ad-Seg awaiting SHU bed space.
The reason that Pelican Bay Ad-Seg is
so empty is due to the fact that the agreement to end hostilities had been holding on
both “A” and “B” yards. All programs were
up and running and every group segment
was giving each other common courtesy
and respect that they deserve. They even
put northern Hispanics back out on “A”
yard once again after a five year hiatus,
there are being housed in A-350. Hopefully
other prisons and yards are taking heed and
acknowledging the agreement to end hostilities because we are all affected by the
crooked validation process as well as the
debriefing process.
Nobody on this end is being reviewed for
release back to the mainline besides those
who have been back here for six years and
are going for their inactive review. CDCR
is attempting to manipulate the numbers
and use smoke and mirrors to make it look
like people are being reviewed and released
out to the mainline solely based on the new
STG/SDP 7.0 but that is a lie. Yes, seventy
something people may in fact have been released to the general population but almost
all of them were going up for their inactive
reviews so they were already eligible for
released out to the mainline.
All CDCR is doing is allowing most of
the inmates who go up for their six year
inactive review to be classified as inactive
and then releasing them out to a mainline.
Nothing has changed besides the fact that
before the gang investigators would always
come up with some bogus ass (10-30) confidential memo showing that you were active and now they are only doing that once
in a while. So a great deal more of inmates

LETTERS

LETTERS

istration and the gang investigators will begin to censor more and more mail the closer
that we get to the July 8, 2013 hunger [and
work] strike date. It’s up to us to keep as
many different avenues of communication
open that we can. Write to the Rock, write
to Prison Focus, write to P.H.S.S. News,
write to M.I.M (prisons) as well as any
other prisoner’s rights activist publications
that you can. This way they won’t be able
to stop the entire flow of information from
coming in because they fear us continuing to be on the same page as one another.
Therefore they are going to try to silence
our voices from being heard but they will
once again see through our collective actions during the hunger strike that we will
no longer sit by an idly do nothing. There is
no silencing us any longer.
In regards to the upcoming peaceful hunger strike/work stoppage in July, everyone
is preparing mentally as well as physically
for the struggle that lies ahead. Some people are going to participate for four days,
others for ten. It all depends on who you
talk to. However most agree that in order
for someone to be added to the overall
statewide count and be recognized as participants in a hunger strike a person must
refuse all for at least seventy two hours.
Then and only will they be counted account
to CDCR’s own guidelines.
Some people are planning to only buy
hygiene and stationary from canteen during the month of July because if you order food and accept it then you will not be
counted once you take the food into your
possession. Others are going to order coffee, hygiene and stationery. It’s all up to
that person and what they feel comfortable
with because some people think that since
coffee has calories then staff will attempt

Rock!

who are going up for their inactive reviews
are being released, which is a good thing
for sure but it’s not a result of anything new
as CDCR wants everyone to believe. They
are only dong what they should have done
years ago.
Nobody is being placed on any step
down program right here and if they try
to do so we are not even acknowledging
it in the first place so it won’t work. We
are getting our one photo per year and art
supplies as long as we remain disciplinary
free for a year. However, we are not getting
any phone calls or added privileges such
as more canteen or anything like that. This
is the reason that the short corridor collective decided that another peaceful hunger
strike/work stoppage was necessary because no positive changes have been made
and CDCR did not follow through with
their end of the hunger strike negotiations.
Anyhow, in closing I wanted to request
that Antonio Gullen and/or George Franco
please share their thoughts and opinions on
all of those issues because there are many
who are interested in what they have to say.
I am from the east side of San Jose, where
the palm trees stand tall and it’s always
sunny, and I for one would be honored to
be enlightened by them. I’ve only seen
what the entire short corridor collective has
to say and a couple of the other representative individual opinions but nothing from
them. I know that right now communication is not easy but if it’s at all possible it
would be very much appreciated. I’ve been
trying to get enrolled in college courses so
I can get my degree but can’t even get that
done so any sort of guidance on all of these
issues would be a plus.
[Name Withheld by Ed]
Out of Cell Time
First and foremost, I would like to thank
you on behalf of all of us in the SHU for all
the time and work that you put in getting
the Rock out to us every month. Your newsletter truly helps us stay informed. Thank
you. I am enclosing some more stamps to
help out.
I am in the SHU indeterminately as a
validated A.B. Associate and would like to
comment on one of the articles written in
your April issue of Rock, namely, “Solitary
Confinement Reviewed by California Assembly As Prisoners Threaten New Hunger
Strike”. It seems that Assembly members
Tom Ammiano and Holly Mitchell did
raise some very good points at the California Assembly for Public Safety meetVolume 2, Number 6

ing. Hopefully, such opinions will open the
eyes of the public and our State Legislature
and bring about some meaningful change.
I would also like to point out that in many
articles we read (including the one mentioned above), they state that we prisoners
in the SHU spend 22 ½ hours a day in solitary confinement which insinuates that we
actually get out of our cells every day for
an hour and a half and that could not be
further from the truth. Typically, we are let
out of our cells once a week for out-of-cell
exercise for about two hours, maybe twice
a week if we are lucky. Showers are three
times a week for 10 minutes each, if they
decide to run them. In fact, in the past 31
days and as of the writing of this letter, we
have made it out to the cages for out-of-cell
exercise only five times, for a maximum of
only 12 hours, in 31 days’ time.
CDCR’s own code of regulations states
that we are to get a minimum of 10 hours of
out-of-cell exercise per week. In Toussaint
vs. McCarthy, 597 F. Supp 1388, 1402,
1412 (N.D. Cal 1984), the 9th Circuit Court
upheld that eight hours per week of out0f-cell exercise is the Constitutional minimum. Obviously, none of these regulations
or court decisions are being adhered to.
Definitely not here in the Tehachapi SHU
and most like not in any of the other SHUs
either. So, the statements in many different
articles saying that we only spend 22 ½ to
23 hours a day in solitary confinement are
very wrong and misleading. I just felt the
need to comment on that.
I have also been wondering if any of your
readers of Rock have any information with
regard to cases challenging Senate Bill X318. If so, please inform us all of any news.
Thank you. Again, I thank you for all of
your help and support in our struggle, Mr.
Mead. It’s truly appreciated. Those of us
here in Tehachapi SHU 4A stand in strength
and solidarity behind the five core demands
and the upcoming peaceful protest.
“Sacramaniac” Danny Boy Cisneros
Tehachapi State Prison
From Chowchilla
Greetings to you and I hope this letter
finds you in the very best of spirits. As I
write this letter, I’m feeling a little disconcerted. Other than a handful of women that
are supportive in bringing change in this
corrupted system, many others and I speak
in the majority. Many fear retaliation and
serve as individualist who believes that
the hunger strike only pertains to the men.
However, I have done my best to enlight-

en the women on what the hunger strike
movement is about and how it does and
will affect us as a whole being. Any rule
that is put into the Code of Regulations Title 15 also affects us women. Some also say
I’m only supporting this cause for the men
in Pelican Bay. In truth, a big part is true
being I have loved ones who are housed in
those inhumane conditions, but I believe in
change for all of us who are housed in California prisons. I have to take a moment to
also realize that unlike some, I’ve been in
prison almost 30 years so I am from another
generation where we were once united and
referred to as convicts. I’ve been through
many sit outs in my time, now it’s like
this new generation would rather go with
the flow in fear of losing out on canteen or
privileges. How can I compete with this
new generation? I find that my heart and
core is that of the old school where we had
a mutual belief in us against them. I have
to wonder, is it also like that in the men’s
prisons? Who will stand up when July 8th
approaches? I know I have done my part
and will continue to fight for justice because I believe in the old school ways and
I demand to be treated as a human being. I
guess I have also experienced the stays in
our Ad-Seg and SHU’s so I’m more in tune
with corruptions that goes on. I want to
thank you for keeping me abreast with the
newsletters. Please continue to reach out
as I continue to spread the word and contribute support. I also hear that there was a
riot in CIW women’s prison. I’m not clear
on the details but I am heartbroken that the

By Michael Russell

5

women there do not acknowledge the call
to end all hostilities. I’m at a loss for words
in all. I do hope we women who are part of
the system open their eyes and take thing
serious because we all stand to be targeted
by CDCR’s changes. With that said, I will
close this letter to you.
Diane Mirabal #W27148
Chowchilla
Toss a Rock (I mean stamp)
I received the new Rock newsletter. As
always, thank you. I am enclosing a sheet
of 20 Forever stamps on behalf of myself
and another homeboy. He is not on your
mailing list but would like to be. His name
and info is listed on the back of the sheet
of stamps.
I would also like to address what you
have said about the 113 freeloaders not
sending you any stamps personally. I can’t
speak for all of them but many of us here
in the SHUs are indigent and we don’t have
stamps to send you personally. So, we (I)
ask the homeboys who do, if they could
send a couple extra on our behalf. They
don’t put our names on their letters to you,
because if they did, then IGI could use it to
claim that we are gang associates. What I
am getting at is that before you start cutting
people off your mailing list, you consider
the fact that not all of us have the stamps
to send you personally. We do what we can
to help out by asking others to help cover
costs and to show our appreciation for all
of your hard work to keep us all apprised
of what is going on within the CDCR. It is
highly appreciated.
William D. Brandon
Tehachapi State Prison
84 stamps
Thank you for another very informative newsletter. I am enclosing 82 Forever
stamps from some of us prisoners here on
B-yard, Level 4, 180 General Population
at Pelican Bay State Prison. Understanding not everyone can donate, the enclosed
stamps are a donation/gift knowing that
you’ll put them to good use, Ed. I really appreciate your due diligence in continuing to
keep the media, public and us prisoners informed of the sham that is CDCR, because
communication is a right and should not be
deterred by false propaganda from our captors. So I hope these stamps help. Thanking
you again for all you do and looking forward to the next up-and-coming newsletters.
Johnny Aguilar, Jr.
Pelican Bay State Prison
6

29 Stamps
All of us here at Corcoran 4B3R SHU
extend our very best your way. Okay, Ed,
here goes 29 stamps that we’ve put together for the cause this month. I’m sure you’ll
put them to good use. Also, can you please
print this below message in Rock?
Message is: Enclosed are 29 stamps
from all of us here in Corcoran SHU 4B3R.
These newsletters that keep us informed
are a useful tool, so hopefully to all people
reading this can take the initiative to collect one stamp per month from friends
around them and make the donations to the
newsletter(s). This is an instance where we
can use “numbers” in our favor because a
donation of one stamp individually adds
up If we all make that small contribution.
We’ll continue to do so here and we here
at Corcoran SHU 4B3R encourage others
who are able to do the same.
Matthew Kropp et al.
Corcoran State Prison
End of Hostilities?
Word from new Delano, speaking as an
average non-influential, run of the mill,
mainline prisoner. I’m certain my now
people has heard or know about the incident that occurred in K.V.S.P. B-Yard Facility (riot). It is sad to see such effort that
some people have been putting into to end
hostilities amongst all prisoners, but gone
to waste, when others have had a different agenda on their minds. Just like in the
February issue, where someone wrote “it
seems like it’s not being taken too seriously and treated as if nothing has changed.”
Some people can’t seem to see the bigger
picture of the struggle for causes that benefit us all, either they don’t understand it
or are being manipulated, or influenced by
the wrong people. It’s always expected the
worst and hope for the best.
Just that so many people were too comfortable with the end of hostilities. It’s sad
that they have thought, took this opportunity (not all of them) to make such a shameful act.
Ramon Ruiz
Delano
Don’t Believe the Hype
First off, thank you for continuing to
keep us all updated on the ongoing struggle
that’s taking place within these walls. Your
newsletter is very informative and educational.
Most of us here in Calipat ASU have
endured both hunger strikes and still await

the changes in CDCR’s validation criteria.
We’ve been told “Oh, it’s gonna be this
month…it’s gonna be next month.” But, at
the end of the day, it’s all talk. It’s a stall
tactic that’s being used statewide.
All the time and effort that you and every person has put into this historic human
rights movement is appreciated beyond
your imagination. There are many reasons
to support this fight and the inspiration to
do so is all around us.
Enclosed are 58 stamps that our pod
gathered together to donate to the mailing of your newsletter. We hope that this
can help you to send Rock to more people
so that they too can be up-to-speed on our
fight against isolation and end to long-term
segregation. We close with our support
and respects to the short corridor and all of
those with the like mind and heart across
the state and country. Ị Si se puede!
Oh, It was printed in a newsletter that we
have pull-p bars installed in our yard cages.
That’s not true! Don’t believe the hype.
Robbie Riva et al., Calipatria ASU
Calipatria State Prison
Paranoid?
I wanted to write and tell you the latest.
All of Corcoran SHU has been searched
over the last ten days. It’s not unusual
for staff to do its usual “spring cleaning
search.” What is unusual is that staff is
telling us that there are orders from Sacramento that as soon as the other ½ of the
SHU here has been searched, they are going to search us again and again. That is
highly unusual and I have suspicions. Let
me share them. July 8th is right around the
bend. I think Sacramento has ordered this
to try to get us to react violently to this
multi-search (devastating over search) in
order to acquire a reactionary or violent response such as cell extractions, etc. so that
California can say “see they have violated
the stand down of hostilities agreement.”
There is no other reason for these multiple
over searches. There have been no inmate
or staff assaults that would merit it.
I’m naturally a little suspicious, maybe
even paranoid but to be safe about it, I
would publish something ASAP about my
idea. After all I’ve seen and bee through, I
put nothing past this scheming lot.
Robert Dragusica #E-15148

There are Nations, Not Races
The discussion on desegregation was
brought up in an earlier issue of Rock
Rock!

newsletter, unfortunately the feedback was
censored here where I am at, so wanted to
add to this discussion where I could.
I hear a lot of talk of “the difficult Races”
or “Racial groups” in prison, this is parroted and talked about as if correct terminology, the truth is there is no such thing
as “Race”, rather there are “nations” or
“nationalities”. In america there are nations like the Chicano nation, the Boriqua,
the Black nation, the White nation etc etc.
These are nations not “Races.” The idea of
“Race” is a fairly new concept and does not
correspond to material reality, for example
there is no such thing as the “Brown Race”,
rather there are Chicanos, Mexicanos, Peruvianos etc. and the same can be said for
all the nationalities in America.
Internal Nations developed in America
living under an oppressive state which is
steered by Imperialism, at the same time
each respective nations contains class contradictions within, which more or less are
the lumpen , the petit bourgeoisie and the
bourgeoisie, these classes develop as do nations on a material and historical basis. One
cannot simply claim a group is a nation,
rather, there has to be concrete developments particularly in the realm of economic
development and the interaction with the
capitalist system. To be precise, comrade
Stalin defined a nation as follows:
“A nation is a historically constituted,
stable community of people, formed on the
basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make – up
manifested in a common culture.”1
So within America there exists internal
nations comprised of different peoples who
after living for generation in America developed into nations, those of us who can
be found in American prisons derive mostly from the “lumpen proletariat” or more
appropriately what’s known in America
as simply the “lumpen” of our respective
nations. The lumpen of any nation is the
underclass, it is the unemployed, the disabled, the criminals, those who are drug
addicts, and sporadically employed or who
don’t’ work at all, it is the street elements,
the prisoners. The lumpen refuse to support Imperialism and suffer the most then
the rest of their respective nation; it is the
lumpen who fill the SHU cells across California and who have the least to lose and
the most to win in any struggle for human
rights or any effort to transform society, all
we have to lose is our chains that prevent us
1. “Marxism and the National Question” by
J.V. Stalin.

Volume 2, Number 6

from tasting time liberation!
I think there is segregation in prisons, it
is more of nations consolidating in the in
the most primal forms, this is reflected in
many different nationalities crossing over
and adopting non-birth nations as their own
and thus this spills over into cell living,
with two people not of the same nationality
but living together because they share the
same nation.
One should not see this as “racism” but
simply as survival or simply nation building.
I think someone may have over thought
living conditions without looking at all
possibilities, for example those who are out
in society how about you “end segregation”
and pick someone off the street who may be
walking past your house right now and let
them move in with you? And if you don’t
do it I call “racism” or you are practicing
“segregation” and well, would I be correct
in doing so? Look contradictions exist in
prison just like out in the street between the
people but this is nothing new, indeed if we
look to prison writers, prison revolutionaries going back say, for the past 50 years you
will not read some of the things that have
been spoken of in regards to “segregation.”
This is because as prisoners we do constitute a class – a prison class, at the same time
we derive from distinct nations and they
cannot be left out of the conversation. For
the same reasons you out in society would
rather live with one of your constructive projects or nation building, so too do
prison revolutionaries share this same perspective and so one wanting to be housed
with ones comrade should not be seen as
negative event, I agree, the gang bogeyman
needs to be simmered down. I myself have
been housed several times with prisoners
who were not of my nationality by birth,
but they were all of my nations and I have
seen many others for the many years in the
same situation. Most have moved past the
1950 era “skin color” and see nation as
primary, but there are still many contradictions within each nation that is worked on
as the people advanced as a class. In all that
we do we must understand that as we indeed push forward as a prison class, those
who deny our human rights and who feel
because we are prisoners that we are thus
castaways will increase all the vile trickery
to impede our momentum but change is inevitable and transformation is in perpetual
motion always and this will not change.
Mao once said of change: “changes in society are due chiefly to the development of

the internal contradictions in society, that
the contradiction between the productive
forces and the relations of production, the
contradiction between classes and the contradiction between the old and the new; it
is the development of these contradictions
that pushes society forward and gives the
impetus for the supersession of the old society by the new.”2
Change occurs even within the torture
chambers across America, this change was
seen in the 2011 strikes and continues to
manifest but we are in the early stages of
real revolutionary change. Our future generations will taste what we only dream of
today, a time when our oppressor no longer
has the power and when our nations finally
obtain self – determination.
Jose Villarreal
PBSP SHU
It’s All Connected
It’s been off the radar screen for a while;
however, a discernible shift in the public
and prisoner consciousness has awakened
my spirit. Many people will recognize my
name. I’ve been down a quarter century
(for a senseless crime committed as a juvenile) and the majority of that time (about
20 years) has been spent in one SHU or another.
At 18 I entered the system and stepped
into the decades – old war at New Folsom.
Less than 2 years later I was among those
first prisoners heading to PBSP-SHU. I was
there the entire first decade when doors
were being popped 24/7, gladiator-style
warfare was common, and everyone lived
in a perpetual state of hyper-vigilance.
Like many of the fellas there, I immersed
myself in studies and writing to maintain
my sanity. As I did so, I became increasingly conscious on many levels. This consciousness led me inward and, one day, I
came face to face with the real me, whom
saw things differently than my surface personality (represented by ego). The real me
had the courage to ask questions, look past
surface realities, and envision ideal circumstances (both for myself and my fellow
convicts). My idealism was a threat to the
status quo of prison politics. I understand
that completely. But I also understood history and was learning how to detect the
things that made people, societies and
entire nations tick. On one track, I began
working with outside people of conscience
– human rights advocates, prisoner rights
2. “On contradiction” (August 1937), Mao’s
selected works, vol. 1 pg. 314.

7

activists, attorneys – and launched numerous legal and journalistic endeavors to shed
light upon this broken system. On another
track I worked with like-minded prisoner to
establish line of communication, talk about
our predicament, and reign in some of the
overkill in the pods. As time went by, I began to see my alleged “enemies” in their
true light and developed relationships with
them which made it impossible for me to
want to hurt them – even when we came
face to face and politics dictated that we at
least act like we were fighting. (afterwards,
we would ask one another, “you alright?”;
and more often than not our worst wounds
would be from the guards’ block guns.
Hours later, we’d be back in the same cells
exchanging magazines, coffee, treats, etc.
Most of us never truly agreed with the politics but, as a matter of survival, we were
forced to obey those politics).
Many people who were around in those
days will know exactly what I am talking
about. Few will admit it, but we were suffering and powerless for a long time simply because we didn’t dare to challenge the
status quo. We are were thinking the same
thing: this is nuts! Yet, only a handful of
us ever gathered up the courage to voice
and act upon it. The politicians rewarded us
speakers and actors by publicly denouncing us, but behind the scenes many of them
secretly supported us and encouraged us to
plow ahead on various fronts. Now, most
of us are no longer active, and those whom
betrayed the cause for peace are either dead
or doing time in the Feds, where they are
an endangered species. The new guard,
many of whom I know, including half of
the short corridor collective, are currently
implementing the necessary reforms and
solidarity practices that myself and others
attempted to implement a decade ago. For
that , I tip my hat to them, even thought I
am no longer in the mix and stir clear of
all politics. I am still haunted by my experiences at PBSP-SHU and care for every
person.
Having said all that, I’d also like to comment upon the connectivity of all rights,
which are human rights in the final analysis. This speaks to Ed’s indelicate but wellintentioned attempt to raise LGBT awareness / support in the greater struggle, and
also to the lessons learned from struggles
beyond the struggle for justice and decency within America’s vast prison industrial
complex (which is the largest in the world).
My method for understanding things is
a combination of dialectical analysis and
8

metaphysical training. I am an Toltec,
which means I practice Mexicayotl / Toltecayotl in the tradition of my Mesoamerican
ancestors, whom saw everything comprised
of interconnected light. My people believe
in One God with many faces but that God
is indefinable. The closest we can get to understanding the One God is to look at ourselves and all that we are connected to. This
perspective of Oneness encourages me to
look beyond my individual conditioning to
observe creation as it truly is. I am not religious at all but I have respect for all the
traditions of the world and feel each person
is entitled to live the way they wish to live
(as long as they are not hurting others).
Coming from this perspective, it is no
longer important for me to push my ideas
upon others, nor is it important for others
to think about me in a certain way. I share
my opinions conservatively, but only with
those with whom my opinions might resonate. A decade ago, the system was not
ready for something like this, but today I
believe it is, so I am putting it out there.
The world we live in is changing. A generation ago, we adopted the beliefs of those
that had come before us by agreeing that
the words they spoke were the truth. After
decades of war, we are now learning that
those words were not true.
Humans are domesticated animals. We
are conditioned to adopt beliefs, habits and
routines in the same manner that dogs and
other animals are conditioned (i.e., utilizing a system of rewards and punishments).
A good con gets praised. A bad con gets
regulated. Those in power decide what is
“good” and “bad”.
At this moment we are at a crossroads.
Progressive movements in society are en-

By Faustino Hernandez

gages in pulling America back toward the
center. It was the right-ward shift in society which created the current system. Now,
there is an opportunity to reverse many
of the policies which had us drowning in
a sea of madness. Legislative reform is on
the agenda. Society, once more, is reconsidering policies on crime and punishment,
immigration, gun control, special interests
and civil rights. Ears are open. The prison system must be emptied significantly.
Rights must be restored. All the shit they
took from us over the last three decades
must be returned. But this will only happen
if those qualified to talk step up to the microphone, and if those whom aren’t qualified are kindly asked to practice discipline.
On a personal level, I support all rights
and believe the movement should be representative of the entire prison population,
but I also understand how deep some prejudice runs so I wouldn’t propose forcing the
movement to publically debate issues it is
not mature enough to debate. Right now,
the pressing issue is to end the wards, open
up the SHU’s, and begin the process of demilitarization, reunification and social integration. It is not necessary to have states
opinions on gay rights, women’s rights or
immigrants rights – even though all those
groups experience incarceration. It is sufficient to say, “we are for the rights of all
prisoners”. The prejudices emanating from
society and amplified in prison are better
dealt with at focus upon the life or death
matters we face as we attempt to stand
down and reclaim our humanity. As we feel
more human, we will learn to see more humanity around us.
In the meantime, I encourage all prisoners to look within for solutions. Domesticated believes can be changed if we properly study them and replace them with new
beliefs. Men and women of principle can’t
help but transform beliefs into action.
Again, I applaud the new guard at PBSP-SHU. As prisoners, we are often forced
to do a lot of bad things but it is possible
to cancel out the bad with heroic feats of
awareness, kindness, and love.
Anthony Murillo
Tehachapi – SHU
ISO/High Power
I’m currently in the hole doing an indeterminate SHU term. Can you please send
me a copy of Prison Focus and place me on
your subscription list? I’m including some
stamps. I hope they help and you guys are
doing a great job. I read your spring issue.
Rock!

I have my own opinion on the 40 demands.
Most of that stuff could have been solved
if they would have requested for all validated inmates to become A2B. They would
have had all the privileges of inmates in the
mainline minus the housing. It would be
fair, in my eyes, for the SHU is where these
guys live forever; it’s their mainline. They
have a similar thing in my county jail in
Orange County. It’s called Total Sep/High
Power. These inmates live in the hole but
have all the privileges as the other inmates
in the mainline. CDCR is wrong/cruel to
punish these validated inmates when they
haven’t done anything wrong such as getting into trouble. I hope you put this is in
your next issue. You might want to contact
the Orange County Sheriff’s Department
and ask about their Total ISO/High Power
Program. It doesn’t endanger inmates or
staff to allow these inmates to have their
privileges but still be isolated from the GP,
just like SHU.
Victor Perez,
Corcoran State Prison

Actions speak louder
than words, and so far
the non-action and intransigence of the CDCR
speaks volumes.
News From Tehachapi
Received and read the April 2013 issue
of the Rock, I and everyone was glad to
read that some people in Sacramento are
finally getting tired of the lies coming from
CDCR. Here we are one month closer to
July and so far nothing but silence coming
from the department of corrections.
The so called step down program is a
Joke, the DRB has not come back to Tehachapi since January 2013. We here at 4B
are going to the DRB and should they release us from here we are going. But we are
not participating in the step down part of
the program, but we have seen people who
were released and are now on the mainline.
Also there is a big misconception going
around concerning the yard, this place is
nothing like the bay where you are asked
every day if you want your 1½ hours of
yard, here we are stuck from 24 to 48 hours
in the cell before we can go to yard and that
is for 2½ hours! Sometimes if we are lucky
we get our mandated 10 hours of yard per
week, but sometimes in a calendar week
we only go outside one time. The excuses
are a dime a dozen, the fact is that these
people are overpaid for the amount of work
Volume 2, Number 6

they actually do around here, and when we
do say something to them they act offended, how can you become offended when
you are told to do your job? That makes no
sense, does it? I think that the sooner the
legislator in Sacramento mandates what
CDCR must do the better this ongoing situation will become.
Actions speak louder than words, and
so far the non-action and intransigence of
the CDCR speaks volumes. Can you please
print this letter and use my name, before I
depart enclosed you will find 50 first class
stamp’s collected from the fellas here at
4B-5B section, not much but hope that it
helps, what you do is appreciated by everyone here, thank you and continue the good
work.
Carlos Sainz
A Passionate Declaration
We are men & women, we are not beasts
and do not intend to be beaten or driven as
such. The entire prison populace has set for
the, come July 2013, to change forever the
ruthless brutalization and disregard for the
lives of the prisoners here and throughout
the United States. What has happened and
what will happen beyond this point, is but
the sound before the fury of those who are
oppressed.
We will not compromise on any terms
except those that are not agreeable to us.
We call upon all the conscientious citizens
of America to assist us in pulling an end to
this situation that threatening the lives of
not only prisoner’s but each and every one
of us in society as well.
We have set forth demands that will
bring closer to reality the demise of these
prison institutions that serve no useful purpose to the people of America, but to those
who would enslave and exploit the people
of America.
• Additional Demands
• Better food and medical care
• Independent Grievance process
• Improved training for the guards
• Intervention by the Federal Government
• Prisoners participation in restructuring
the prison
• And a team of “Negotiators” and observers
• Amnesty from reprisals for all who are
participating in peaceful food strike
Hopefully the insight is noticed and declaration & demands adopted
Independent Thinker in Solidarity,
Michael Hawkins
Corcoran SHU

FREE US ALL
MEETING
Here’s a quick update on our May 18th
Free Us All meeting in Seattle. We are a
group preparing to support the peaceful
struggle for justice by California prisoners.
We met at the American Friends Service
Committee’s worship hall, where we had
hung anti-SHU artwork by prisoners on the
walls. The purpose of this meeting was to
bring in representatives from other groups
who will join us in providing outside support for this important struggle. The meeting went well. People left feeling a lot of
hope and enthusiasm for what is to come.
We divided into two groups, outreach and
inreach. The former is of course the usual,
media, a day of action, flyers, public education campaigns, etc. The latter is reaching
in to prisoners and their families, handing
out flyers to loved ones on visiting days,
letters to prisoners, etc. The idea being to
raise consciousness on the inside.
Representatives from the following organizations were at this meeting:
• Washington Incarceration Stops Here
• Red Spark
• GLITTER gay liberation
• First Baptist Church
• AFSC
• Freedom Socialists
• O.W.L.S. (an organization of rank and
file union members from various unions)
• E.P.I.C. (End Prison Industrial Complex)
• SCIU (progressive union)
• Prison Art Project (that’s me)
• Who You Calling Illegal
• Wake Up God Damn It
• Occupy Seattle
• ISO (international socialist organization)
• Seattle Solidarity Network
• Gateway for Incarcerated Youth
• Evergreen State College Students
There are similar meetings taking place
in Portland, Oregon, the Bay Area, and
elsewhere. ●

By Chris Garcia

9

Prisoner
Artists!
Prison
ArtArt
is ais
nonprofit
Prison
a nonwebsite.
It chargesthat
a 10
profit website
percent
feeaiften
yourperart
charges
or
craftservice
sells. Send
SASE
cent
fee
if
for a free brochure. No
your art or craft
SASE, no brochure. This
sells.
Send
a SASE
offer
void
where
profor
free
brochure.
hibited by prison rules.

Sell Your Art
On the Web
Sell prisonercreated art or
crafts (except
writings). Send
only copies, no
originals!
Prison Art Project
P.O. Box 47439
Seattle, WA 98146
www.prisonart.org
sales@prisonart.org
206-271-5003

Free Electronic Copy

Hopeful for unity...
Eager for change.
David Carr, Oregon SHU

Outside people can read, download, or print the Rock newsletter
by going to www.prisonart.org and
clicking on the “Rock Newsletter”
link.
Outside folks can also have a free
electronic copy of the newsletter
sent to them each month by way of
e-mail. Have them send requests for
a digital copy to rock@prisonart.org.

Ed Mead, Publisher
Rock Newsletter
P.O. Box 47439
Seattle, WA 98146

FIRST CLASS MAIL