Working

W
Working
ki to
t Extend
E t d Democracy
D
to
t All 

V
Volume
V l
Volume
2, N
2
Number
b 9
9

September

S
S t b 2013
September
2013

CALIFORNIA CONVICTS SUE STATE
AFTER CONTRACTING VALLEY FEVER
July 15, 2013 (AP/U-T San Diego)
ast week, inmates and former inmates at two California prisons
who contracted valley fever while
incarcerated filed a lawsuit against the
state, AP/U-T San Diego reports (Thompson, AP/U-T San Diego, 7/12).

Healthline, 7/3).
The fungus typically causes mild to severe influenza-like symptoms. However,
the infection also can spread from the lungs
to other parts of the body and cause symptoms such as skin abscesses, blindness and
death (AP/U-T San Diego, 7/12).

About Valley Fever
Researchers estimate that each year more
than 150,000 people nationwide contract
an airborne fungus known as valley fever,
or coccidioidomycosis.
The cocci fungus is commonly found in
soil in much of the Southwestern U.S., and
is especially common in California’s Central Valley.
People can contract valley fever by
breathing in cocci fungal spores (California

Details of Current Outbreak
In early May, CDC began investigating the deaths of more than three dozen
California inmates who had contracted the
fungus at Avenal and Pleasant Valley state
prisons in San Joaquin Valley.
The investigation was launched after
federal receiver J. Clark Kelso -- who is
charged with monitoring the state’s prison
health care system -- ordered the relocation
of about 3,200 high-risk inmates from the
two
t prisons.
Late last month, U.S. District Judge
Thelton
Henderson ordered California to
T
move
2,600 inmates at risk of contracting
m
valley
fever out of the two prisons. The
v
order
gave the state seven days to begin
o
the
t transfers and 90 days to complete the
task.
In addition, Henderson said no new
t
inmates
who are considered at risk of coni
tracting
the fungus should be sent to either
t
prison
(California Healthline, 7/3).
p
Jeffrey Callison -- a spokesperson for the
state
Department of Corrections and Rehas
bilitation
-- said the state currently is workb
ing
i to comply with Henderson’s order.

L

CONTENTS
Valley Fever Suit ......................1
Editorial Comments..................2
Hunger Strike Intensifies ..........3
The First Death ........................3
Taken Hostage .........................3
Letters ......................................4
Medical Release Form .............5
Response to Secretary Beard ..7
Response to Criticism ..............8
Quote Box ................................9

Details of the Lawsuit
The lawsuit is seeking payment for lifetime
t
medical care -- including medications
t
that
can cost as much as $2,000 monthly

-- for inmates and former inmates who contracted valley fever in California prisons
since July 2009. The current state policy
is to provide a 30-day supply of the drugs
upon parole for severely affected inmates.
Individuals represented in the lawsuit include black, elderly and medically at-risk
inmates and former inmates at the Avenal
and Pleasant Valley prisons.
Ian Wallach -- an attorney representing
the inmates -- said the prison system did
not adequately protect them from the fungus, which he called “a life sentence that no
judge had ordered.”
Attorneys are seeking class-action status
for the case. Wallach said his firm already
has been contacted by more than 500 current and former prisoners regarding valley
fever. ■

The above art is by Chris Carrasco, PBSP.

EDITORIAL 2-9
“If we give in the terrorists win.” That
is essentially what Secretary Beard told the
mediation team. He said there will be no
negotiations with prisoners or their outside
representatives. I write this on August 4th,
just four days before the hunger strike has
gone on for a full month.
Things may change between now and the
time you read this. And what I am writing
here is largely aimed at general population
prisoners and their family members and
loved ones on the streets. I hope you won’t
think me arrogant or presumptuous for suggesting a possible path ahead.
In my editorial comments in the Spring
2012 issue of Prison Focus (#38 at page
26) I said, “The leading SHU prisoners
used the metaphor of a football game to
describe their struggle. Continuing on with
that metaphor, I think we are at half time.
HS1 and HS2 were the first two quarters.
Everyone can call the score what they
like. I call it a draw.” We are no longer at
half-time, today we are in the final phase
of the third quarter. Even if CDCR were to
toss out some face-saving bone or crumbs
to striking prisoners, at this point I would
nonetheless have to call this quarter a loss.
So the fourth quarter is now looming.
I ask myself what I would do if I were in
the position of rights conscious prisoners
in California? There is some talk of going
with what I call the nuclear option. Under
this option individual prisoners would
starving themselves to death one after the
other, with larger scale outside support
behind each volunteer. To learn more on this
approach read about Bobby Sands and the
hunger strike struggle the Irish Republican
Army waged. They made many martyrs to
the cause, including Bobby Sands himself,
but politically it was a failure.
So I suppose I would go for the alternative,
which is mass action for the final quarter1
of this struggle. As we all know, the prisons
cannot function for long without the labor
of prisoners. A state-wide organization or
union of prisoners will be required to win
this battle. This is the most difficult option
because it means the consciousness of
regular mainline prisoners must be raised,
a task that will require patience and time.
Social prisoners must become rights
conscious, and the rights conscious need to
1. The problem with the football metaphor is
that it only gives us four quarters, whereas
the struggle for justice will be protracted
and may take thousands.

2

become class conscious. It would seem to
me that this would be the task of existing
rights and class conscious prisoners, not
only in California but everywhere.
I would hold study groups on prisoner’s
rights, so all prisoners would understand
that the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, a treaty the constitution says is the
“law of the land” (above the constitution),
proclaims that all humans have the inherent
right to such things as equal protection
under the law, freedom of expression,
and the freedom to work and form labor
unions; to freedom from slavery, forced
labor, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment and arbitrary arrest or detention;
to a standard of living adequate for health
and well-being; and to be recognized as a
person before the law.
All of these rights are inalienable—just
because we are humans—and have as
their goal the protection of human dignity
and fullest development of the human
personality. Again, the right to form labor
unions, freedom from slavery, torture, and
inhuman treatment. These are fundamental
rights—including the right to organize into
labor unions.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that
under the constitution prisoners do not
have the right to unionize. But as I said,
international treaties the U.S. is a signatory
to is “the law of the land”, and yet not
enforceable in the courts. It requires a
political struggle in order to gain these
rights. These are the lessons prisoners need
to understand and internalize, and they will
never be able accomplish that until they
overcome their bourgeois conditioning and
individualism.
As I’ve repeatedly said, you are all
slaves of the state, a status legitimized
by the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which abolished slavery for
all except for those convicted of a crime.
You are held in conditions of dependency
and irresponsibility, disenfranchised from
the basic rights of citizenship such as the
right to vote. If there was a segment of
today’s society that had a legitimate right to
demand some level of justice it is prisoners.
The task of advanced prisoners, those with
a progressive consciousness, is to educate
their less aware counterparts in matters of
rights and class.
Back in the day, the late 1960s and up
to the mid-1970s there were many major
movements; including a drug legalization
movement, a gay rights movement, and a
prisoners’ movement.

Today, here in Washington, the
recreational use of marijuana is legal, as
is gay marriage. But what ever happened
to the prisoners’ movement? I’ll leave the
answer to that question for another day, as
this is a new day—a new start.
It may be years before the final quarter
of this game is played, but when it comes
to fruition it will be with an organized and
rights and class conscious body of prisoners,
ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with
their working class brothers and sisters on
the streets. They will peacefully withhold
their labor, not in one prison, not in one
state, but nationally, until the pro-slavery
provision of the Thirteenth Amendment is
abolished and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights is applied to prisoners.
Prisoners have the absolute right to
peacefully go on work strikes. If not for
the sake of those currently confined, then
at least for the sake of generations of
prisoners who will follow.
At some point it needs to dawn on
prisoners that they are contributing to their
own oppression. The longest journey starts
with a single step. The starting point in
this case is to initiate the peaceful struggle
for the immediate implementation of the
five core demands, while at the same time
educating and raising the consciousness
of the other prisoners with whom you’re
doing time. This will be a long struggle.
Mainline prisoners will need to build cadre.
Yet when all is said and done what I
think carries very little weight. Prisoners
will do what they do, and so long as they do
it peacefully I’ll be here to support them. ■
Combat bourgeois individualism!

A SHU cell drawn by Billly ‘Guero’ Sell. The
first hunger strike participant to die

Rock!

THE HUNGER
STRIKE
INTENSIFIES

W

e of the National Plantation
Psychosis Awareness Committee (N.P.P.A.C. pronounced NPAC) throughout CDCR our sincere solidarity and appreciation to the 33,000 plus
who have unselfishly supported and/or participated in this most honorable and historical statewide/national hunger strikes. You
of the masses have all done and continue
to do a commendable job (each in your individual and collective capacity) in bringing the reality of this cause to the public at
large, and doing so with the most impressive numbers this nation has ever seen!
However, as these numbers continue to
taper off, as anticipated, you will increasingly hear prison officials, the media, and
various misguided individuals say that this
hunger strike is dying out. To the contrary,
this hunger strike is not dying out, nor is
it dictated by the initial sensationalism of
numbers. Such thinking is wrong. As in all
successful movements of this nature the
success of the hunger strike is now entering
the political phase of hyper-dramatization,
which will be marked by self-sacrificing
prisoner volunteers. These volunteers will
be comparatively few, but will continue to
unselfishly push this hunger strike until the
last man is standing.
I have some serous underlying health
conditions that put me at greater risk than
some, or maybe even most, combined with
my age factor (55), but these are only calculations set by man not the supreme creator.
So I personally vowed on day one not to
give in until all of our collective demands
are fully met or the creator calls me home
for even greater rewards.
It would be foolish to think that the magnitude of the honorable demands for basic
human rights, as laid out in detail by our
comrades of Pelican Bay, will be met by
CDCR without a significant death count.
Therefore, it is inevitable that some of us
will die in this struggle before the public’s
outcry will persuade CDCR to capitulate to
our very reasonable demands.
Therefore, it can only behoove our designated negotiators and representatives not to
negotiate any of the 45 demands until those
of us who have self-appointed ourselves to
carry this struggle to the end have had the
opportunity to make their/our full contribution. It will be these contributions and the
Volume 2, Number 9

public’s angry outcry that will be the deciding factor in this demonstration.
We are just now turning into the final
stretch, so I implore the designated representatives to please not prematurely negotiate our demands until all of our resources
are fully and effectively engaged.
Dare to struggle, dare to win, or god
damn it all! ■
Bryan Ransom (AKA Imara Rafiki),
Corcoran, August 11, 2013, Day 35
[Ed’s Note: The hunger strike is the only
means of protest for the totally powerless.
While I disagree with the use of tactics
that harm or weaken us, I do understand
why some will feel the need to carry this
approach to its ultimate conclusion. But
as I’ve often said, the only sure means of
securing and enforcing concessions from
CDCR is by mainline prisoners peacefully
withholding their labor. The prisons cannot function for long without the labor of
prisoners, therein lays CDCR’s Achilles
heel and the path to any true victory. Yes,
I am talking about dual power. CDCR has
had all the power and they’ve massively
abused it and the public’s trust. It is time
to give prisoners some of the responsibility. Dual power was implemented at the
Washington State Penitentiary in the early
1970s and was successful until ultimately
sabotaged by prison guards. Lessons have
been learned since then.]

THE FIRST DEATH

I

t is with a heavy, heavy heart I bring you
the news that a hunger striker housed in
4B-3L of the Corcorcan SHU, named
Billy Michael Sell, more commonly known
as ‘Guero’, died on Monday the 22nd of
July. I spoke with several prisoners today
about him, some that knew him very well
and they were very somber and concerned.
The prisoners say, “Billy died because of
the Hunger Strike.” That he was “strong,
was a good person, a good soldier” and
that the allegations by CDCR that this was
a suicide are, “completely out of character
for him and that he wasn’t like that” Several guys stated, “No one believes he killed
himself” He was supposedly going without
water as well as food and may have had
other health issues, that is unknown. As
stated below, Guero is reported to have
started asking for medical attention around
the 15th or 16th of July, in which he did not
receive and died 4 days later. He is from

Riverside but none of the guys knew how
to contact his family.
Here is more about him from a letter
drafted for the Statewide Medical Executive, Dr. Tharrett:
We have confirmed that CDCR claims
that Billy Sell, P41250, age 32, housed in
the Security Housing Unit, allegedly took
his own life on July 22, 2013.
According to information we have gathered, Mr. Sell was not under care for mental
illness at the time of his death. According
to other inmates near his cell, he had been
requesting medical attention for a few days
and had not received it by July 22. The
other prisoners who knew Billy confirmed
that he was on the hunger strike and said
it would be very strange and uncharacteristic of him to take his own life. Inmates
said that the guards reported he had hanged
himself. The other prisoners doubt the veracity of that story.
So the time has come that we were
dreading but also trying to prepare for. No
matter how Billy died, his life mattered and
I believe that we as a coalition need to respond. I would like to suggest that we do
some kind of vigil/press conference/rally at
the CDCR building in Oakland, unless that
was already being organized. Of course we
can talk about this at Mondays meeting but
I really think we should start thinking of
ideas now.
I know that the mediation team is preparing look into further investigation on the
legal front, so we will see what happens
with that. In the meantime of any of your
loved ones/correspondents/etc. are housed
at Corcoran in 4B-3L and they may have
some info about this, have known him,
heard him requesting medical attention,
please let us know.
I hope you all are well and with someone you love. In honor and respect of Billy
‹Guero› Sell, ■
Dendron

Billly ‘Guero’ Sell, a self-portrait.

3

[Note: For the present all names of letter
writers will be withheld so the state cannot
accuse us of secret communication between
prisoners.]
Phych Ward Solidarity
Revolutionary Greetings […] I am in the
“Phychiatric Services Unit/SHY”, and me
and a couple of other principled prisoners are planning/preparing to successfully
participate in the upcoming hunger strike
starting on July 8th, 2-13, which would be
a surprise to CDCR to have supposedly
‘mentally ill’ prisoners partaking in such a
peaceful protest it’s humbling.
[Name withheld],
PBSP Yard Update
Thanks for all your hard work in keeping us prisoners informed on extremely
dire prison conditions and the sham this
is (CDCR). It’s much appreciated […] So
here goes an update of what’s been happening at (PBSP) B. Yard Level (4) (180) Desin (GP) to be printed verbatim in the next
issue. Signed B. Yard (GP) Level (4) (180)
(PSSP)
In June 2013 all inmates collectively
submitted 25 reasonable demands supporting the statewide Hunger Strike Work
Strike to begin on July 8th. Not getting into
all of the demands now, but here’s a few.
Comply with the title 15 giving all inmates their 10hours a week yard time since
we never receive 10 hours a week and more
like 10 hours a month if we’re lucky.
Comply with the DOM and stop stripping
every single inmate out individually before
yard, medical education etc. as this drastically cuts into our yard time/program. As
every inmate must be wanded and stripped
out naked, before they can enter the yard.
Giving us an hour of actual yard time max
do to this procedure.
Stop harassing inmates to debrief when
they ask for what they got coming because
it’s common for Cos to say if you don’t like
something debrief and you’ll be given everything on an SNY yard closer to home.
Create more jobs/educational programs
as there are no jobs and A2B inmates are
treated like there being punished for being
A2B with slim to no privileges. IE more
than 1 call a month, weekend yard, etc. As
everyone should be given the opportunity
4

iatory CDRC has become during
a historic peaceful protest. But
nonetheless spirits are high and
just a small sacrifice compared to
decades of solitary confinement
many have suffered. Truly believe that true change beneficial
to all is soon to come and this
just the beginning of the end of
draconian tactics/mind games by
the CDCR.
[Name withheld],
B Yard GP Level 4, PBSP

LETTERS

LETTERS

to attain A1A status and not stay A2B for
years because of no jobs/programs which
is common here.
Create an inmate photo program allowing inmates regardless of their status to
take one photo a month. Because unless
you receive a visit at PBSP while on a GP
yard you’ll never be able to take a picture
to send to loved ones/family. Depriving
people who don’t get visits, or who’s loved
ones can’t make the drive up of ever receiving a photo.
Comply with the tile 15 and deliver inmates packages in two weeks. Since packages take up to six weeks to be delivered
with R&R only coming to the block once a
month. As you get the picture.
So on July 8th, 2013 all inmates of every
race collectively participated in a 10 day
Work Strike with all Southern Hispanics/
Whites participating in the Hunger Strike as
well. From three days to 10 depending on
how people felt. Well as the media reported
CDCR retaliated with at first prior to July
8th threats of validation, going to the hole,
etc. Coming to everyone’s cell at7:30am on
July 8th giving people direct orders to report to work who had jobs. From kitchen
workers to porters and all education, even
though they never planned to run any program PERIOD. Even going to people cells
who haven’t worked in months saying they
now had jobs. So they could issue as many
115’s as possible. Since word was Sacramento shut down taking the whole yard to
ASU/The Hole. So long story short everyone who refused 9 consecutive meals or
work/education receives 115’s with those
who participated in both the Hunger Strike
and Work Strike receiving 2 115’s. Now
the Hunger Strike write up was willfully
delaying a peace officer from performing
assigned duties/participation in mass Hunger Strike even though not once after the
9th meal were inmates pulled out by medical personal and checked for weight, blood
pressure, etc…And the Work Strike 115
was for refusing to report to assigned duties.
Consequences for one or both C-Status,
loss of credit, jobs, TVs, packages, hard,
etc…and to a few unlucky ones C over C
status where one looses all appliances for
six months and given the opportunity to
either send their TV CD players home or
donate them for being program failures. So
needless to say most of the yard is on CStatus for 30 to 90 days with not one demand being met and just shame how retal-

From Death Row SHU
On July 30, 2013, Day 23 of the statewide hunger strike, at approximately 1
p.m., prisoners on my tier began alerting
Adjustment Center custody staff that one
of the hunger strike participants was unresponsive. Prisoners kept yelling, “Man
down!” and banged on their doors for about
10 minutes until a goon squad was formed.
One of that goon squad was an Officer
Persaud, who sarcastically ordered the
apparently semi-conscious man-down to
come to his door and cuff up. After this
potentially life-threatening delay and a
“mechanical issue” getting the cell door to
open, the goon squad finally stormed in as
if pouncing.
A second man-down situation followed
about an hour later with similar response.
Custody staff are clearly expressing resentment toward the hunger strike participants, and my suggestion to them is that if
their current job is not to their liking, they
should either quit and go back to Burger
King or get their torture unit overlords to
grant the reasonable request for basic human needs set forth in the open letter. ■
[Name withheld]
Open letter to the citizens of
California
At least we demand we be treated like
human beings and citizens. Demand an
end to solitary confinement except when it
is absolutely necessary and only then as a
temporary solution. Help us gain access to
education, basic amenities, and rehabilitative services. Make the state comply with
all the court orders and recommendations
from respected world bodies, human rights
organizations, and concerned citizens. Stop
funding the system and making it profitable
for some. There are many, many things
you can do, Citizens, to end our suffering.
Teach us about empathy and compassion
Rock!

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION

AUTHORIZATION FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION
CDCR 7385 (REV. 09/09)

Page 1 of 2

AUTHORIZATION FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION
YOUR INFORMATION
Last Name:

First Name:

Address:

Middle Name:

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City/State/Zip:

CDC/YA Number:

Person/Organization Providing the
Information
Name: _________________________________
Address: _______________________________
City/State/Zip: ___________________________
Phone #: (_____)_________________________
Fax Number: (_____) _____________________

Person/Organization to Receive the
Information
Name: _________________________________
Address: _______________________________
City/State/Zip: ___________________________
Phone #: (_____)_________________________
Fax Number: (_____) _____________________

[45 C.F.R. § 164.508(c)(1) (iii) & Civ. Code § 56.11(e), (f)]
Description of the Information to be Released
(Provide a detailed description of the specific information to be released)
[45 C.F.R. § 164.508(c)(1)(i) & Civ. Code §§ 56.11(d) & (g)]

Medical

Mental Health

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Dental

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________________________________________________________________________________________________.

For the following period of time: From __________________ (date) to ___________________ (date)

Description of Each Purpose for the Use or Release of the Information
(Indicate how the information will be used)
[45 C.F.R. § 164.508(c)(1)(iv)]

Health Care

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Other (please specify) ____________________________________________________________
Page one of release form

Volume 2, Number 9

5

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION

AUTHORIZATION FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION
CDCR 7385 (REV. 09/09)

Page 2 of 2

Will the health care provider receive money for the release of this information?
[45 C.F.R. § 164.524 (c) (4) (i), (ii)]

Reasonable fees may be charged to cover the cost of copying and postage.

This authorization for release of the above information to the above-named persons/organizations
will expire on: ___________________ (date). [45 C.F.R. § 164.508(c)(1)(v) & Civ. Code
§ 56.11(h)]
I understand:
x

I authorize the use or disclosure of my individually identifiable health information as
described above for the purpose listed. I understand that this authorization is
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x

I have the right to revoke this authorization by sending a signed notice stopping this
authorization to the health Records department at my current institution. The
authorization will stop further release of my health information on the date my valid
revocation request is received in the Health Records department. [45 C.F.R.
§ 164.508(c)(2)(i) & Civ. Code § 56.11(h)]

x

I am signing this authorization voluntarily and that my treatment will not be affected
if I do not sign this authorization. [45 C.F.R. § 164.508(c)(2)(ii)]

x

Under California law, the recipient of the protected health information under the
authorization is prohibited from re-disclosing the information, except with a written
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Page two of release form

6

Rock!

with action – and I promise we will return
these actions.
The same hands that once destroyed
communities can rebuild them. We have
the influence to be the role models too.
We can tell the young ones to end hostilities out there the same way hostilities
have been ended in here. We can encourage peace in unique ways. But we need a
stake in this society too! We need to be embraced, worked with and rewarded.
Thank you, Citizens, for hearing our
voice. We look forward to a better future
for all Californians.
[Name Witheld] on Day 5 of the Hunger
Strike, Tehachapi-SHU
Corcaran State Prison
I was planning on only “fasting” for two
to three days at a time. But I feel good after these three days. I am thinking about
going longer. I am not sure how long I
will go. I am caught up in the principles
behind this hunger strike. I am feeling the
solidarity of this revolt by prisoners and
their determination to throw off the yoke
of subjugation. It feels good to witness the
reemergence of the prison rebellion of the
1960s and 1970s. It is very difficult to rally
the prisoners to rebel against the inhumanity of this prison system and the outright
violation of prisoners’ constitutional rights.
Correctional officers and administrators violate state and federal laws with no apprehension of consequences. It is difficult to
rally prisoners to rebel because of the wide
network of inmate agent provocateurs who
will usually abort any thoughts of uprising
or rebellion before it leaves the womb of
mental conception.
[Name Witheld]
Question
On 7/3/2013, I received a visit from 2
California Prison Focus volunteers. Two
women, one white lady and one Mexicana
lady (names omitted) came. I told them that
I will accept visits from CPF volunteers at
any point in the hunger strike. They were
telling me about some form that prisoners
can get from the nurses that would allow
CPF people to request prisoners medical
records regarding our current health status.. What exactly are these forms she was
speaking of?
[Name Witheld]
[Ed’s Response: That form is contained
in this issue on pages five and six. I had to
eliminate two pages of letters from prisoners in order to include these forms.]
Volume 2, Number 9

A RESPONSE TO
CDCR SECRETARY
BEARD
By Caitlin Kelly Henry
n a recent OpEd, CDCR Secretary
Beard, defends his agency’s use of torture, and justifies it by vilifying and
dehumanizing some of its victims. Conditions in CDCR’s SHUs meet international
definitions of unlawful torture. Sensory deprivation is torture. Prolonged isolation is
torture. California, unlike most states and
nations, refuses to recognize that it is both
unlawful and poor public policy to punish
people with prolonged isolation. Though
no other jurisdiction appears to deny that
these practices constitute solitary confinement.
These conditions cause permanent physical and psychological effects. As an attorney and academic, I have conducted over
60 interviews with people sequestered in
SHUs, and have witnessed the physical and
psychological effects of isolation. Having
recently visited strikers, I can attest that as
a result of their non-violent demonstration,
they are experiencing irreversible and life
threatening effects that will only worsen if
CDCR and Governor Brown do not take
action immediately.
Hunger and work strikes by disfranchised people, who have little to leverage
but their bodies, have earned a dignified
and noble legacy in human and civil rights
movements. The last three California prison strikes have succeeded in shining light
on atrocious living conditions typically
shielded from the public behind prison
walls.
The OpEd misrepresents CDCR’s dejure policies, and avoids addressing its
de-facto policies, which arise from prison
staff’s vast discretion in policy interpretation and execution. The OpEd attempts to
narrow the discussion to CDCR’s treatment
of the sub-group of people staff accuse of
being affiliated with gangs and focus on
the strike’s second demand. However, the
other four demands, concern issues affecting all prisoners in solitary, many of whom
are never accused of gang activity.
CDCR continues to arbitrarily discipline
and move people to solitary confinement
without adequate due process, whether for
a determinate term (though people are often held after the term’s end) or indeterminate term. Currently, CDCR is issuing rules
violations to hunger strikers simply for not

I

eating, and charging participants and nonparticipants with “gang related activity”
for showing support for the strike. These
violations can be used to send people to
the SHU, keep them there, or deny people
post-conviction relief (parole, prop 36 resentencing, etc.). To issue so many on such
specious grounds at a moment when CDCR
is mandated to release 10,000 people is emblematic of the due process violations the
strike seeks to address.
As CDCR moves people to or within the
SHU, staff have denied people access to
their property. This includes placing people
in a cell with a mattress, but no sheets or
blanket, for days on end. Pelican Bay SHU
cells have no windows or skylights, and
the murky slits in the concrete at Corcoran
can hardly be called windows. Light comes
from a fluorescent bulb that is never shut
off.
Especially since the strike’s announcement, CDCR has routinely denied people
the ability to leave their cells for weeks on
end, whether to shower, use the “yard” (either a metal cage or a small room with four
concrete walls but no roof), or access the
law library to meet court deadlines. With
no access to the yard, some people exercise in their cells…but if they do so at the
same time as others, the exercise is labeled
as gang activity.
Access to other in-cell activities - like
television, radio, books, or education - is
contingent on having funds. Funds require
either work (which many SHU inmates are
prohibited from) or contacts on the outside.
In the OpEd CDCR lauds how its “[r]estricting...communication...has saved lives
both inside and outside prison walls” yet
claims people can send and receive letters
and visit every weekend.
In reality, CDCR’s extreme prohibitions and restrictions on phones, letters,
and visits destroy lives by interfering with
constructive family and attorney communications. This flies in the face of correctional best practices, which evidence that
maintaining community ties decreases recidivism and supports reentry. As a rule,
SHU inmates are also denied reentry-facilitating activities, such as interaction with
other people in religious service, therapy,
classes, or meals. Since the strike CDCR
has even confiscated books, mail, TVs and
radios.
Governor Brown and Secretary Beard
must cease their deliberate indifference
and end the standoff by meeting the five
demands. ■
7

A RESPONSE TO A SHU PRISONERS’ CRITICISM OF THE
OUTSIDE STRIKE SUPPORT EFFORT
By Ed Mead

T

he amount of outside support for
this current and third hunger strike
has been unprecedented, and included community supporters, ex-convicts,
family members and loved ones of prisoners, all working together toward the common goal of implementing the five core
demands. From what I can see, the outside
support was larger and more efficient that
it was back during the first two hunger
strikes. The progressive community has
clearly demonstrated a unity and purpose
that has been successful in amplifying the
voice of the striking prisoners.
The stars that shine the brightest, of
course, are the prisoners in California who
have sacrificed so much of themselves during this bitterly fought struggle for justice.
This is not to take anything away from
those who ended their hunger strikes early,
as nobody expects strikers to go as far as
the Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands and
his comrades in Ireland (one hunger striker,
Billy Michael Sell of Corcoran, has already
died by, CDCR says, hanging himself the
day after ending his 12th day of participation
in the strike). Another prisoner who quit his
fast after 12 days wrote a scathing criticism
of the outside strike support effort, saying
our weaknesses out here “neutralized” their
struggle on the inside and that is why he is
ending his strike. It is this criticism of our
work that I write about today.
When we get criticisms, especially from
a black SHU prisoner (which is the case
here), we should always look for what is
right with it, and not search for reasons why
it’s wrong. Even so, when it’s so in-yourface wrong it just can’t be ignored, it needs
to be called like it is. I was in the Bay Area
doing support work for the first two hunger
strikes. I can attest to the huge amount of
work they did. Today that once tremendous
volume of work has doubled. Indeed, we
can feel the impact of their work, not only
up here in Seattle but nationally.
The prisoner criticizing us raised six
issues in which our work out here failed. I’ll
address all each of them. His first complaint
is that we on the outside frequently write
to the reps but do not communicate “with
every solitary confined prisoner” (emphasis
in original). This is a classic case of being
out of touch with our realities out here in
8

minimum custody—how few people we
have and the small amount of money there
is to work with.
To write a single letter to the 4,547 SHU
prisoners (and who knows how many more
Ad Seg prisoners) would break us, even if
we did have all of their names and numbers.
And to keep them informed we’d have to
write each prisoner at least once a month.
Who’s going to write all those letters?
Who’s going to pay for the materials and
postage? There is simply no possible way
we could write to every prisoner locked
down in solitary confinement.
Speaking only for myself, I rarely write
letters to the reps but send letters by the
stack in to other prisoners in that state,
including letters to author of this criticism.
While we out here can’t possibly write
letters to everyone locked down, we do
have some very informational publications,
most of which are specifically aimed at
California prisoners.
Which brings us to his second complaint,
our various publications carry articles only
“by a select few individuals” (emphasis
in original). This too is wrong. The
publications he mentions are the PHSS
News, The S.F. Bay View, Prison Focus, The
Abolitionist, and Rock. More specifically,
his criticism is that our publications only
print articles by the representatives.
Although I am not privy to receiving PHSS
News or The Abolitionist, I do get The
Bay View and of course I publish the Rock
newsletter and am the Editor of Prison
Focus. These last three publications rarely
publish material from the Reps (unless it is
news other SHU prisoners need to have).
Any SHU prisoner who is interested in
knowing what’s going on can subscribe to
any of these publications for free. The fact
that all of them are available to California
prisoners is a remarkable achievement.
In reality, we on the outside are not
“keeping the entire solitary confinement
prisoner class faceless, nameless, and
voiceless.” Our publications inform and
communicate, and in fact, at least in the
case of Rock, specifically target that socalled SHU class.1
1. Here I should admit that I’ve rejected at
least one article by the prisoner doing the
criticizing. It was so long it would have taken the entire Rock newsletter to print it. It
dealt only with matters of interest to New

His third criticism is that “the outside
community only displays material from
the reps at community events, and not
every solitary confined prisoner.” (again,
emphasis in original). Assuming we could
get photos and material from “every
solitary confined prisoner”, just what side
of some multistory building would we
post it all on? Speaking for Seattle, we’ve
never displayed materials from any of the
reps at any of our events. The materials
we distribute are written by us or other
outside support people, but mostly we do
banners and picket signs with slogans like
“End The Torture” and “Meet the Five
Demands”, etc.
And the most strike-related pictures
of people I see passed around on the
Internet are pictures of prisoners glued on
to homemade posters that are being held
by the family member or loved one of a
particular prisoner.
Let’s also not forget about the principle
of leadership. The fact is the reps (who
represent all races and regions) are the
ones who called the struggle, who wrote
the demands, got the law suit going, who
negotiate with the pigs, who drafted the
agreement to end hostilities, and who have
in general been the leadership of all three
hunger strikes. Moreover, they are currently
bearing the brunt of the retaliation for all of
those strikes.
As the reader can see, most of the
criticisms directly or indirectly involve our
communication with, or the duplication
of materials produced by, the reps. To the
extent the reps are getting more honey
than any of the quitters, it is, well, because
they’ve earned it. This is not a basis for
criticism, it is, rather, exactly what we
should be doing out here. Some of us may
disagree with the political ideology of the
reps, but we can all agree with their overall
skill in building this now historic struggle.
The fourth criticism is that the “outside
PHSS Coalition has been failing to discuss
strategy and tactics with the inside PHSS
Coalition (e.g. political prisoners, activists,
etc)...” We on the outside have one task,
and that was adopted early on—we are
to amplify the voice of those struggling
prisoners. That is exactly what we out here
Afrikans, and, worse, it had nothing to do
with the struggle to implement the five core
demands.

Rock!

are doing. To my knowledge the support
community does not discuss strategy or
tactics with the reps.
When prisoners call a peaceful and
just struggle people out here respond. It
is the reps who have called that struggle.
The progressive political community and
family members on the West Coast and
elsewhere have rallied behind those leading
this struggle.
We strike supporters have been doing this
work out here through three hunger strikes,
and (to my knowledge) in those years this
is the first and only complaint about how
we perform our tasks. Moreover, I am not
aware of any other prisoners telling us what
to do. And I don’t even see any strategic
suggestions coming from the criticizer
either, only complaints. In point of fact,
what I hear from the inside (and I get a lot
of prisoner mail) is gratitude for the work
we do out here on the streets.
Yet when a black man charges us with
racism we need to listen. The fifth and
sixth criticism, and the most important
ones in my book, implicitly charges us
with racism. The criticism is that we on the
outside failed to sufficiently reach out to
the black community.
As mentioned before, during the first two
hunger strikes I flew down to the Bay Area
to help with the support effort, and in that
process I attended many events put on in
support of each of the hunger strikes. Some
of these were put on by groups like All of
Us or None, where a hundred or so people
would be attending and I’d be one of only
a few white people in attendance. With
that said, could we do better in this regard?
Sure. The support coalition is largely white.
Yet, as I understand it, the role of whites is
to combat white racism, not organize the
black community.
I can’t speak for the Bay Area’s current
work since I’m not there, but in the photos
they send out and materials they publish
there is always a good mix of races. As
for Seattle we (Free Us All) have put on
two educational hip hop events around
the hunger strike, both in the largely black
Central District, one was a week before the
start of the hunger strike and the other last
Sunday (July 21st).
The criticizer calls these six issues
“contradictions” and says they are the
reasons we failed to connect to the 30,000
prisoners who initially engaged in the
hunger strike. In short, he says it is our
fault that he and others prematurely quit
the hunger strike.
Volume 2, Number 9

If there is ever to be any meaningful
change we must all take responsibility for
what we do or don’t do. The man doing the
criticizing dropped out of the hunger strike
after twelve days. It was then that he wrote
a letter to the S.F. Bay View newspaper
asking that his criticism be printed in that
publication (as far as I know that’s not
happening).
Now let’s put the shoe on the other foot,
where it rightfully belongs. Why not ask
where were the masses of family members
and loved ones of those 30,000 prisoners?
Why did those prisoners not activate or
reach out to their support networks? Why
was it left largely to us progressives and
only a handful of family members?
It is you prisoners who need to get
your act together, you need to organize
yourselves and your loved ones—you
must be your own liberators. And you are
not ever going to do that by putting the
blame for your own failures on others.
This is something we prisoners do, and it’s
something that needs to stop.
As I wrote on page 30 of Prison Focus
issue #37, just before the first hunger strike:
“Your struggles in there should in no
way rely on those of us doing volunteer
work on the outside. If you’re going get
it together, do it without any thought
to prisoner-support organizations.
Indeed, outside support is something
that you should plan to grow from
scratch, starting with your own friends
and family members on the streets.”
Those 29,000 prisoners who prematurely
ended their fast should look inside
themselves for the source of their failures,
rather than seeking to cast the blame on
those of us on the outside. We are open to
criticism, but not to scapegoating.
Those on the inside who would pose
as revolutionaries need to have a grasp of
dialectical and historical materialism, so
as to be better able to make analysis based
on actual conditions in their processes of
motion and change. Which is something
different than merely blaming others for
our individual weaknesses.
Any such analysis will show that the
prisoners’ struggle must, at its root, be led
and organized by prisoners and their family
members and loved ones. We few out here
can support you, but it’s your struggle.
Take responsibility for it.
In the mean time we out here will
continue to organize and fight in support of
the five core demands in the best way we
know how. The struggle continues. ■

Quote Box
“Non-cooperation with evil is as much
a duty as is cooperation with good.”
Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
“To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Human progress is neither automatic
nor inevitable... Every step toward the
goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions
and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails,
and where any one class is made to feel
that society is an organized conspiracy to
oppress, rob and degrade them, neither
persons nor property will be safe.”
Frederick Douglass
“The genius of our ruling class is that
it has kept a majority of the people from
ever questioning the inequity of a system
where most people drudge along, paying
heavy taxes for which they get nothing
in return.”
Gore Vidal , Author
“We can either have democracy in this
country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we
can’t have both.”
Louis Brandeis,
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
“ ... the media in the United States
effectively represents the interests of
corporate America, and ... the media
elite are the watchdogs of what constitutes acceptable ideological messages,
the parameters of news and information
content, and the general use of media resources.
Peter Phillips, Project Censored
“Many Americans hunger for a different kind of society -- one based on
principles of caring, ethical and spiritual
sensitivity, and communal solidarity.
Their need for meaning is just as intense
as their need for economic security.”
Michael Lerner, journalist
9

Art by Luis Garcia, PBSP

Free Electronic Copy
Outside people can read, download, or print current and back issues of
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
of the newsletter to rock@prisonart.org.

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

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