The Plantation Called Pelican Bay

p I think back to my first time inside a cell. I remember my first time in prison as an inmate.nbsp;nbsp;I remember everynbsp;return to custody. The anger rises up. The pseudo-reality of incarcerated life threatens to sweep me into the past. I focus on the story and move on--abandoning the lost years to the past.nbsp; It wasnbsp;2002 at Arizona State Prisonspannbsp;/spanBuckeye.nbsp; We stopped eating and working to protestspannbsp;/spanpolicy decisions made regarding meals and vocational programs.nbsp;We felt the pressure of our mail being shorted but not stopped, visitors being refused entry, midnight shakedowns and increases in disciplinary reports and imposed sanctionsnbsp; A feeling of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="invevitable" data-scaytid="3"invevitable/span defeat was felt by everyone.nbsp; After 17 days we gave up.nbsp;The wheels of progress had rolled over us. I hope that doesnrsquo;t happen to thenbsp;incarceratednbsp;men innbsp;resistance at span class="il"Pelican/span Bay.nbsp; The years of losing battle after battle with prison officials does notnbsp;inspire much hope other thannbsp;that no-one is hurt in this clash of wills./p p nbsp;/p p The issues atspan class="il" Pelican/span Baynbsp;may not be the same ones as the hunger strike at Buckeye, but the manner in which the prison officials will deal with it are identical. Complete cessation of recreational activities, increases in disciplinary reports and imposed sanctionsnbsp;are some of the ways that the badge will fight the organization of prisoners in opposition to departmental policy.nbsp; I can hear the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="doubletalk" data-scaytid="5"doubletalk/span from here./p p nbsp;/p p The men at span class="il"pelican/span Bay State Prisonspannbsp;/spanin the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="7"SHU/span (security housing unit) are labeled as the worst of the worst--the gang leaders, killers, threats to peaceful society--real bad men. We know that such persons exist so--we as free persons--accept this designation at face value, never looking closer at who can end up there and what kinds of evidence gives the department of corrections the right to give a man that kind of label. nbsp;These are the issues which are now under counter-attack by organized prisoners, their families and supporters./p p nbsp;/p p Notorious for inhumane conditions, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has in the past few years undergone a superficial dog and pony show type transformation, giving itself the extra designation of a lsquo;Rehabilitativersquo; agency.nbsp;Formerly known only as CDC, they are now the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="CDCR--a" data-scaytid="13"CDCR--a/span change in span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="acronyn" data-scaytid="15"acronyn/span only--giving inmatesnbsp;no more access tonbsp;rehabilitation than prior. I personally watched the closure of the education department at Tracy--the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Deuel" data-scaytid="17"Deuel/span Vocational Institution--as well as the final meeting of alcoholics anonymous, where we were informed that the unpaid volunteers--due to lack of funding--would no longer be given access to the prison for meetings which cost nothing, required no extra supervision, and helped inmates with alcohol problems gain tools to better cope with their lives upon release./p p nbsp;/p p The list of little things that prison officials and guards do to inconvenience prisoners is almost without limit. Mail gets slow. Visitors get turned away. Expensive collect phone calls are terminated at crucial points by guards who eavesdrop for security purposes.nbsp; These are what they do to the average prisoner every day in a General Population prison.nbsp; span class="il"Pelican/span Bay is not one of these yards.nbsp; span class="il"Pelican/span Bay is the place that the prison system uses to throw away human garbage.nbsp;nbsp;Anyone who goes as an inmate to this place is categorized exactly that way to discourage belief in the horror stories they would tell if they thought someone would credit them as the truth.nbsp; Most men donrsquo;t have that hope after a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="9"SHU/span term./p p nbsp;/p p I barely believe that bringing to light the abuses by guards and prison officials is worth the time because emno one cares /emis the first lesson you learn in prison--they make sure of that. Part of the experience of incarceration--a huge part--is the intentional separation from family and friendsspannbsp;/spanthat the prisoner is subjected to.spannbsp; /spanI could write five of these papers and barely scratch the surface of the tricks and methods employed by prison workers to destroy the bonds which tie us to the society we were cast away from. The struggle to be treated fairly hurts to the extent that many men don#39;t try to fight anymore. Uprisings, strikes, and sit-downs are some of the methods employed in previous generations to combat prison policies which were unfair or inhumane . Today almost any cooperation between rival factions or gangs of prisoners is unheard of and so, conveniently for the prison guards and policy makers, they present no real threat to any decisions made or policy enacted./p p nbsp;/p p The hunger strike at span class="il"pelican/span bay is an exception to the rule as all reports make this out to be a multi-racial issue (unilaterally the prisoners have agreed). That makes this one different. The Worst of the Worst have gotten together to fight the oppressive conditions which they and others live in daily./p p nbsp;/p p emEditors Note:/em/p p emHunger Strike Reaches 6,600 Prisoners and is Going Strong /em/p p ema href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/" target="_blank"The span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="CDCR’s" data-scaytid="19"CDCRrsquo;s/span own figures/a acknowledge strong6,600 prisoners/strong participated in the hunger strike across strong13 prisons/strong (out of a total 33) in California this past weekend. While the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="21"CDCR/span claims the number of prisoners participating has dropped to 2,100 people yesterday, we know this hunger strike is strong, and strongmany prisoners are in it for the long haul/strong./em/p p emstrongThousands/strong of prisoners have come together in solidarity with the prisoners at Pelican Bay span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="11"SHU/span, while being locked up in brutal conditions themselves. This massive resistance and support is a testament to peoplersquo;s undying will and ability to build collective power in the face of disappearance and death./em/p p emstrongNowrsquo;s the time to really make the prisonerrsquo;s voices heard!!!/strong/em/p ol li ema href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/cdcr-and-california-elected-officials-contact-informaion/" target="_blank"Call the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="23"CDCR/span, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Gov" data-scaytid="25"Gov/span. Brown and your local representatives/a and urge them to negotiate with the prisoners and honor their demands!/em/li li emSign circulate a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/support-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-at-pelican-bay-state-prison" target="_blank"the online petition!/a/em/li li emMake sure to attend rallies and demonstrates in cities near you, and if there isnrsquo;t one yet planned, a href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/call-for-action/" target="_blank"get together/a with your friends, networks, communities and make some noise for the Pelican Bay Hunger Strikers!/em/li /ol p nbsp;/p p emnbsp;For more information go to http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com" data-scaytid="1"prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/span/em/p p iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ifepv8s3nRE" width="480"/iframe/p