A FEW BRIEF COMMENTS FROM TODAY'S OCCUPY KANSAS CITY MARCH AND RALLY

It was a strange day.  I attended an American Indian Festival and then joined in the Occupy Kansas City (OKC) march as it passed by.  The festival is on somewhat special Indian ground which lies in a part of the African American Community.  Festival attendees were mostly Indians and blacks, and some whites like me.  It was nice and a nice day.  I knew the march was coming so I figured I would check it out and join as it went by.  

My  criticisms first (as always) and I will keep them brief. First, 200 white folks and maybe 10 or so (at the absolute most) black people marching to and rallying in a park in the black community (where I venture to say virtually none of the white folks had ever been before) is just weird. Maybe some people were reached that way. I don't know.  However, I believe that you don't march white folks into the black community without invitation, participation,and leadership from the community, especially its most politically conscious elements.  I believe that for white folks to gain the trust of African Americans they have to actually show and do something.  They have to combat white supremacy and racism and they have to do that amongst whites.  Malcolm X told white people just that.  He told them black folks didn't need white folks to come tell them about racism and injustice. He told them to confront other whites instead.  I take those words to heart.  Black folks also know all about bad economic times.  They have been in them forever . I just remain uncomfortable with white folks rallying in the black community. Been there, done that,don't like it no more. White folks need to recognize the need to support the struggle that blacks and other People of Color have been waging like forever and support it how they can.


Second, I ask, why bother to chant "whose streets, our streets" when you won't get in the streets. The streets don't belong to the people until the people take them.  OKC is very police, city ordinance friendly.  Recently their web cite asked everyone to thank any police officers they saw for being so nice.  I kid you not.

On the other hand my experience tells me that the more actions you have, the larger the movement will grow, the more militant it will become, and the more political consciousness may develop. OKC is very inexperienced for the most part and that is NOT a bad thing necessarily (although it never hurts to learn from the past, good and bad, as well)/ So to OKC, I say keep it up.  


I would add that recently a Direct Action Committee formed within the OKC.  It has some very good people and I think has the very definite potential to deal with lots of the problems I am always complaining about and being a great influence on the group as a whole.   Maybe I will drop in from time to time if that is okay. However, I really feel this movement is in the hands of  a new generation and me and mine should remain out of the way for the most part...for now.


Well, maybe just add a  little perspective from time to time.  I know we can't shut up.


Over and out for today.


UPDATE: 
 AFTER I POSTED THE ABOVE I DISCOVERED A FLYER THAT WAS HANDED TO ME.  IT DEALS WITH RACISM, PRISONS, ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION AN  EVEN CALLS FOR AN END TO CAPITALISM.  VERY GOOD.  DESERVES RECOGNITION.  IF I CAN FIND AN ON LINE COPY, I WILL PRINT.  DOESN'T CHANGE MY OPINION ON WHITES RALLYING IN BLACK COMMUNITY, BUT IT SHOWS THAT THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF OKC IS GROWING...  

POLITICAL PRISONER UPDATE: SUNDIATA ACOLI

I am going to do my best to make friday the day to remember political prisoners...at least, here at Scission.  Of course, every day should be a day to remember them and work for their release.  Political prisoners are our brothers and sisters  left behind by a movement that either too often has or wants to forget them. Fortunately, there are there wonderful souls who have always fought for them and who have devoted their time, energy, their lives to them, as well.


 You may not agree with everything they say, think, or have done, but they are of us all who have struggled for justice.  Speaking as a person who once was locked up in prison himself, I chastise myself and all of us for not doing enough to help and support these men and women.  Those of us who have been locked away and then released realize that a part of us remains back in prison with those who are still there.  Those who have never faced prison should know that it could have been you.  Today I will introduce you to Sundiata Acoli who has been in prison for nearly forty years.  Some of you may know that last year Sundiata was again denied parole and then the Board decided, what the hell, and added on another ten years.


The biography and update you find below are from Sundiati Acoli.org


Read them.  Do something to help. 

Sundiata Acoli

Sundiata Acoli (born in 1939, as Clark Edward Squire), a New Afrikan political prisoner of war, mathematician, and computer analyst, was born January 14, 1937, in Decatur, Texas, and raised in Vernon, Texas. He graduated from Prairie View A & M College of Texas in 1956 with a B.S. in mathematics and for the next 13 years worked for various computer-oriented firms, mostly in the New York area.


During the summer of 1964 he did voter registration work in Mississippi. In 1968 he joined the Harlem Black Panther Party and did community work around issues of schools, housing, jobs, child care, drugs, and police brutality.


In 1969 he and 13 others were arrested in the Panther 21 conspiracy case. He was held in jail without bail and on trial for two years before being acquitted, along with all other defendants, by a jury deliberating less than two hours.


Upon release, FBI intimidation of potential employers shut off all employment possibilities in the computer profession and stepped-up COINTELPRO harassment, surveillance, and provocations soon drove him underground.


In May 1973, while driving the New Jersey Turnpike, he and his comrades were ambushed by N.J. state troopers. One companion, Zayd Shakur, was killed, another companion, Assata Shakur, was wounded and captured. One state trooper was killed and another wounded, and Sundiata was captured days later.


After a highly sensationalized and prejudicial trial he was convicted of the death of the state trooper and was sentenced to Trenton State Prison (TSP) for life plus 30 years consecutive.


Upon entering TSP he was subsequently confined to a new and specially created Management Control Unit (MCU) solely because of his political background. He remained in MCU almost five years, … let out of the cell only ten minutes a day for showers and two hours twice a week for recreation.


In September 1979, the International Jurist interviewed Sundiata and subsequently declared him a political prisoner. A few days later prison officials secretly transferred him during the middle of the night to the federal prison system and put him en route to the infamous federal concentration camp at Marion, Illinois, although he had no federal charges or sentences. Marion is one of the highest security prisons in the U.S., also one of the harshest, and there Sundiata was locked down 23 hours a day …. In July 1987 he was transferred to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.


In the fall of 1992, Sundiata became eligible for parole. He was not permitted to attend his own parole hearing and was only allowed to participate via telephone from USP Leavenworth. Despite an excellent prison work, academic and disciplinary record, despite numerous job offers in the computer profession, and despite thousands of letters on his behalf, Sundiata was denied parole. Instead, at the conclusion of a 20 minute telephone hearing, he was given a 20-year hit, the longest hit in New Jersey history, which dictates that he must do at least 12 more years before coming up for parole again.


The Parole Board’s stated reason for the 20-year hit was Sundiata’s membership in the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army prior to his arrest, the receipt of hundreds of “Free Sundiata” form letters that characterized him as a New Afrikan Prisoner of War, and the feeling that the punitive aspects of his sentence had not been satisfied and that rehabilitation was not sufficiently achieved. The real reason for the 20-year hit is to attempt to force Sundiata to renounce his political beliefs and to proclaim to the world that he was wrong to struggle for the liberation of his people.


Write Sundiata Acoli:Sundiata Acoli #39794-066 (Squire)
P.O. Box 1000
FCI Otisville
Otisville, NY 10963-1000

---------------------------------------------------------

10/2011 SUNDIATA ACOLI FREEDOM CAMPAIGN UPDATE

PLEASE SUPPORT!

From: Sis. Fayemi

Many of you know, after serving over 38 years in prison, former Black Panther member Sundiata Acoli was denied parole for the third time on March 4, 2010. But he was also given a ten year hit by the New Jersey State Parole Board.  Last December, an administrative appeal was denied by the NJ Parole Board and a letter affirming the denial of Sundiata’s parole was received.

Considering Sundiata’s age and his right to freedom, Sundiata’s legal team is focused on pursuing his appellate remedies through the courts, seeking to appeal his repeated denial of parole. His legal team has expanded over the years and currently in the process of raising the 10 thousand dollars needed to file the appeal.

The good news is, the Appellate Court is ready to set a briefing deadline in spite of the State’s improper delays and callous disregard for Sundiata’s rights. Keep in mind, Sundiata will be 74 years old in January.

People who are interested in the parole and release efforts should contact SAFC @ thesafc@gmail.com to inquire about ways to assist us with this urgent fundraising need. We believe the film, A Power Sun, is important and should be supported. Monies raised on Sundiata’s behalf should go towards his appeal. We still believe that he can and will receive his freedom with the right support.

The SAFC is a 501c3 organization. All contributions go directly towards Sundiata’s legal fees. Volunteers of SAFC are not paid and do not request or receive any of the contributed funds.

If you would like to write Sundiata please send your letters to:

Sundiata Acoli (#39794-066)
(Squire)
P.O. Box 1000
FCI Otisville
Otisville, NY 10963-1000

Funds supporting his legal defense can be sent to:

FLORENCE MORGAN
120-46 QUEENS BLVD.
KEW GARDENS, NEW YORK 11415

(Florence Morgan has served as one of Sundiata’s legal advisors for over 10 years and is the Chairperson of the New York City Chapter of the National Conference of Black Lawyers)

Checks and money orders should be made out to The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign

To all those who continute to show love and support to Sundiata and all political prisoners, here’s my favorite poem I share with you…

Like You

(a poem by Roque Dalton, a Salvadorian poet and guerilla fighter for freedom in the 60s and 70s. He was killed for revolution.)

Like you I

love love, life, the sweet smell

of things, the sky blue

landscape of January days.

And my blood boils up

and I laugh through eyes

that have known the buds of tears

I believe the world is beautiful

and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.

And that my veins don’t end in me

but in the unanimous blood

of those who struggle for life,

love,

little things,

landscape and bread,

the poetry of everyone

Love & Respect.

HATRED, FIRES, RACISM, APARTHEID...JAFFA TODAY

FIGHT RACISM IN JAFFA, IN ISRAEL, EVERYWHERE

Hatred is a funny thing.  Sometimes the hated strike back in hateful ways.  What has been going on in and around Jaffa these past few weeks borders on the racist absurd.  Things are bad enough in the semi apartheid State of Israel where Palestinians are treated too often as less then equal at best, and less than people at worst.  Too expect them to sit idly by while under attack for the past few weeks, decades, whatever is a bit much.  The response to burning a mosque is not burn a synagogue though, is it?  I don't think so.  If you want to burn something, there are better things to burn.  And I am not calling on anyone to burn anything, mind you.  


At the moment Jaffa looks more like Belfast than the regular old struggle between Palestinians and Israelis.  More like Jews versus Muslims.  It is hard to write about something like this because in most ways it pales in comparison to the bigger picture of occupation, repression, exploitation, and, again, dare we say it, apartheid.  I have supported the Palestinian struggle for a Free and Independent Palestine since, forever. I have no need of the reactionary Jewish nationalism known as Zionism. Still, I confess I haven't used that term - apartheid-  to describe Israel much in the past.  I try to stay away from overkill like calling everyone and everything fascist.   But eventually, one reaches a "if the shoe fits, wear it...if it quacks like a duck, maybe it is a duck" moment.  There are certainly differences between the old South Africa and the present day Israel, but they are beginning to be very small and insignificant ones.  


Meanwhile, in Jaffa, the hatred grows.  Israeli Jews must join those fighting racism...and I am not just talking about the "usual suspects, "  I mean, what is there about racism that Jews don't understand?  How is it possible for Jews not to understand.  I've asked that question for decades.  I guess it is a stupid question.  It is a sad reality that you can be persecuted for a few thousand years, and as soon as you are given the opportunity, you can turn around and persecute someone else.  Ugh!


The following is from YNet News.


Jaffa synagogue firebombed

Tensions high after Arab cemeteries vandalized: Molotov cocktail hurled at synagogue, no casualties reported; anti-racism rally held in Jaffa, MK Zahalka calls for imprisonment of Foreign Minister Lieberman on incitement charges
Hassan Shaalan

A Molotov cocktail was hurled at a Jaffa synagogue Saturday evening, as tensions were rising in the central Israel town after two Arab cemeteries were vandalized over the weekend.

The firebomb hit the roof of the synagogue and did not cause significant damage. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Related stories on Ynetnews:

• Jaffa: Arab cemeteries vandalized
•  Price tag: Mosque torched in Upper Galilee
• Rabbi Amar: Mosque arson may be blood libel 

Police officials arrived at the site and launched an investigation into the attack.

Jaffa synagogue attacked (Photo: Ben Kelmer)

Meanwhile, some 150 Jewish and Arab Jaffa residents held an anti-racism rally Saturday night, where speakers issued harsh charges against Israel's government and top leaders.

Speaking at the event, Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka (Balad) said: "We accuse the government of Israel."

The Arab MK called for imprisoning Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of incitement. "These little racists who come and spray paint a few slogans are much less dangerous than this dangerous government," he said.

צילום: אמיר לוי

Arab protests in Jaffa (Video: Amir Levy)

"The distance between racist words and acts is horrifically short," Zahalka said, while slamming Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the settlers, and Lieberman."The little racists who burned the mosque in Tuba Zangaria and attacked the cemeteries in Jaffa have spiritual fathers in the government."

Referring to the string of recent attacks on Arab targets, the Balad MK charged that "a Jewish underground" is behind the vandalism spree. Chants at the rally included "Settler, stop now, you already crossed the line" and "Arabs against racism."

Soccer fans to blame?

The Tel Aviv District Police Department has decided to deploy a large number of forces in the Jaffa area following the weekend's violence. The forces will attempt to prevent revenge attacks.

Police officials have held talks with community leaders in order to prevent an additional escalation in the area. "Our greatest fear is that there will be casualties and then everything will go up in smoke," the police officials said.

The police are not ruling out the possibility that the grave desecration was an act carried out by soccer fans as evidence in the area indicated.

MK Zahalka blames government (Photo: Ofer Amram)

Security footage will most likely assist police in determining the exact time that the acts took place.

Meanwhile, a different police investigation team is looking into the case of the Molotov cocktail thrown at a Jaffa synagogue. In addition to the investigations, the police are putting a great deal of effort into calming the area by promoting deliberations between the various Jaffa factions.

The police are aware of the possibility that the next targets of extremists could be the many Sukkot set to be constructed in the city streets over the next few days, these acts could bring about another wave of violence.

A number of Arab-sector towns will convene an urgent meeting Sunday in order to organize a detailed plan to defend the places of worship.

Earlier, some 25 tombstones were vandalized at two Jaffa cemeteries belonging to Muslims and Christians. The messages “Death to Arabs” and “Price tag” were spray painted on the graves. Police later said that "Death to Russians" was another message painted at the site.

President Shimon Peres condemned the vandalism acts at Jaffa’s Christian and Muslim cemeteries, referring to them as “despicable acts that disgrace us and contradict the moral values of Israeli society.”

The president urged law enforcement officials to undertake the utmost efforts in order to nab the vandals.

Yoav Malka Eli Senyor and Kobi Nahshoni contributed to the story

POLICE PREPARE FOR ATTACK ON OCCUPY WALL STREET

THIS IS IT FOLKS.

 

Although I agree with Malcolm X who said, ""We are nonviolent with people who are nonviolent with us." I won't push for more here. I also will not criticize anyone who physically defends themselves and others against police violence.  I don't remember where I picked up the following.

---------------------------------------------------------------

On Friday morning, protesters will link arms in a human chain around the park and refuse to let NYPD enter the park, then at 9 a.m., protesters will march to Wall Street with brooms and mops.

Read their statement posted on Facebook:

On Wednesday/Thursday, all campers/supporters should reach out to friends/family/anyone to donate or purchase brooms, mops, squeegees, dust pans, garbage bags, power washers and any other cleaning supplies to be collected at sanitation.

The sanitation committee should move full-speed ahead on purchase of bins allocated by consensus at GA.

After General Assembly on Thursday, we'll have a full-camp cleanup session.

Sanitation can coordinate, and anyone who is available will help with the massive community effort!

Then, Friday morning, we'll awake and position ourselves with our brooms and mops in a human chain around the park, linked at the arms.

If NYPD attempts to enter, we'll peacefully/non-violently stand our ground and those who are willing will get arrested.

Afterwards, at 9am, we'll march with brooms and mops to Wall Street to do a massive #wallstcleanup march, where the real mess is!
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/occupy-wall-street-protesters-tell-billionaire-bloomberg-hell-no-we-wont-go-photos#ixzz1ahnGj4IU

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Tell Billionaire Bloomberg "Hell No We Won't Go!" (PHOTOS)

globalgrind.com

Tomorrow will be the 28th day of demonstrations in the name of #OccupyWallStreet and while New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has advised the protesters that sanitation will be entering Liberty Pl

DO YOU REALLY THINK FISH WANT TO DISCO?

Today seems to be shaping up as a day when I may end up just pissing a bunch of people off.  The story below may have started it and now comes this little bit of news concerning the Atlanta Pride Party recently held at the city's Georgia Aquarium  I have to admit, perhaps, confess, that I have enjoyed visiting aquariums and looking at fish.  I have to admit that while I have certainly "noticed" the similarity between zoos and prisons (having been in one, prison, not zoo), I never gave much thought to aquariums.  Maybe, I should have.  Maybe Atlanta Pride should have.  Now, Atlanta Pride says PETA is just looking for publicity in their attack on them for going to the Aquarium for their big gala and playing loud music with flashing lights which they say hurt the fish and mammals "housed" there.  Obviously this is true.  Never hit the side of a fish tank. Haven't we been up all on the Navy for booming the oceans with their toys.  


Atlanta Pride complains that PETA should have contacted them first, but then when asked if they would consider moving the venue due to PETA's concerns, they replied, "...absolutely not."  I guess that is the part that bothers me most.  Won't consider it?  Why the hell not.  Can they not see that loud music played in an enclosed aquarium might not sit well with the inmates? 


The Aquarium itself claims it is no problem for the fish because they just love to dance.


This story comes to you from GA Voice.  In case you wonder who that is: The Georgia Voice seeks to be the news outlet of record for the state’s LGBT communities and their allies.

PETA: Atlanta Pride kickoff party ‘torture’ to aquarium animals

BY RYAN WATKINS

OCTOBER 12, 2011 16:33

DOES THIS LOOK GOOD FOR THE FISH IN THE SURROUNDING TANKS? Not everyone who attended the Atlanta Pride kickoff party at the Georgia Aquarium came away with rave reviews. Dan Matthews, a senior vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, published an opinion piece on Huffington Post Tuesday calling the event “a celebration of freedom in a building that celebrates captivity.” Matthews, who was in town to work at the organization's booth during the two-day festival, attended the event and is urging Atlanta Pride organizers to hold the party elsewhere in the future. At issue for Matthews and PETA, aside from the animals being held in captivity, was the music playing during the event which Matthews says “has further devastated the lives and psyches of these uniquely gifted animals.” Matthews writes of a conversation he had with an aquarium volunteer in which the volunteer allegedly remarks that the animals in the tanks were irritated by the dance music, so much so in fact, that the beluga whales began to attack the seals kept inside the same tank. “The UN may have banned the torture of prisoners with music, but it is routinely practiced at the Georgia Aquarium,” Matthews writes in his article. James Parker Sheffield, executive director of the Atlanta Pride Committee, called Matthews' article inaccurate and questioned why PETA did not address concerns to the APC before contributing an article to Huffington Post. “I have complete faith in the staff of the [Georgia] Aquarium. No animals were harmed by our party,” Sheffield said. “I find it bothersome that an organization with a direct line to us chose to say absolutely nothing,” he added. “Why wasn't there an encouragement of a conversation? No one called us. No one asked a single question. It's really hard for me to view this any other way than PETA looking to have their name in the news.” When asked if the APC would consider moving the venue due to PETA's concerns, Sheffield said, “Absolutely not.” Mackenzie Whalen, a spokesperson for the Georgia Aquarium, confirmed today that she was aware of the article and said the Georgia Aquarium was preparing an official response. Whalen said that no animals were harmed during the event or any event held at the aquarium featuring music. Top photo: The 2011 Atlanta Pride Kickoff Party was held at the Georgia Aquarium for a third consecutive year. (Photo by Brent Corcoran/RNZ Photography)

THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF

The the Nobel Peace Prize goes to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  Wow, you say.  An African woman at last recognized by the West. Uh, well, it just isn't always that simple.  Ask the people whose President Sirleaf is.  They have a different story to tell.  Ask the people of Cote d'Ivore they have another opinion.  There are plenty of women in Africa who deserve recognition from the world.  But if you believe the article below from Pambazuka News, this one, not so much.

Liberia: Nobel for president, no-water for residents

Thomas C. Mountain

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has won a share of one of the western world’s most prestigious awards, yet the residents of the capital Monrovia have not had running water for the full six years of her term in office, writes Thomas C. Mountain

2011-10-13, Issue 552

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/77094

The most likely ex-President of Liberia has been given a share of one of the western world’s most prestigious awards, the Nobel Peace Prize yet the residents of the capital Monrovia have not had running water for the full 6 years of her term in office.

Think about it, if after six years and $100’s of millions of western aid the residents of the capital have no running water how desperate must it be in the rest of Liberia?

Access to clean drinking water is the first of the fundamental human rights, including food, shelter and medical care, that make up the most primary of all human rights, the right to life itself.

Lack of clean drinking water has killed more people in Liberia, as a part of the world as a whole, than all the violence and wars combined.

The UN may only have recognized clean drinking water as a right last year but for so many in the third world it is the most pressing daily need.

While the western human rights corporations may preach oh so vociferously about human rights being elections and freedom of the press, they some how neglect to rate the worlds leaders by how well they are making sure all their people have the first of the basic human rights to life, clean drinking water.

It is little wonder why the Liberian President is so unpopular in Liberia? She has been an utter failure in the human rights department as far as her citizens are concerned, no matter how many Nobel prizes she may receive from her overlords in the west.

Again, think about it, how is a modern city supposed to function without running water? And this utter failure of an African leader got the most prestigious award the west bestows on its vassals?

As for the Liberian Presidents peace building credentials it was just this year that Liberian based paramilitary death squads, armed and supported by the French, helped invade the Ivory Coast to overthrow the Gbagbo government, and in the process murdered untold thousands of Ivorians, with 800 massacred in just one town.

One hell of a peace builder wasn't she, but then it maybe unfair to blame her for everything gone wrong in Liberia for many claim that she is little more than Mayor of Monrovia and its environs, that warlords, paramilitary militias and bandits actually control most of the country.

Crisis Management is the USA’s preferred policy in Africa as in create a crisis and then manage the subsequent chaos, the better to loot and pillage west Africa’s resources. Liberia has long been a poster child for murder and mayhem, though much hope had been placed in Africa’s first “democratically elected woman President”.

But after 6 years, beau coup millions of dollars and still no running water in the capital of the country one should expect a Nobel prize, at least? For a job well done as far as the western banksters, Firestone Rubber and their minions in the media are concerned.

So remember, its a No-bel Prize for Liberia’s President and No-water for Liberia’s residents, all thanks to an unhealthy dose of western style “democracy”.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared on Countercurrents.org.
* Thomas C. Mountain is the only independent western journalist in the Horn of Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached at thomascmountain at yahoo dot com.
* Please send comments to editor[at]pambazuka[dot]org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

PRISONERS CONTINUE HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST ALL ODDS

Can you imagine, begin to imagine, how hard it is to organize and carry out a struggle against oppression inside a prison?  Unless, you have been there, I doubt it.  Nowhere else will you confront absolute power, with so few weapons, so directly.  You basically have your body.  You basically have your unity.  You basically don't have a hell of a lot else.  Out here in the more free world, we can help.  We must do whatever each of us can to express, support, and help those inside in their fight.  Their fight must become our fight.  


The following is from Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity.

Medical Condition of Hunger Strikers Deteriorate: Advocates and Mediators Continue to Push CDCR to Negotiate

For Immediate Release – October 11, 2011

Press Contact: Isaac Ontiveros

Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

Office:  510 444 0484

Cell:   510 517 6612

Oakland – With the second phase of a massive California prisoner hunger strike in its third week, prisoners have begun to report grave medical issues. “Men are collapsing in their cells because they haven’t eaten in two weeks,” says a family member of a striker at Calipatria state prison, “I have been told that guards refuse to respond when called. This is clearly a medical emergency.” In an effort to isolate prisoners perceived by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to be leaders, some prisoners at Pelican Bay have been removed from the Security Housing Unit (SHU) to Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg). The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition has received reports that prison officials have been attempting to freeze out strikers held in the Ad-Seg Unit at Pelican Bay, using the air conditioning system in conjunction with cold weather conditions where the prison is located. Last week a hunger striker in Pelican Bay was taken to a hospital in Oregon after he suffered a heart attack. Prisoners have also been denied medications, including prescriptions for high blood pressure.

The CDCR has been treating the current strike, which began on September 26^th, as a mass disturbance and has refused negotiations. “The prisoners are saying that they are willing to take this to death if necessary to win their demands,” says Dorsey Nunn, executive director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and a member of the mediation team working on behalf of the prisoners. “Any deaths that result from the men starving themselves will be on the hands of the CDCR. We are at a point were we are calling on the media to make inquiries on prison protocol if and when prisoners begin to die. If they want to avoid that kind of scenario, the CDCR can start negotiating.” Prisoners at Corcoran have stated “Due to what they have done here to us, some men have stopped drinking water completely, so we may well be close to death in a few days.”

Prisoners and advocates have expressed serious concerns about the state of medical care in Corcoran, Calipatria, Pelican Bay and Salinas Valley where the strike continues. Dr. Michael Sayre, who is the Chief Medical Officer at Pelican Bay was sued successfully by a prisoner in 2009 for knowingly disregarding his severe medical needs. In addition, Sayre was also investigated and disciplined surrounding the death of a prisoner in Washington State in 1992 during surgery. “The California Prison system is in federal receivership in part due to the substandard medical care provided inside,” says Terry Kupers, a member of the mediation team and an expert on prison health issues, “It is my professional opinion that the hunger strikers are not receiving the care that they need and that their conditions could be exacerbated by the CDCR, especially if force-feeding comes into play.” Force-feeding is a common practice used against prisoners who refuse to eat and can involve forcing a tube into the person’s stomach via the nose.  The practice has been widely condemned as torture by hundreds of doctors worldwide.

For continued updates and more information, please go towww.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com