r> t i- t PRISONERS^ NEWS Jul^- A va ^ u %V V®1'^,^4 ’ mtM \ ttat :.- i-;.sn;-3;CAi i;oJi^TY > 9 6PEC/m- MIDNIGHT BENEFIT sp,:;i5 3ii^c:r;f2.xs ‘ J-t “ 23;s.ij3:rcS/'f3 ’ j ^ based on a freedom story handed down by black work gangs in the South and Southwest of this country. The Midnight Special began as a State prisoners to keep in contact with each other after the Attica rebellion during Sept. 87!3> From a New York State P^^on publication it has been transformed into a nation-wide publication that is now a major political organ of the prison '"overent. The Midnight Special reflects a Ij;. tics and events that have and taking p ace with in the prisons of this country. The articles the Midnight Special are predominately "^^tten by prison ers We also carry articles about the liberation movements around the world and about the developments ™ mass movements and armed struggle in this country. This reflects the understanding of our c^a^^cship that their fight inside the prisons is tied to the developments on the outside. In the spirit of unity with our Brothers and Sisters inside - many of the ideas in this speech were developed out of an article by Brothers in the New Hampshire State Prison at Concord. The article is entUled: Prisoners in Revolution and all quotes, in our speech should be creoiieo co them. We ai^ seriously considering printing the entire article from the New Hampshire Brothers in our In qenral , the prison movement subscribes to the politics of anti-imerialism, anti-capitalism, anti- racism and anti-sexism. Prisons have become big business. In comparison, the physical assets of prisons total up to the 5th largest corporation in this country. There are ap proximately 1.4 million PfPle in prisons In the larger society there are 4 or 5 million fopl®, who have been in prison, but are nw on Pjco e or proba tion. One out of every 10 people ro tbe U.S. has been in jail for a felony crime. Ask Yourselves, what does this mean? Probably, everyone of us knows someone who is doing time, or, has done time. The situation touches/US all. No one can deny that the majority of prisons in Amerika are inhabited by poor people, the majority reasons for this situation can be found in the kind of social system that we live “ "'•er presently. "A society, such as the U.S., which is based on private accumulation of wealth, on private ownersh p of productive forces, and which elevates the exploi tation of the many by the few to a hallowed level , such a society will have many penal ^stitution^ Why? First, to serve as a warning to all those regu lar people who might not perform their jobs in the way the rulers prescribe, or, who might balk at the lives they are forced to lead. Secondly, as a source of free, or, in actuality, slave labor. Also as brainwashing institutions which attempt to regroove those people who have not conformed to the rules or a dog-ett-dog system - or, for those who, the majority of prisoners, have attempted to enrich them selves at the expense of others, but who were not part of the monied class, who steal legally, f^roally, prisons are used as warehouses for the workers which does not need - therefore, has to repress. It serves to quell the resistance of the people. Prison is an institution of the state to maintain the order that we are all - in our own ways - fighting. When pri soners rebell and demand to be treated as human be ings; they are not only fighting the inhuman condi-^ tions; they are striking out against the state whiw maintains this situation by which each of us ’ s r(»- bed of the fruits of our labor every day. From this we can see why the prison movement is not an isola ted movement, but an important part of the struggle we are all a part of. ^ , The prison movement is a mass movement - involv ing people an many levels of understanding and com mitment. This movement has many lessons that are — * Glntiwufi r" 2. — ♦ t ■ i * 4^ useful for all of us. The first Is that building that movement, developing that ability comes from a painstaking process of education, organ ization, resolving contradictions, learning to building unity; unity built on ^be fact that we are all on the same side of the bai^. But it so understood - in practice - that the unity is built by struggling against racism. Racism forms the back bone of oppression inside the prisons camps, as weU as outside, and is also used as a method of control , playing one victim against another. So we fight to ou^ racist guards. We resist the set “ P black and other Third World prisoners get the worst work details. At Napanoch, a New York State prison, prisoners right now are organizing against the Ku Klux Klan which is waging a terror campaign in that prison. In our study sessions we teach why it is in all our interests to wage these anti-racist fights. A basic component of every organizing drive in side is study and political education groups - often held secretly, hidden from the state's eyes and rules. We want to stop right here and make one thing very clear. That each time we use the word "prisoners 'we are talking about both men and women Too often the Sisters get forgotten. Or, some people are under the mistaken idea that women have it easier inside. The reality of women prisoners facing oppressive condi tions and fighting those conditions, can be seen in the examples of the Sisters at Bedford Hills in Nw York. For months now, these women have faced beatings, segregation - they've even been transferred to the N.Y.S. Mental hospital - yet they have continued in ^^An important lesson to be learned from the prison movement is the need to utilize and combine various forms of struggle behind prison camps. Not to reject one in favor of another. For three years, Eddie San chez and other federal prisoners have waged a heroic campaign to stop the behavioral modification program at Springfield, IL. They utilized every tactic from writing letters to Senators; going on a 42 day hunger strike; burning down their cells; self-mutilation and the taking of hostages have also been used as tactics against these horror programs. On Janraury 5th, 1975, the'Committee Against Terrorism, Sadistic Harrassment and Indiscriminate Teargassing (CATSHIT) burned down the Oklahoma State Prison trusty building. This act of selective retaliatory violence added a new techno logical dimension to the underground arsenal of Cat- shit. Martin Sostre, a well known political prisoner in the New York State penal system has himself utili zed legal forms of redress in the federal and state courts against dehumanizing rectal serches, the de nial of literature and other issues concerning segre gation. As a consequence of his activities, he has been brutally beaten by the racist guards at Dannemo- ra State Prison and he has had additional time added to his originiil frame-up sentence of 40 years. The list of political activists inside prisons who have experienced such realities is endless. The Attica re bellion was a prime example of using all these methods. "In the context of Amerika in general, the strug gles and existence of life in prison kamps can be termed as closest to conditions of war. People are broken, beaten, killed, forced to work as slaves with no pay or at best pennies a day, like in no situation in this country today. The state and fed eral prison systems make tens of millions of dollars a year from the unpaid labor of captives. The naked injustice and terror of Amenka is most obvious - with all the frills removed - behind the walls like nowhere else in this country. The reality while not turning ev^ry prisoner into a revolutionary, leaves its mark." ►Cent 4 - 1 u \ t f BENEFIT CONT. What does all this mean to all of us here tonight. We begin to draw out the relevancy of the prison movement too the struggles we are engaged in. We can identify the ways that it represents an advanced ele ment in our society. We, have to then address the question of our own responsibility to and involve ment in that struggle - to build the bonds between minimum and maximum security in this society. How? For too long prison support work has been done by a small group of people on the outside. It must become a mass movement with everyone's participation. Each of us could be writing a Sister or Brother inside - generating the flow of information and ideas back and forth. A letter from the outside can liter ally make the difference between life and death to a prisoner, for the penal authorities are less hesitant to move on someone who has contact with anyone on the outside. We can go to trials and build support for activists who are busted for their political activi ties. How can we build a movement in the 70's unless we defend those under attack for their resistance over the last decade. Defense of political prisoners educates new people about the history of our struggle and about the true nature of what they call justice in Amerika. There are many defense committees here tonight, with lots of information. Check them out. Find out about Assata Shakur, the San Quentin Six, Shasha Malik Brown, Cameron Bishop, Pat Swinton, Carlos Feliciano and many more Comrades. We can car ry news of what's happening inside in our local and community papers. This exposure is a vital element in organizing to win any changes. We can work with families of prisoners and ex-prisoners and confront the special oppression they face. We can educate our selves by reading papers like the Midnight Special. We can contribute to prison book programs and bussing programs to enable folks to get to these prisons stuck out in the middle of nowhere. When we hear of moves the state is making - like instituting behavioral modification programs, or killing off folks through lack of medical care we should organize demonstra tions and public meetings and any other kinds of activities that will put some pressure on the state to turn the situation around. In doing all these things we will build a more oowerful revolutionary movement that can, in the final analysis, defeat the oppressors and win liberation for us all. POWER TO THE OPPRESSED PEOPLES: WtUilil tf LI will -fiwi m> O' Mio/e.^ KViofe of -lo -Hi< u\+sW-V* reilplich'rn.'TVit " ‘ *^4 lytm ’ II 44itn» in 4W 'yyM (J/ne%hns 3*ck. ‘ »ITM LIBKRTY I seen my ancestor as I awoke , drenching wet from a mid-morning nightmare. .Oh; how ruthlessly they were struggling in chains & leg irons. My Granddmother, Aunts, Nieces, and distant cousins, all being whipped savagely by the white sadistic slave-trader, r 4.1, As my tall muscular ebony Uncles, Brothers & Father s Fathers stood meek, idle and watched. But art the midst of the crowd flew a warrior, Spear in one hand shield in the other, as he fought a battle by which he was destine to fall. The battle cry was instilled and the beginning of what's known now as the African Revolution began. The portrait as was painted on my mind. Was only a message from the grave* Informing me that I'm a King & Warrior and nobody's slave.- -June Drummond •Liberty" dedicated to Assata Sltakur S/N JoAnn Chesimard and Lolita Lebron,two incessant revolutionary sis ters ...They mustn't be forgotten. WE WAWT TO LIVE' On Wednesday may 14, 1975 the Arasterdan New (N. Y.C.) reported that it had in its possession affida vits of several inmates of Green Haven who charge that they saw the prison guards beat and gas brother Oliver Robinson on April 29, 1975. The affidavits were sworn to and had to be smug gled out of the prison, knowing full well that their acts in coming out front and exposing the real na ture of brother Oliver's death might bring more re pression on them. One inmate pointed out: "I am no doubt already marked because«f tny involvement in the events which transpired on the 29th & 30th (of April) but a num ber of inmates have come to me in confidence, fear ful of their lives." One of the eyewitness tpthe beating of brother Oliver stated that: "In spit^f this proeiedure, we know that inmate Robinson was brutally murdered. A very predictable event in terms of understanding the history of this prison in the last three years." ...Robinson, who was in a "depressive state," first barricaded himself in a closed room but was persuaded by the institutional chaplain to leave the room where he was confined as a sick patient. But the next day Robinson barricaded himself in a ward of the hospital. In his affidavit the brother tells that the ward was broken into by a number of guards. Another inmate stated that: "They subdued Robinson and allegedly in the process and after, beat him about the head and body, his wrist was sewed up by the doctor and he was placed into a hospital security room. " "He ripped off the bandages and began screaming. The correction officer on duty opened his door and Robinson burst from the room. A correctional supervi sor and two officers ran away from Robinson in spite of the fact that he had no weapon and was under heavy medication." "Robinson then barricaded himself where other pa tients were in bed and persons in that immediate area. Repeated attempts with a water hose were made (as had successfully been used that morning) to sub due the inmate, while reinfoctements were called for." "By this time, Robinson had received from the nurses office a number of instruments to be used as weapons. The order was given to use tear gas, after which a squad of officers entered wearing gas masks These officers were seen to be beating the Inmate. He was either carried or dragged to the segregation unit above the hospital where he is alledged to have been given a shower in view of the situation with ps and then placed in his cell within minutes where he was pronounced dead. A meeting was immediately called by the Deputy Superintendent of Security with leaders of the in mate population. The institution was momentarily shut down without his order. A standby alert was then in effect. April 30, 1975 in housing unit-G of the prison, two incidents occurred between groups of inmates and groups of officers. Both incidents were brought un der control by inmates in spite of the facility over reacting to force." When the Amsterdam News made further attempts to ■ fv; search out the facts in the matter, the state aviod- ed all efforts made at obtainino further information. The public information officer, a Mr. Corrigan of the Department of Correction was said to be "out of his office in a meeting." A further call was placed td'the prison itself, a spokesman said that one official had gone home and another was "retiring at the moment." When the prjson official was told that a newspa per was calling he then said: "Oh, wait a minute, all — ........ 3 wi», wait a mmube, ait calling here should call (516) 487- 8182 (tne office of Mr. Corrigan). The following week (May 21 , 1975) it was reported that New York State Department Corrections Commission er Benjamin Ward was in personal charge of the inves tigation. A spokesman for the Department of Correc- ' tions has publicly stated that "at this point the medical examiner had not concluded his report and the department only had the prelininary report of r j 29, which said there was no 'anatomical' cause of death (no outward signs of bodily injuries, i.e.. bruises). Up until this point, it is clear that the state U apprehensive in releasing information on the ,, ----- - ... IMI S./I iiiaL. I uii uii une beating-gassing death of Oliver Robinson, and the preliminary reports from the medical examiner are J I,rcun.ai examiner are contradictory to the sworn testimony given by bro ther who witnessed the murder of Oliver Robinson. The brothers in Green Haven have summarized the current conditions in Green Haven, appropriately: "We want to live; we have a human right to live; It will neither be taken away a suppressed without great loss of human life. There will be no hostages in Green Haven. Inmates of this prison have lived on edge since December 1972 when the correctional staff was allowed to run rampant throughout this prison beating and destroying. They have fallen off the edge into the abyss and they are not being allowed to turn back. There exists a group of officers who participated in these brutality and assault and who are the same previously. These guards can be identified, but only if the inmates who were wil ling to identify them have adequate protection from forms of retaliation." I m\ce LOVl€ WITH FR€CDOM... IDANCE WITH DEATH I HAKE LOVE AT A FRACTION OF A INCH OUTSIDE MY WINDOWS BARS I MAKE LOVE WITH FREEDOM AND SHE INVITES ME TO BE WITH HER AND SHES RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW BARS MY LOVE IS GREAT I LONG TO STICK HER AND CHERISH HER AND SHE IS RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW BARS < I DANCE WITH DEATH BUT MY MIND IS GREAT FREEDOM \. WE'RE GOING TO GET IT ON A FRACTION OF A INCH OUTSIDE MY WINDOW BARS I LOVE YOU FREEDOM I DANCE WITH DEATH . . . . . . . OMAR/MELVIN KEARNEY/REMA This poem was written on the eve of Comrade Melvin Kearney's death and all edged escape from the Brooklyn House of Detention in New York City. FROM A MOTHER WHO CARES - A TRIBUTE TO OMAR, A.K.A. MELVIN KEARNEY High up on the hills of times there stand a deman for correction of all the injustices being heaped upon my Brother a dying "enter". What kind of fuel must we get to lead the attack How many more need die before we seek, to get them off our backs. Must (Jiar have died in vain We his admirers suffer much more pain Tis others like him whom they've offed the same to tell us they deliberately conmited suicide while all the timd they're pushing them out of windows - their game genocide. Take a little time - bury your head in your hands - think looking back doesn't their stories stink? STARKE OUTRAGE • SlSSS'Sw Sal^rri £f -Vr dehu^anizaUon^^^'" P^^oners ’ as When a person walks through the nstoc • ^o^^?a1anl^S9h\°e°^aTn■i^ei\T and a "frisk" 3d institution ate them. arcnes as an attempt to emascul- dehumanization). To 3? [nt^ai?si3 * ‘ '3 ’ *'!' people's oppressed by the capitalist k E"ES;E x routine meal cons? ts P^thP Po L^no'T''^ ’ "I® 2i'.;frs.s- S'S; " ™ ‘ and broken razor b?adL afwell as shoPk1Pd “ a"PS^t'^ra?°«PPP?SPs^^^ miSuT" ACTIO n '^OF ye??s! ln ” ilsP?f^th??^-c°'"' ’ ‘ ^^®?u*° additional 15 th3yt^rPlVe"a^^-^o£^]^^ in t “ h'e Vo?eiro?'sip"?PmPe7'2r attlmpt'^to""" iiidio '^onrt house and before the same JariL against brP 4P his'?Lrges to wondered whether brother Jaribu will stand iipiiPssi. rnmmm c.sfs.s;;: ” ;4rir-M*ioi:'"'-*-'*' ’ '■» "LET'S GO FORWARD, VICTORY AWAITS US" # To The People & Subscribers of Midnight Special: I have no intentions of playing semantics with words in reference to what I have set out to try amd make explicit in some form or fashion the over all nature of a demeaning situation that we as a >eople are forced to endure here in the slave kamp ocated in the state Of Louisiana. On April 3rd of this month, about fifty or sixty free-guards did attack with basebal1-bats , gas, and pistols, 30 inmates here in this unit. Without any i means of reasons at all, as to their motive in a cover sense. We were glued to this constant gasing and beating for about two days. After they had fin ished subjecting us to this type of Butcher's Madness, everything in our cell was taken and locked away some where. Then we were told, that once we learn to stop reading that "George Jackson shit" and like men who appreciate what their country has done for them, they would be willing to return everything to us, except the books. We are now engaged in cotrtbat and the only weapon we have to deal with this situation effectively to some degree, is our fo'od strike; this we have been refusing for 12 days now. They have also implemented a program, that even if we did go back to eating it would be under un sanitary conditions; by placing the food on the floor and pulling it under the door where rats, roaches repeatly run and play. After every one was beaten up, we were forced to endure cuts and pains without medical attention. We would also like to express'our utmost appre ciation for the broad scope of news in a Prison Setting, that the Midnight Special makes available to people of our status. Perhaps again, these words will fall on some open ear and render some peace, where there is pan and sorrow. The Dragons of Angola's A-Wing Angola, Louisiana 40712 This is a open plea, for aid in allowing some 200 inmates in this cage, here at Oxford to get back to the "east coast" we are housed here and are not all owed visits ....... unless you are rich. We are all here from the east coast and the cost from Washington D.C. to here for one person by plain is around $300.00 round trip,we are in some remote part of the world where they hear not a word from inmates, we are not dressed for the weather, nor are the cages heated for the cold. We all want to get out of here, but we have know supppft, now we are as frank with our public as we can, but what can we get from the same public that put us at the arm of these oppressors? We want out, and if nothing more we want some one to come in and check to see if a change.can be made ........... this place is so far that we are about 60 miles from any city.. ___ Don't let this mad house destroy all the Brothers now here ___ we need you. I remain in hopes that all will give these thoughts we need them all. In Peace, and in War Oxford, Wisconsin. A This place is only a few years old, but,they(the staff) has made it into a first class hell hole!! Fact I. The warder has at least 200 or 300 writs on him in court right now ....... Fact 2. They fail to give the right medical treat ment here, we are 64 miles out in the country, and there is no medical staff on duty here from I0:p.m. to 8:a.m. everyday, except Saturday and Sunday which has no medical staff on duty untill noon, from I0:p.m. till 2:p.m. , anything could happen. ...I've seen them (the staff) put handcuffs on some Brothers here, then beat the hell out of them, then give them a shot of some Thorizine with a hypo and handcuff them to the bed in a cell. I'm in the Det ention Unit now where I've been for the last 4 months, they have a homosexual in here ----- she has been here in detention since Jan. 2,75.. .they have beat her a few times, for no reason at all , I know of a time 8 officer^ jump on her,and she is only ---- real small. But they won't let her back out of the detention unit because(one) she is a homosexual, (two) because she has (5) five writs in court on the staff here. They slide our food under the door across the floor in dirt to us,(we slide it right back) but we have to eat sometimes. I have a tooth that is killing me, I go over to the hospital to get it pull out, but the doctor was not going to give me a shot for pain, he told me: "Sit down. I'm going to pull your damn tooth & send you back to detention, I don't have time to give you anything for pain." I didn't let him pull it! All I can say to you other prisoners out there is " DON'T COME TO OXFORD,WISCONSIN , F.C.I." it s a hell hole for real, and once your here, your here to stay, theyCfhe staff) won't give you a transferr unless you kill somebodys. Oxford, Wisconsin. i AITI IMPEBIIUSM TOWARD ARMED ANTI-IMPERIALISM Forty years ago during the great depression the revolutionary movement in Amerika failed to seize the time. The leading Communist Party faltered and misread the objective conditions. Organized Labor lost sight of its working class interest and was conpromised and incorporated into FDR's "New Deal." This at a time when class consciousness among the workers was at it's peak, two thirds of the country in soup lines and general disillusionmeat in the workability of capitalism. Today, some forty years later, the spirit of revo lution is sweeping across the world. The weak are wrestling free of the yoke of neo-colonialism and imperialism as Goliath is being brought to his knees by a stone. Conditions in the U.S. are ripe for a new forward thrust — severe inflation unemployment approaching 9%, domestic discontent over such issues as busing. Watergate, CIA intervention in Chile, government spy- - cial ing on private citizens, cutbacks in welfare, sbcia ’ security and other programs involving people with fixed incomes, majority under-employment, Puerto Rico, foreign policy, the criminal justice system, govern ment gangsterism, etc. All these conditions of social crisis contribute to the heightening of the conscious ness of the people. But objective conditions alone do not produce revolution. In fact if the rising social consciousness of the people is not harnassed by the progressive elements, this mass dissatisfaction will be diverted by right wing movements who will lead them down the path of reformism and compromise. For these reasons it is important that revolution ary leadership seize the moment by setting the exam ples and giving the direction required to organize and mobilize the masses. In it's present disorganized and divided state, the movement cannot fulfill it's whole potential as tea cher and vanguard of the masses. The fascist counter-intelligence program conducted by J. Edgar Hoover in collaboration with the White- house, has taken it's toll on the movement, and we find ourselves hardpressed for effective leadership and affirmative action programs. This counter-revolutionary current had it's disrup tive and disuniting effects and created mass distrust and scepticism within our ranks. On the other hand it had it's positive effects, it exposed the weaknesses, errors, obstacles and contradictions within our move- rent. This was good, this was positive, for experience 1s the best criticism of our work. It became necessary to make a strategical retreat, to regroup, and to clean house. The retreat however, seemed to change the complexion of the movement. Many of us never returned. We went back to our comer and refused to answer the next bell. Many of those that did return lost their taste for the fight, they came back half stepping, trenbling, not really trying to KO the capitalist system, but rather, trying to find a more agreeable circumstance within it. The lesson to be learned from the establishments attempts to destroy the movement has been lost upon many of our comrades. Instead of being cowed by the enemies violent thrust we should have studied it's implications, which would have clearly shown that the movement was becoming a real-honest-to-goodness-threat to the established order. This does not say that the movement has not always represented a threat to the establishment, only that It was a latent threat, not fully developed to it's full potential. Our opposition was composed of tactics and strategies which could be absorbed by the system things that could be tolerated or ignored. It wasn't ’ until we began to discuss* the possibilities of armed struggle that the movement became a real danger to the power structure. Because armed struggle could not be absorbed, tol erated or ignored by the power structure, it had to take affirmative action against the movement, it had to destroy.the concept of armed resistance before it developed and spread among the masses. Obviously the quickest and most thorough way to do this is to des troy the organization of the masses. The current dispute within the movement is primar ily a tactical dispute. Some believe that our objec tives can be achieved by political struggle, some by armed struggle and others by a combination of both. Still further there is the question of conditions, the timliness of armed assault. This question of objective conditions is an impor tant one. For some people in the movement conditions will never be ripe. They will try to grasp the present through preconceived ideological constructs and fight the revolution from texts books. They will talk about the conditions of Amerika, and acknowledge it's dif- ferences'^from other countries, but they will never really understand these differences. They will say that the time is not right to pick up arms having in their head no notion as to when the time will be right. When then will conditions be right? The fact is, conditions have been right. The only way for us to learn revolution is to make revolution. Experience in armed struggle will do more to reveal the particulari ty of the objective conditions than any book. Of course their will be mistakes made, but the outcome of to days struggle is not important. As far as the final results is concerned it does not matter whether one movement or another is temporarily defeated. What is decisive is the determination to struggle which ’ is maturing daily, the awareness of the need for revolu tionary change and the certainty of it's possibility. Small forms of guerrilla struggle will compliment larger forms of political struggle and will have a tremendous educational impact upon the people. We con duct large scale propaganda, we protect the people, eliminate their enemies and safeguard their political apparatus and institutions. These military efforts combined with the political efforts of the vanguard party (s) will help to create some of the conditions necessary for large scale popular insurrection. , At no time do we abandon our political activity for purely military activity. Our political struggle unitds the people around their needs, it distinguishes their enemies and spotlights their friends. Our mili tary effectiveness will expedite much needed political reforms and cause large scale concessions on the part of the ruling class. Unless we learn revolution through making revolu tion, we will find ourselves unprepared when favor able conditions for popular insurrection manifest themselves. We must take a firm hold of the situation, ride the revolutionary current and seize the time. THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES! Larry E. Thomas 150715 CB-3 Box 25, Lorton, Va. 22079 i whirlwind THE WHIRLWIND OF PRISON STRUGGLE Never before in America's history have prison struggle reached such an intensifying stage for hu man survival. The struggle for rehabilitation and resocialization has been a long and strenuous struggle on the part of prisoners to alter or alleviate the many political and social dehumanizing conditions that has hitherto contained and entrapped them in an en vironment that has proven to be constructed for the sole purpose of destroying their physical and psycho logical capacities. The many prisons rebellion that have occurred across the nation have provided factual evidents to the assertion that the wretched conditions that prevails in the U.S.A. prison system has over lapped the endurance of individual human existence. In fact the conditions that had once maimed and stung the physical and psychological growth of prisoners. Are now creating the prerequisite for them to excel and feed their mental capacities with the necessary knowledge to go beyond the limitation of their wretched capativlty in dealing with the true nature of their oppression. Much like the thousand concentration camps in America under the disguised term "Correctional Insti tutions", Missouri State Prison have also become en trapped in the unfold whirlwind of prison struggle. The necessitated need for the people in society to actively concern themselves with the affairs and dev eloping situation existing at the Missouri State Prison have been a profound one. And this pressing and perplexed sutuatlon is rapidly reaching it's max imum point of frustration and the need of the pri soners to be treated like human beings, and with the ending consequence being "mass murder" provoked and perpetuated by the prisons officials. Like the many prisons throughout the U.S., black prisoners at the Missouri State Prison have strenuously struggle, and reached out into society for the help to implement true rehabilitation and resocialization, but to no prevail their efforts have been suppressed by the prison administration's conspiracy to kill this pro gressive element that have surface to the top with a successful chronological and systematic process. Jesse Lang whom was suffering from a nervous break down resulting from continuous beating that he was receiving from the prison guards was murdered. He was taken to the prison psychiatric ward therein the prison psychiatric was ordered by the warden, Donald W. Wyrick to give Lang an overdose of "prolixion" a drugjcommonly used to seduce wild animals which slows wwn the thinking process of the brain. And if one is constantly given this drug over a period of time it becjmes habit forming and continues to detroy the fine points of ones coordination. The prisons authorities reasons for having killed Jesse was be cause of his long history and consistent activities in prison struggle. And also, the publication of a booklet that Jesse had written about the prison officials perpetuation of prison culture and it's psychological deterior ation of prisoners. He was one of the many black prisoners whom would not allow themselves to be broken and dehumanized by the wretched conditions existing in this human-junk yard. After the system atic murder of Jesse Lang, a white guard carrying the title of Lieut. Atkins, was misterously found dead in an empty cell. The aftermath ended with nine innocent black prisoners whom was taken from their cells in the late hours of the night and severely beaten within the warden's office and was later wind charged with the murder of one Lieut. Atkins, and irrespective to a white inmate continuously and un remorseful ly confessing to the murder after he was taken through a thorough interrogation process. The fact that the prison authorities wouldn't accept this confession nor pursue it's validity is prime example of their s.stematic railroading of black piMspners. The paradoxality of this prefrabication only proves and exposes the prisons ajithorities complicity in a conspriacy to commit mass murder, which would help provide them with their continuous inquiring for funds from Federal Government. If rebellion was fulfilled this would help them allocate funds for the alleged purpose of building two min imum security prisons outside both St. Louis and Kansas City area. This explains their sudden provo cation for a prison rebellion and it s interconnec tion to their mounting crys for and strative ^^ promotion for the reinstatement of the Death Penalty which would make it mandatory for anyone convicted of killing a prison guard or police officer ect. to be sentence to death. The inhuman theory of the death penalty p being the absolute solution to crime and especially murder is constantly being refuted by statistic of other states whom have reinstated the death penalty show ing in lieu of, murder decreasing it's actually in creasing. Because of the pressing social and econ omical conditions in America which denotes the high level of unemployment, and high cost of living and both are rapidly increasing beyond the average level of subsistent, people are forced to maintain their lives by any means necessary, and the increase in crime will continue as long as people are forced in to the streets, and forced to maintain survival by any means, because of the increase in unemployment and cost of living. And so the prison authorities are utilizing the people cry against crime, murder etc. to suppress, harass, railroad and legally mur der nine innocent black men. , The nine black prisoners that was picked-up at random and charged with the murder of the guard of ficer is a cross-section of the entire black pop ulation, they are: George Williams, Michael Shepherd, Clifford Valentine, Robert Johnson, Robert X Gails, Robert X Toney, Achie Dixon, Conrade Atkins and Cornell Jackson. ^ These are the nine black men In Missouri State Prison whom have bees systematically framed for a murder that the prison officials have prefabricated out of a mad attempt to sanction and legally sub- , stantiate their racist political persecution of the black prison body. Along with their attempt to provoke a "Oit through the utilization of murder, brutality, railroading and the other untold inhuman treatment of black prisoners. They have successfully provided a pattern of showing explicitly their systematic murder, and railroading of innocent blacks men who are only concerned with changing the deplorable living con ditions that affect and govern their lives in prison. ~ The recent administrative killing of Leon Dent has provoked a profound concern for everyone who knew him. Leon was 31 years of age and a political , activitist in the Black Liberation struggle of the early sixty's, and also co-founder of the Black Liberator organization in St. Louis, he was sent ence to seven years for assult on a police officer in Cairo, Illinois. At this time he was attempting to end the racist and brutal policy of Illinois sanction of police brutalization and killing of black people. Leon has a long history of battles and encounters with the police over the issues that con cern black people. Upon entering the Missouri State Prison Leon actively engaged himself in the prison struggle to implement true rehabilitation and re socialization. On the night of April the fourth, of this year, prison officials claim that they found brother Dent dead hanging from his cell bars. They the prison authorities have suggested and issued statements to the press that Leon Dent committed suicide Out of a desire to escape the mad and cold reality of prison life. But through a investigation on the part of those whom are politically and emo tionally connected with Leon Dent have disclosed through an autopsy that brother Leon was dead two hours before what they claim to be the official death. Also disclosed was the fact that Leon's death was not caused by the hanging, but was the results of being severly beaten, marks of being beaten was found all over his body. There's no doubt concerning the actual cause of Leon Dent's death. Because those who know him and have come in contact with him, knows of his indomin- able will to live, and along with his consistent efforts to defend himself, and the people that he represented whem the call for battle infringe upon the actual love and didecation that he had for his people. The murder of Jesse Lang and Leon Dent, and along with the prefabrication of the "Missouri 9" presents a chronological process of murder and legalize linch- ing of black prisoners on the part of prison offic ials to keep black prisoners subjected to a deplor able and barbaric state of existence. The miscarriage of justice,. Inhumane treatment of black people in side U.S. prison system have unfold untold realities about the political persecution of black people and America conspiracy and attempts to comit “ black gen ocides" behind the confine and ugly reality of pri son walls, and out of this struggle to desolate black people, physically and psychologically, and morally emerge the cold reality of the unfold whirl winds of prison struggle. Jefferson City, Mo. '■'.m This issue is dedicated to Comrade George Jackson (Prisoner-Revolutionary) who was assassi nated by the state (in collusion with the federal government) of California at San Quentin Koncentration Kamp, Ca-lifornia-j on August 21, 1971. This issue, also commemorates the deaths of Comrade Melvin Kearney, B.L.A. Freedom Fighter and Popeye Jackson, head of the United Prison ers Union of Calfornia. THAT DAY ON THE GREEN Naked bodies, laid prone Nigger bodies shackled Like beasts of burden. The real beasts had M-l's Sub-thompson , pick-handles Clubs and young bats Equalizers for frail pale faceless Equalizers for weak and meek boys. For deflated egos and heartless canines. Shackles, chains and yokes. Assurance for the completely weak- kneed , Hopelessly deformed ones. That day They all had a chance to be a man. That day on the green The beast was real mean Racist slurs and shit slid From their razor lips j Racist minds Exploding to its utmost • And we were all kinds of niggers That day on the green. Niggers and browns. Laid naked with faces in grass. While