Incarcerated people across the country are uniting to protest the inhumane conditions that pass for our prison system. With big business interests, white supremacy, and an attack on democracy all driving our mass incarceration of Americans, prisoners have become state- and federally-sponsored “slaves.” Working for next to nothing, prisoners not only risk their lives fighting fires for pennies in return, they are also treated to subhuman living conditions. A statement released by an anonymous prison group called Jailhouse Lawyers Speak explains why prisoners across the country are fed up.
Campaign Action
Why is this so important to us? Fundamentally, it’s a human rights issue. Prisoners understand they are being treated as animals. We know that our conditions are causing physical harm and deaths that could be avoided if prison policy makers actually gave a damn. Prisons in America are a warzone. Every day prisoners are harmed due to conditions of confinement. For some of us it’s as if we are already dead. So what do we have to lose?
The organizers are calling for all hands on deck, and all kinds of protests to begin:
Let this nationwide strike be a wake-up, prisoners will destroy the crops, we will not comply, we will not allow you to exploit our families’ hard-earned dollars anymore. Striking the match, let it go up in a blaze. We are humans! On behalf of the prisoners nationwide, we thank every supporter out there that’s making our voices heard through their actions of solidarity. Stay vigilant, we will need you more than ever during the strike
They are calling for work strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes. They want prisoners across the country to make as much noise as possible until their demands for humane and just treatment are met. The list of demands has been posted as well, and includes:
1. Immediate improvements to the conditions of prisons and prison policies that recognize the humanity of imprisoned men and women.
2. An immediate end to prison slavery. All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under United States jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor.
3. The Prison Litigation Reform Act must be rescinded, allowing imprisoned humans a proper channel to address grievances and violations of their rights.
4. The Truth in Sentencing Act and the Sentencing Reform Act must be rescinded so that imprisoned humans have a possibility of rehabilitation and parole. No human shall be sentenced to Death by Incarceration or serve any sentence without the possibility of parole.
5. An immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans. Black humans shall no longer be denied parole because the victim of the crime was white, which is a particular problem in southern states.
6. An immediate end to racist gang enhancement laws targeting Black and brown humans.
7. No imprisoned human shall be denied access to rehabilitation programs at their place of detention because of their label as a violent offender.
8. State prisons must be funded specifically to offer more rehabilitation services.
9. Pell grants must be reinstated in all US states and territories.
10. The voting rights of all confined citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so-called “ex-felons” must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count!
There are numerous lawsuits going on across the country at any given time, as well as mediations to fend off lawsuits, trying to bring prison and jail facilities up to what can barely be called “humane” conditions. Prisoners are paid less than the minimum wage in Haiti—and Haiti has a $0.30 minimum wage. It was only last year that Steve Prator, the head of Louisiana’s sheriff’s office in Caddo Parris,h told a room filled with live cameras and microphones that the reason he was bummed about prison reforms was that:
“That’s the ones you can work,” Prator said of the people who could be soon be let go under the plan. “That’s the ones that can pick up trash, the work release programs. But guess what? Those are the ones [the state is] releasing.” He added, “In addition to the bad [prisoners], they’re releasing some good ones that we use every day to wash cars, to change oil in our cars, to cook in the kitchens, to do all that where we save money—well, they’re going to let them out.”
If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the relationship between our law enforcement apparatus and the citizens of our country in regards to the penal system, nothing does. The organizers of this event have been staying anonymous because the consequences to them are very high, and fighting for your most basic of human rights means you are in a situation where you have none.
According to prison reform activists engaged in planning the strike, retaliatory measures have already started. Karen Smith, who runs the Gainesville, Florida chapter of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee that is backing the strike, said that prison authorities have moved most of the local strike organisers into solitary confinement wings where they will be unable to communicate with others.
“Other inmates have been warned that if they continue to contact advocacy groups they will be moved to the most brutal camps.”
And this does not include the many falsely incarcerated individuals and the overly sentenced less wealthy, less white individuals of our country.
The prison population of our country is, not unlike the homeless population, mostly disenfranchised and ignored by traditional media outlets. The United States’ levels of mass incarceration and the outrageous amounts of money behind the prison system are all clearly incongruent with a country that prides itself on being the “land of the free.”
The strikes are planned through August until September 9—the 47th anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion in New York. The symbolism is important.
You can read the entire statement below.
Over the last several days, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS) has had numerous conversations. The JLS mailbox has been packed with correspondence from prisoners around the nation. As prisoners, it’s clear we are all on the same page. So are the prisoncrats overseeing the prison-industrial slave complex. Federal and state authorities are on high alert across the nation. Pre-emptive repression tactics have already been initiated to silence visible prisoners that have influence who have vocally supported the August 21st call. This includes those less-known figures to the public. Prisoners are reporting in a few states that wardens are openly making threats to prisoners of consequences if they participate in the nationwide strike. Even with the authorities threatening, prisoners are ready for action.
Why is this so important to us? Fundamentally, it’s a human rights issue. Prisoners understand they are being treated as animals. We know that our conditions are causing physical harm and deaths that could be avoided if prison policy makers actually gave a damn. Prisons in America are a warzone. Every day prisoners are harmed due to conditions of confinement. For some of us it’s as if we are already dead. So what do we have to lose?
South Carolina is only a reflection of the issues facing other states and governmental buildings of confinement. This is a systematic problem born out of slavery that this nation must come to grips with and address. Our protest cry rallies around 10 national demands. We ask that even after September 9, you continue to lobby these demands that we are calling for a solution. We will continue to organize around these demands further into the future until they are met.
Do not expect to see major coverage of our strike on the mainstream media. Definitely do not expect any prison officials to give you accurate or updated information. It’s their jobs to make it all seem like a normal day of operations. The only time they will report an uprising is when it’s full-blown beyond their control. At that point they will label it a riot. Prisoners will have to sneak out updates. For those of you with these updates, please share with others.
Our collective message to prisoners, stop the violence against each other. Regardless of race, class or label, we are one. And yes, we are by our very interest a class. We support all prisoners. We support prisoners’ rights to self-defense, but we are promoting a line against senseless collective violence against each other.
Let this nationwide strike be a wake-up, prisoners will destroy the crops, we will not comply, we will not allow you to exploit our families’ hard-earned dollars anymore. Striking the match, let it go up in a blaze. We are humans! On behalf of the prisoners nationwide, we thank every supporter out there that’s making our voices heard through their actions of solidarity. Stay vigilant, we will need you more than ever during the strike.
In solidarity,
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak
