California prisoners have shut their mouths to be heard!
Matthew 25:31-46 gives an account of what the the Day of Judgement will be like when Jesus Christ returns to earth to assume Lordship over His creation. To the Sheep, those appointed to everlasting life He says..."I was in prison and you came to visit me."...“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." To the Goats, those to be cast out to outter darkness, to hell where the worm dieth not, He says, "I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me..."Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
Wright Enterprises shares the San Francisco BayView Newspaper's reports about California's penal system.
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Listen up: Tonight 9pm KPFA Prisoner Hunger Strike Special
Tune in tonight, Sunday, Aug. 11, 9 p.m., to KPFA 94.1FM in Northern California or on KPFA.org from wherever you are for an hour of radio that’s won rave reviews from all who’ve heard it. The Bay View is deeply involved with the prisoner hunger strike issue – the Corrections Department blames our little paper for instigating the 2011 hunger strikes and the current one that started July 8 – and with this show; JR Valrey, Bay View associate editor, is the producer and host and I’m one of the guests.
Today is Day 35 of self-imposed starvation for hundreds of California prisoners. “I lost nearly 22 pounds,” writes a hunger striker on Day 29 from the Pelican Bay SHU who had to quit after 21 days. “I was dehydrated. My heart was pounding out of my chest; it was hard to even drink water. My mouth had sores, and my stomach could barely hold the water down. I had to drink real slow, only a little at a time. My legs were badly chapped. Your head starts to hurt after the first week.” The work stoppage continues unabated, he reports, as does the boycott of the canteen. But “Man down!” is a frequent cry, and “people are starting to really lose weight and are being taken out in wheelchairs and stretchers.”
So you’ll know what California prisoners are up against, read the diatribe Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard wrote in the Los Angeles Times under the headline, “Hunger strike in California prisons is a gang power play.” An attorney for the prisoners summed up the state’s official stance like this: “Crank up the cruelty and let them die.”
Many of you know Marc Sapir, MD, MPH, who serves the poor in Oakland and has been, as he did in 2011, organizing healthcare professionals to sign on to a statement “to register our concern with reports that appropriate medical care is being denied the hunger striking prisoners.” Read the full statement here (scroll down) and sign on by emailing Dr. Sapir at marcsapir@gmail.com.
Here’s a separate statement he sent that I hope will help convince you to do all you can to bring the hunger strike to a quick and victorious conclusion:
“The isolation practices of the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) are cruel, brutal and inhumane. The SHUs have been used by the authorities to actually increase prisoner violence and racism and to try and destroy any cohesiveness among prisoners.
“The policy of locking people away for 10, 20, 30 years in solitary with the only possibility of relief being to finger someone as being a gang member is reminiscent of the practice of torturing people until they give names. Likewise, these practices violate human rights, are outlawed by international covenants, are aimed at breaking down peoples’ personalities, and are notoriously good at reproducing lies and violent gang activity when prisoners single out each other.
“These actions by the authorities themselves are behaviors like those of the very gangs they purport to weaken. The only difference is that the authorities can clothe their behaviors in the legal sanction and can act with impunity and imperial disdain for the powerless prisoners.
“Mr. Beard’s crass lying about the cruel practices in solitary confinement, such as claims the prisoners have skylights and that keeping people decades in solitary reduces gang violence, reveal that he is not fit to be in a position of authority over California’s prisons and prisoners.
“Beard’s behavior is a stain on the sitting governor, who allows this charade to continue when the state should be negotiating with the non-violent strikers, united across racial divisions against the cruel practices. If the goal were really to end violence in the prisons, the authorities would be pleased to talk with the leaders and mediators of a non-violent and collaborative prisoner movement.” – Marc Sapir, MD, MPH
I hope that what you’ve just read and what you hear tonight on JR’s special will persuade you to ramp up your personal commitment to fight for justice in California’s dungeons. Remember that our tax dollars pay for the torture inflicted there every day. Remember the timeless words of Dostoevsky: “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” Remember the cry of the 1971 Attica Prison Rebellion: “We are men. We are not beasts and do not intend to be beaten or driven as such.”
What can you do? Join one of the demonstrations occurring almost every day throughout California and far beyond, or organize one. The Bay Area demos are posted in the Bay View Calendar of Events, and the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity website is tracking events everywhere.
One man – Gov. Jerry Brown – can stop this strike and the madness that led 30,000 to starve themselves for most of the first week. That’s why the banner headline in the August Bay View shouts: “Negotiate, Gov. Brown! How many more prisoners must die?” One life has been lost already, that of acclaimed artist Billy Sell.
Every one of us can call and urge others to call Gov. Brown, at (916) 445-2841, or go to his contact page to email him. Please do it today! To motivate yourself and everyone you know, watch this – you’ll love it, I promise: “If no one else can persuade Jerry Brown to meet the hunger strikers’ demands, Mark Fiore can.”
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Behind Enemy Lines
Negotiate, Gov. Brown! How many more prisoners must die?
Hunger Strike Day 35: Crank up the cruelty and let them die
Letters from hunger strikers: I still feel like I can keep pushin’, so I will
SHU isolation cell to be installed on State Capitol South Steps Aug. 14
Day 33: Prisoner hunger strike countdown for humane conditions
Black August: Beyond 34 years of resistance
Lies and distortions fill Corrections Secretary Beard’s op-ed dehumanizing prisoner hunger strikers
Solidarity from Chiapas with California prison hunger strike
Virginia prisoner inspired by the California prisoner hunger strikers and the Bay View
Hunger strikers, supporters vow to continue fight as mediators conclude meeting with CDCR secretary
Black August weekend event for Omaha Two to be held at Malcolm X birthplace
Call for international solidarity as Colombia prisoners’ hunger strike enters 4th week, one dies
Struggling together for racial justice in prison and society
Hunger strikers denied right to read: Pelican Bay officials just don’t get it
Contra Costa jail hunger strikers win their demands
Corcoran SHU hunger strike: The riot team was ready for full-scale war
Prisoner in Corcoran SHU dies while on hunger strike
Pelican Bay hunger strikers donate to Crescent City soup kitchen
Four hunger strikers in San Quentin Adjustment Center are refusing water as well as food
Hunger strikers write to the Bay View: ‘I don’t know how much more my body can take’
If no one else can persuade Jerry Brown to meet the hunger strikers’ demands, Mark Fiore can
Jerry Brown in Germany: ‘From Dachau with love’
Hunger Strike Day 16: CDCR refuses to negotiate, strikers issue new statement
Secret torture unit at San Quentin
Corcoran State Prison is a death camp
California prisoners challenge solitary confinement with largest hunger strike in state history
Calipatria hunger strike update
CDCR moves 14 Pelican Bay SHU Short Corridor Representatives to ‘hasten our deaths’
Open letter to Contra Costa sheriff: Martinez AdSeg prisoners join hunger strike, issue demands
Hunger strike rally at Corcoran Prison: The sound before the fury
Hunger strike leaders thrown in the hole ‘til they resume eating
What solitary confinement does to the brain
California hunger strike: Statement of solidarity from incarcerated women across Massachusetts
Pelican Bay: Third day of the hunger strike
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* * * * *
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Mary Ratcliff, editor
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