Behind Enemy Lines

My revolution begins by supporting the Bay View with a paid subscription, spreading the word about the Bay View newspaper and reading the Bay View!

We’re gonna fight back against these fascist pigs! Wherever there is oppression, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia or hatred of women, we are going to collectively confront that!

Black women who have confronted the abuses of America’s white authority have suffered its punishment throughout our history. Anarchist Lucy Parsons, born in 1853, is one of the few Black women mentioned in labor histories – usually as the wife of the martyred Albert Parsons, who was executed in the wake of Chicago’s Haymarket Riot of 1886.

TDCJ rules prisoners via the very real and constant threat of retaliation. Just a brief discussion with any current or former TDCJ prisoner would detail countless stories of revenge perpetuated by TDCJ officials on a daily basis.

Prisoners and their families have been complaining about the horrible living conditions in the jail. They have told stories of inadequate and inedible food, black mold growing on cell walls and extensive use of solitary confinement. Also, access is limited for medical services for both pre-existing conditions and illnesses acquired inside the jail.

The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective seeks 12 works of art and 12 articles for its 2020 calendar with the theme "Knitting Together the Struggles." Please forward to prison-based artists and writers.

The legendary Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, belted out in her song: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!” Take a minute to consider what respect means to you. People from diverse cultures may differ in interpretation and perception. Dictionaries offer slight differences in their meaning and application.

Joseph Harris, MD, personal physician for world-renowned political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, makes the case for Mumia's release on medical grounds. Failing to treat his Hep C gave him cirrhosis of the liver, an eventual death sentence that fully justifies medical release.

In more than two dozen cities across the country, mothers who cannot afford bail are getting help to go home. “This is more than a direct service but an invitation to be part of our collective liberation,” said Arissa Hall, project director of National Bail Out collective.

Lorie Davis has created a culture within TDCJ by which jailhouse lawyers, also known as “writ-writers,” are subjected to manifold reprisals for their peaceful and legal activities. Activities which are supposed to be protected under the U.S. Constitution’s First and 14th Amendments!

In his first dispatch since his transfer in November, Rashid reports that the Indiana Department of “Corruption” (IDOC) and its private corporate medical and mental health contractor, Wexford of Indiana, use prisoners to supervise, monitor, report and assess other prisoners who are actively suicidal – and many times also mentally ill.

On May 1, 2019, May Day, we are requesting that for all of May, friends and supporters call, tweet, email and text Gov. Cuomo’s office and appeal to him to grant Jalil’s Application to Commute the Sentence to Time Served. We also request that this initiative be widely posted on social media platforms, encouraging freedom-loving people around the world to join in our May Day Initiative.

Secondary prisonization is what happens when people visit someone in prison. Children are no exception. We experience subtle versions of our parent’s physical confinement, elaborate surveillance and strict guidelines for any and everything. In my experience, from the long rides all the way to small prisons in the middle of nowhere, Kentucky, to my little sister’s severe nosebleeds in the car as we traveled through the mountains of West Virginia, to the amped up security at each facility, to the absurdly cold visitation rooms – all of it was miserable.

We are gathered here on this day to commemorate the fallen comrades that made their transition in the Lee County Massacre exactly one year ago. If it weren’t for the innovative resources of prisoners, this travesty would have been downplayed by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), or worse: It could have been swept under the rug.

Marcus Bedford wears his CaliCarceration T-shirt proudly. Order yours today. by Marcus Bedford On January 17, 2019, I paroled. I would like to say...

In adherence with the beloved Komrade Keith “Malik” Washington, deputy chairman of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter, this is the year of “knockin doors down.” We must start with the doors of solitary confinement. It was estimated in 2017 that over 87,000 prisoners across Amerika are being held in solitary – despite the many studies done by neuroscientists around the world proving that solitary confinement is a neglected social, ecological and environmental risk that also causes and worsens mental illness.

These are people so caught up in their make believe reality they’re like drunks who think they’re walking a straight line. And who the hell are the real criminals falsifying documents, falsifying confidential information on a regular basis? What’s so horrible is that they have been locking us up for decades – 23 ½ hours a day with nothing. And now it’s finally proven to be done on a fake ass foundation of lies. They put people in prison for such crimes, so shouldn’t they be held accountable?

I am writing to request that a teacher come in and teach us here in San Quentin Prison. I have filed all the paperwork, from San Quentin to Sacramento, from the religious oversight unit and chaplaincy division of adult institutions, back to the warden here at San Quentin, from the third level review, giving the order to allow us here in San Quentin to practice and function like the gods we are, the Five-Percent Nation of Gods and Earths.

Shaka Shakur by Shaka Shakur Hidden from public view and without any real political or judicial oversight, the Prison Industrial Complex has been forcing revolutionary political prisoners,...

Tens of thousands of men confined behind what is being called the “most dangerous” prison system in the nation. Alabama prisons have the highest homicide rate in America, as well as the highest suicide rate. But what is hidden – what has not been reported – are the root causes behind those statistics.