Violence and injustice inflicted by the state, such as medical neglect, political repression and censorship.
The Final Straw interviews two outside organizers, Amani Sawari and Brooke of IWOC about the upcoming national prisoner strike starting on August 21st and continuing through September 9th, 2018.
NOTE: This article was originally censored by the mailroom, on the grounds that the original version of the article mentioned Jason's affiliation with the New Afrikan Black Panther Party in the byline.
“Plaintiffs allege that “sweltering temperatures inside buildings where [TDCJ] houses inmates”, including the Wallace Pack Unit, have caused at least twelve prisoners in the Texas prison system to die from heat stroke, and hundreds more prisoners to suffer from heat-related illnesses since 2011/ They (plaintiffs) allege that defendants (TDCJ) have done nothing to lower the temperatures inside t
Peace and blessings sisters and brothers! It is late May as I write this, and already the heat is reaching unbearable limits inside Texas prisons.
I personally am in the midst of my annual Ramadan fast, and the extreme heat places an extra bit of intensity to our obligatory fast.
April 3, 2018: Kansas City, MO. Widespread problems with food and health care quality are standard in U.S. prisons, according to a new report by the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and Research Action Cooperative. 65% of prisoners reported that food made them sick in the last year and 63% reported being denied needed health care.
Based on a survey of 123 prisoners in 83 facilities in 21 states, the report, Cruel and Usual: A National Prisoner Survey of Prison Food and Health Care Quality, concludes:
In a previous post, Jason reported on the murder of a fellow inmate, and how staff responded to his attempts at whistleblowing by raiding his room and confiscating everything he owned. In this update, he reveals how public support and solidarity following that earlier post was successful in forcing the administration to back off, and discusses some of the other tactics used to retaliate against him.
“To rise beyond the limits of protest, we must chart out our political intentions, organizational goals, and a larger vision about our direction. First, and foremost, militant self-defense, and the capacity for larger militant actions must be addressed at the inception of the organizing process.
