From Attica to Pelican Bay – Tear down the walls!

On July 1, hundreds of prisoners at the Pelican Bay State Prison in California went on a hunger strike for their right to be treated like human beings within inhumane conditions. Their demands were basic and immediate: an end to group punishment and administrative abuse; the abolition of the “debriefing” policy and modification of active/inactive gang status criteria; that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation comply with recommendations regarding long-term solitary confinement; adequate and nutritious food; and the expansion of programming, correspondence and other privileges for indefinite security housing unit-status prisoners.

Soon afterwards, upward of 6,000 prisoners at 11 other so-called correctional facilities joined the hunger strike. National and international support actions for the hunger strike spread like wildfire, putting pressure on prison authorities to come to the bargaining table, just as workers force bosses to the table over a union contract. With some of the hunger strikers facing death, on July 20 the prisoners temporarily called off the strike after prison authorities agreed to ongoing mediation. The prisoners stated that they reserved the right to resume the hunger strike if the prison authorities did not meet their criteria.

The PBSP prisoners have decided they will resume their hunger strike on Sept. 26 following a disappointing meeting Aug. 18 with California Undersecretary Scott Kernan. PBSP inmate Mutupe Duguma, aka James Crawford, explained on the PrisonMovement Webblog why the hunger strike will be continued: “This is the only way to expose to the world how racist prison guards and officials have utilized policy in order to torture us. And we have the material to expose them because many of us suffer from serious medical conditions or a lack of medical treatment, which we inherited right here in SHU.”

Thousands of prisoners throughout Georgia had carried out a week-long jobs action strike in December. Prisoners of all nationalities and religions stayed in their cells to protest intolerable conditions. These prisoners are paid slave wages by some of the biggest corporations in the world, like JCPenney, Best Western Hotels, Honda, Chevron, IBM, Microsoft, Victoria’s Secret and Boeing. Many prisoners in Georgia and elsewhere are paid less than 50 cents an hour to work in call centers, a global phenomenon resting upon capitalist restructuring for superprofits.

These prisoners in Georgia and California are carrying forth the legacy of the heroic Attica rebellion, which occurred 40 years ago in upstate New York. Hundreds of Black, Latino and white prisoners forged an unbreakable bond of unity when they took prison guards hostage as a necessary tactic to force prison officials to the bargaining table. These prisoners captured world attention in their quest for justice and self-determination. Their rebellion was sparked by the cowardly assassination of George Jackson, a revolutionary prison leader and Black Panther Party member, in San Quentin prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

Many of the demands of the Attica brothers were outright revolutionary, a reflection of the upsurge of the national liberation movements at home and abroad. One demand was to have prisoners recognized as workers, with the right to a living wage with decent working conditions, the right to have unions and not to work more than eight hours a day. Another demand was the right to amnesty for the Attica prisoners and political asylum in the socialist countries of Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Attica rebellion was drowned in blood by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s National Guard, who killed 39 prisoners and nine of the hostages in retaking the prison. Hundreds of prisoners were forced to crawl naked on the ground as they were beaten by guards.

What do the Attica rebellion and the prison strikes in Georgia and California have in common? Prisoners are among the most exploited and repressed workers and are hidden from the rest of society. Having lost their freedom of movement, prisoners are forced to find other means to have their voices heard.

As the global capitalist economic crisis worsens and jobs disappear, the jail and prison population inside the U.S. will swell with even larger numbers of desperate oppressed workers, now close to 3 million. In the interest of building the broadest class solidarity the progressive movement must support the demands and tactics of prisoners, who are an integral sector of the working class. The prisons are the crime! To rebel is justified! Long live the spirit of Attica!