We should never forget those in struggle, more so those confined to the state's prisons, repression cages, or in America, Incarcerated Labour Corporation, facilities, solidarity is the winning weapon. Since September 9th. the prisoners in America have been on strike, making a stand against the blatant corruption, corporate greed, slave labour and brutality that permeates the entire prison system. They need all the support that we can muster, these are workers without conditions, locked away from the prying eyes of the public and used and savagely exploited by the state and greedy corporations. The vicious treatment that is handed out to them is all cloaked in secrecy, behind high walls and armed guards, so therefore can be more savage than might happen out on the public streets. We need to allow those inside to know, that they have the support of those on the outside, we need the facts to come out, we need to keep the pressure on the authorities.
Louisiana State Penitentiary, otherwise known as ‘Angola Prison’, to this day compels prisoners to plant and pick cotton by hand, for as little as 4 cents an hour. Eighty percent of its prisoners are African-American.
Long rows of men, mostly African-American, till the fields under the hot Louisiana sun while armed guards, mostly white, ride up and down the rows on horseback, keeping watch. It is the largest maximum security prison in America, bigger than Manhattan, sprawling over 18,000 acres of farmland dotted with barbed-wire enclosures, gun towers and concrete dormitories.
A History of Slavery
The land on which the prison sits is a composite of several slave plantations -it is called Angola, after the homeland of the slaves who first worked its soil - bought up in the decades following the Civil War. From when it was converted from plantations, prisoners have worked the land in much the same way as slaves did, under conditions so brutal, prisoners resorting to cutting their own Achilles’s tendons in protest in the 50′s.
After the plantation was converted to a prison, former plantation overseers and their descendants kept their general roles, becoming prison officials and guards. This white overseer community, is located on the farm’s grounds, both close to the prisoners and completely separate from them. In addition to their prison labour, Angola’s inmates do free work for these residents, from cutting their grass to trimming their hair to cleaning up Prison View Golf Course, the only course in the country where players can watch prisoners labouring as they golf. Continue reading:
This appeal from IWW Incarcerated Workers Organising Committee:
URGENT!! Help Needed NOW to Stop Retaliation Against Prisoners.
Current stats based on the strike tracking that we have done so far:
-Number of prisoners on lockdown at least 1 day since 9/8: 23,849 minimum
-Number of prisoners on lockdown in facilities where we know organizing was happening or where strikes are confirmed: 15,310
-Number of prisoners on lockdown in facilities where we’re not sure about organizing: 8,484
There are two things we really need help with. The first one is really easy. The second one is a bit more complex. Both involve calling prisons. Here is a great "how to" video for calling prisons if you are feeling nervous https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=251DPVDQ17A
1. Very Easy Task: As we hear of individual prisoners or facilities that are being specifically targeted, we will add them to this phone zap list https://goo.gl/forms/ s4gBzsgvz6W9LQoN2 Please call all the numbers on this list as many times as you can and ask all your friends to do the same. Print the list and take it with you everywhere and call every time you can spare a minute. You can call day or night, weekdays or weekends, talk to a person or leave a voicemail, just call now and keep calling. The prisoners are on the front line and it is critical that we do everything we can to keep the administrators from torturing and killing them.
2. Moderately Easy Task: The second thing you can do to help is call all the prisons in your state and ask if they are on lockdown:
Notes about the State by State Tracking:
- They aren't likely to divulge answers to all these questions, but you can try, anyway.
- If they ask, you can either say you're a concerned citizen, or that you want to schedule a visit, or that you're a student doing research. These things might not help.
- You can either give your name, or make up a name. It is probably not a good idea to give first and last name, or any other personal info of yourself or anyone else, especially not of prisoners.
1. Look up the facilities' info. Make sure we know what state you're working on, so two people don't end up doing the same state at the same time. Every DOC has a different website, but most list basic info about the prisons.
- take note of whether or not they list current population on the website, if they do, you won't need to ask those questions.
- check and see if they have press releases or recent news or anything like that. Some DOCs will publicly announce lockdowns on their websites.
2. call the prison, here's a script:
"Hello, are you on lockdown right now?"
If "yes" - "why?"
- "how many people are locked down"
- "how long have they been?"
- "what is your current population, are they all locked down?"
If "no" - "have you been on lock down at all in the last week?"
- "have there been any disturbances or trouble makers sent to the hole in the last month?"
3. Write down any info you get on places that are / were locked down. Try and research info that wasn't available on the site (Wikipedia has entries for most prisons, which includes their capacities) a google search might bring up reports with more accurate info about current population levels, etc.
- Email anything you find to iwoc@riseup.net
Here's where it's getting posted:
-Number of prisoners on lockdown at least 1 day since 9/8: 23,849 minimum
-Number of prisoners on lockdown in facilities where we know organizing was happening or where strikes are confirmed: 15,310
-Number of prisoners on lockdown in facilities where we’re not sure about organizing: 8,484
There are two things we really need help with. The first one is really easy. The second one is a bit more complex. Both involve calling prisons. Here is a great "how to" video for calling prisons if you are feeling nervous https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=251DPVDQ17A
1. Very Easy Task: As we hear of individual prisoners or facilities that are being specifically targeted, we will add them to this phone zap list https://goo.gl/forms/ s4gBzsgvz6W9LQoN2 Please call all the numbers on this list as many times as you can and ask all your friends to do the same. Print the list and take it with you everywhere and call every time you can spare a minute. You can call day or night, weekdays or weekends, talk to a person or leave a voicemail, just call now and keep calling. The prisoners are on the front line and it is critical that we do everything we can to keep the administrators from torturing and killing them.
2. Moderately Easy Task: The second thing you can do to help is call all the prisons in your state and ask if they are on lockdown:
Notes about the State by State Tracking:
- They aren't likely to divulge answers to all these questions, but you can try, anyway.
- If they ask, you can either say you're a concerned citizen, or that you want to schedule a visit, or that you're a student doing research. These things might not help.
- You can either give your name, or make up a name. It is probably not a good idea to give first and last name, or any other personal info of yourself or anyone else, especially not of prisoners.
1. Look up the facilities' info. Make sure we know what state you're working on, so two people don't end up doing the same state at the same time. Every DOC has a different website, but most list basic info about the prisons.
- take note of whether or not they list current population on the website, if they do, you won't need to ask those questions.
- check and see if they have press releases or recent news or anything like that. Some DOCs will publicly announce lockdowns on their websites.
2. call the prison, here's a script:
"Hello, are you on lockdown right now?"
If "yes" - "why?"
- "how many people are locked down"
- "how long have they been?"
- "what is your current population, are they all locked down?"
If "no" - "have you been on lock down at all in the last week?"
- "have there been any disturbances or trouble makers sent to the hole in the last month?"
3. Write down any info you get on places that are / were locked down. Try and research info that wasn't available on the site (Wikipedia has entries for most prisons, which includes their capacities) a google search might bring up reports with more accurate info about current population levels, etc.
- Email anything you find to iwoc@riseup.net
Here's where it's getting posted:
