By Quest Riggs
On September 9th prisoners across the country stood up for their human rights. Walking in the footsteps of the heroes of the 1971 Attica Prison Rebellion, our caged brothers and sisters worked very hard to coordinate a countrywide prisoner strike.
Strikes took place in 26 states despite efforts by wardens and guards to silence and isolate militant prisoners. In some prisons striking by even a minority of the prisoners scared the authorities into stopping work altogether. The nation-wide strike took place in both men and women’s prisons. The prisoners were applauded and supported by tens of thousands of non-incarcerated people across the country.
Some prisons, including several in Florida, experienced full-scale prisoner rebellions. Of course, the ruling class media calls the prisoners rioters so that we on the outside will ignore the just demands of the prisoners. These aren’t riots; they are rebellions against the barbaric conditions in US prisons.
Florida prisons, like Louisiana’s, are extremely overcrowded. Prisoners often face lengthy time in solitary confinement, which is a form of torture, and brutal physical and sexual abuse and murder by prison guards.
New Orleans jails more people than any other city, and Louisiana has the largest percentage of people in prison in the U.S., and the U.S. has the largest rate of incarceration in the world. We must support the prisoners’ demands to abolish modern day slavery.
We will send copies of the Workers Voice free to prisoners, and we welcome letters from prisoners.