Author: Workers Voice

Attica Prison Uprising, September 9, 1971

On April 15 at Lee correctional facility in South Carolina, seven incarcerated people lost their lives in the deadliest prison uprising of the last 25 years. In response, a nationwide strike has been called for August 21 to September 9. August 21 commemorates the state assassination of revolutionary freedom fighter George Jackson and September 9 marks the anniversary of the historic rebellion at Attica prison that occurred less than three weeks later. The following list of demands has been issued by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a national collective of incarcerated people fighting for human rights in US prisons:

1. Immediate improvements to the conditions of prisons and prison policies that recognize the humanity of imprisoned men and women.

2. An immediate end to prison slavery. All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under United States jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor.

3. The Prison Litigation Reform Act must be rescinded, allowing imprisoned humans a proper channel to address grievances and violations of their rights.

4. The Truth in Sentencing Act and the Sentencing Reform Act must be rescinded so that imprisoned humans have a possibility of rehabilitation and parole. No human shall be sentenced to Death by Incarceration or serve any sentence without the possibility of parole.

5. An immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans. Black humans shall no longer be denied parole because the victim of the crime was white, which is a particular problem in southern states.

6. An immediate end to racist gang enhancement laws targeting Black and brown humans. No imprisoned human shall be denied access to rehabilitation programs at their place of detention because of their label as a violent offender.

7. State prisons must be funded specifically to offer more rehabilitation services.

8. Pell grants must be reinstated in all US states and territories.

9. The voting rights of all confined citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so-called “ex-felons” must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count.

By Gavrielle Gemma

$140 million in taxes on hotels bypasses the general budget and gets handed over to various business commissions. The Convention Center gets $63 million every year! The Board of the Center, appointed by the Governor and Mayor is not elected and is made up of representatives of the richest capitalists. The City’s Office of Family and Youth only gets 3% of the city budget or $19 million a year. Our kids could really use that $63 million.

A tiny slice of the ultra-rich in New Orleans basically tells the Mayor and Council what to do so they are going along with a new rip-off by the Convention Center.

According to the Bureau of Government Research (BGR), the Convention Center has raked in $738.8 million of public money over 40 years. Their plan is to build a 1,200 room hotel attached to the Convention center with public contributions amounting to $329.5 million dollars. It gets 40 years of hotel and sales tax rebates, 100% property tax exemption and a free land lease.

Not one cent of this money is earmarked for local hiring or for guaranteed decent wages and benefits for the hospitality workers hired there. While only 2% of tourist revenue goes to local Black businesses, the city’s white elite rulers are stealing more for themselves.

BGR also reports “Negotiations are on a fast track. The Convention Center plans to present a tentative deal for its board to approve on August 22, possibly just a matter of days after the terms become public.” It’s time we had some city council people who don’t take money from these companies that fund their campaigns and wine and dine them. We need independent representatives who stand up for the needs of the working class and oppressed of our city.

NO MORE WATER SHUT-OFFS!

With no resolution to the problem of unjustly high water bills, New Orleans’ working class is threatened with a resumption of cut-offs beginning August 1st. It’s been one year since the flood that exposed the criminal negligence of the S&WB and resulted in the loss of many of our fellow workers’ automobiles or damage to their homes. We also found out that the S&WB was sending out gigantic water bills even though no one had read the meters. They announced that they were accepting small claims, yet nobody that we know has received acknowledgement, let alone compensation for their losses. The NOWG continues to demand full reparations for those who suffered damages. We also demand forbearance on those huge water bills and a continuation of the moratorium on cut-offs. We also continue to support the efforts of the New Orleans Peoples Assembly to file a class action suit to force the S&WB to pay damages for their apparent attempt to run our drainage and water delivery system into the ground. Despite having a new administration, the dysfunction continues. If we want the problems at the S&WB to be fixed, we have to step up our organized fight and force them to properly carry out their sewer, drainage and water responsibilities. We must demand that the S&WB come under popular control of New Orleans residents, with a majority of Board members coming from amongst representatives of the working class who know what it feels like to struggle to pay their bills.

By Shera Phillips

Black women have been amongst the most outspoken, dedicated, revolutionary fighters against racial injustices. From refusing to give up a seat on a train, to registering voters, to coordinating and monitoring lunch counter sit-ins and freedom rides, to being bold, loud and refusing to back down. Tiana Smalls embodied the black female warrior last month as she traveled via Greyhound from Bakersfield, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. While stopping at a checkpoint, the bus driver announced, ‘We are being boarded by Border Patrol. Please be prepared to show your documentation upon request”. Tiana immediately sensed the white supremacist, capitalism at work as she thought to herself, wait, what the f***? Smalls promptly began to “act an ass” as she vehemently spoke, “THIS IS A VIOLATION OF YOUR 4TH AMENDMENT RIGHTS. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOW THEM SH*T! This is illegal. We are not within 100 miles of an international border so they have NO authority to ask you for ANYTHING. TELL THEM TO F*** OFF!!”

Then, realizing that many of the terrified travelers didn’t speak English, she used Google Translate to read her message in Spanish. She assured her horrified neighbor that she “had her back”. As the agents proceeded to ask for documentation, she responded, ““I’m not showing you shit! I’m not driving this bus, so you have NO RIGHT to ask me for anything! And the rest of you guys don’t have to show them anything, either! This is harassment and racial profiling! Don’t show them a gotdamn thing! We are not within 100 miles of a border so they have NO LEGAL RIGHT or jurisdiction here! GOOGLE IT!” The agents responded with, “Fine. We can see that you’re a citizen because of your filthy mouth”. And then they just said “go ahead” to the bus driver and got o . Smalls continues, “Point is: These border patrol officers act like they do because they EXPECT people to be afraid of them and just comply. The lady next to me spoke NO ENGLISH, but she was a very kind woman. She looked TERRIFIED when they boarded. I felt it was my duty to defend her. We DO NOT LIVE in Nazi Germany. No one should be asked to present “papers” for interstate travel. I defended her, and I defended myself. We DO NOT have to just take this shit LYING down. What those officers did is WRONG and completely illegal. All it took was ONE LOUD ass Black woman to let them know WE ARE NOT WITH THE SH*TS. F*** Y’ALL. And they backed off. Use your voice. Take a risk. Act an ASS. Because if you let them intimidate the poor Spanish speaking woman next to you, who do you think they’re coming for next?” I say THANK YOU Tiana Smalls for your exemplary demonstration of courage, love and resourcefulness. You have IT!”

by Margaret Maloney

On July 14th water protectors with The L’eau Est La Vie (Water is Life) camp, locked themselves into a van blocking the only access road to a Bayou Bridge Pipeline construction sight, successfully shutting down construction and drilling for six hours before being extracted by police. The Bayou Bridge Pipeline is the tail end of the Dakota Access Pipeline system, being pushed forward by Energy Transfer Partners.

The L’eau Est La Vie camp has carried out nearly 50 worksite actions that have caused delays in construction. Water protectors are continuously arrested during peaceful actions. The state apparatus that allows these companies to go unchecked is arresting community members who simply want to protect clean water from corporate negligence. BBP is set to end in St. James Parish (also known as cancer alley) threatening a mainly black community located along the Mississippi river, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. St. James is surrounded by fossil fuel infrastructure that releases pollution into the community, causing many residents to suffer from cancer and other health issues associated with the inhalation of toxic fumes. From Flint, Michigan to St. James, those in power continue to have no regard for black, brown, or white working class communities.

Louisiana’s wetlands are eroding at an alarming rate of a football field worth of land an hour. The wetlands are a vital protection against flooding, acting as a sponge during storm surges. With this knowledge the state government should be investing in coastal restoration, not continuing to allow companies like ETP (who have a record of breaking environmental regulation) to bring more harm to communities and the already disappearing coast. Monday July 17th, water protectors kicked off the #risetogether week of action.

In the precious Atchafalaya Basin, water protectors are occupying multiple tree-sits along the pipeline route. Stand in solidarity with those on the front lines: water protectors are asking folks to target banks that nance Energy Transfer Partners and other major pipeline companies:

Bank of America
Citi Bank
JP Morgan Chase
Wells Fargo
Bank of Tokyo
Credit Suisse
Royal Bank of Canada

Organize a solidarity demonstration, letter delivery, disruption, close your accounts at these banks, donate, or sign up to camp! Learn more at nobbp.org

By Sanashihla

Even after the victory of seeing four symbols to white supremacy come down in our lifetime, Take Em Down NOLA continues to elevate awareness about the hundreds of more symbols to white supremacy that litter the landscape of New Orleans. They too need to come DOWN!

Take Em Down NOLA hosted a “Talk About It” Panel Discussion on June 28th, followed up by a “Be About It” Rally and March Demonstration on July 5th, to continue the work to remove symbols to white supremacy.

Take Em Down NOLA is pushing its ordinance forward to remove ALL symbols to white supremacy from New Orleans, as a call to “FINISH THE JOB”, because four was never enough!

Despite billions of dollars that comes to New Orleans, because of this city being the biggest tourist attraction in the world, the reality is most residents are suffering in poverty due to intentional economic exploitation anchored in racial oppression.

This is evident even with the city budget. Out of $647 million dollars approved for the 2018, 63% of it goes to cops, jails, and repressive measures. ONLY 3% goes to children and families, and a measly 1% goes to job development. This is a city where the budget needs to be FLIPPED. New Orleans needs to invest 63% into children, families, and job development proactively. This is not simply something that Mayor Cantrell inherited; she voted in favor of this budget as a councilperson. We need to organize to demand the budget is flipped in 2019 to prioritize children, families and job development.

So why does Take Em Down NOLA focus on removing all symbols to white supremacy from the landscape of our city? They have consistently explained this demand allows the residents of the city to get at the root of the problem. Beyond the symbols are SYSTEMS that keep these racist symbols up and working- class people down. This only happens because elected officials, who have decision making power to control public funds, tax dollars, and policies deny the rights of the people by intentionally compromising with white supremacy, using local and state resources to accommodate and placate the rich ruling class of New Orleans. Take Em Down NOLA exposes this, as the work goes on!

And now, after 300 years of having mayors, even with the first elected Black woman, the residents of New Orleans are seeing how oppression and exploitation maintains its stronghold over a city that brings in at least $8.7 billion dollars in tourism. Oppression and exploitation continue to happen regardless of the gender or race of the mayor. The Mayor should draw a line that says she will not endorse anything that does not bene t the mental, emotional, or physical well being of working class people. Therefore, if the white supremacists are for it, that should be a sign that the majority of the people of New Orleans will lose, symbolically and systematically. So, for the people to win, the people must continue to educate, agitate, and organize our way into the city we want to see, into the world we want to see!

Join Take Em Down NOLA on Thursday, August 23 at 6:00pm for the next RALLY and March demonstration. The rally and march will begin at Lafayette Square, and head to Jackson Square. Join Take Em Down NOLA, as they take it to the streets, and be a part of this next wave of the movement to #TakeEmDownNOLA & #TakeEmDownEverywhere

The Southern Youth Commission is a new organization on the Mississippi gulf coast fighting to take down symbols of white supremacy. On July 28, they held their first rally and march, with support from the Mississippi Rising Coalition, and the Jackson and Hancock County branches of the NAACP. These organizers – some still in high school – brought out progressive community members who braved the heat and rain, marching across the bridge from Biloxi to City Hall in Ocean Springs. The SYC demands that Ocean Springs mayor, Shea Dobson, and the Board of Aldermen remove the racist state flag from all public buildings. Dobson recently caused outrage by flying these flags, despite objections from the community. But the march of July 28 showed that the movement to remove all symbols of white supremacy is building strength.

“Greetings brothers and sisters, I am a revolutionary, social change organizer, and freedom fighter currently incarcerated behind enemy lines at the Louisiana state prison in Angola.

I want to explain to you what Decarcerate Louisiana… Decarcerate Louisiana is a human rights movement, advocating for human rights and human dignity of people inside and outside the prison system.

In order for any of us to be productive and prosper as a people, poverty must go, slavery must go, all conditions and practices, laws and policies that would deny or interfere with our higher development and growth and progress must go. Poverty level wages that make us poor, keep us in debt, make us beggars, make us desperate must go.

Laws like the 13th amendment that abolish slavery but then turn around and make an excuse to impose slavery if a person is convicted of a crime must go. We believe that federal and state constitutions that impose slavery if a person is convicted of a crime is a dirty scheme, an evil plan put forward by modern-day slave traffickers disguised as public officials and big businesses to re-enslave the 2.4 million americans currently being warehoused and forced to work on prison farms across the united states of america.

This is why we are anti-ghetto, anti-slavery, anti-oppression. If you can relate, and you can see the relationship between unjust laws and policies, crooked public officials, corporate greed, unsustainable development practices, ghettos, domestic violence and crime, and how each weaves together as a plan to segregate, marginalize, criminalize, and imprison us, you are awakened to the truth and the true state of affairs in this country. Decarcerate Louisiana is an organization for the people. Please join us in our organizing to change the laws to abolish slavery, and the jails and prisons and to tear down ghettos that serve as a pipeline to prison.

Starting on August 21 and going through September 9, we are calling on prisoners in Angola and throughout the state of Louisiana to go on hunger strike and/or refuse to go to work as slaves in the field, in the kitchen, in the various work factories on the prison farm plantation system. For the whole period from August 21 through September 9, we will conduct a hunger strike and work stoppage in solidarity with the Nationwide Prison Strike and in protest of the 13th Amendment, racist and bigoted courts of law, racist and bigoted parole boards, racist and corrupt prison guards and prison officials, overcrowding in dorms and cellblocks, inadequate medical care, inadequate food, inadequate classification, inadequate shelter, lack of educational opportunities for rehabilitation and reentry, and all the unfair, inhuman and barbaric treatment that characterizes the new system and institution of slavery.

In protest of the exploitation carried out by the corporations that contract with the state to provide us commissary, telephone services, medicine, food and drink through visitation, clubs inside the prison and rodeo twice a year, we will boycott the prison canteen, prison rodeo, and prison phone system.

To become a member or supporter of our organizing work, contact decarceratelouisiana@gmail.com, follow at facebook.com/decarceratelouisiana, or visit decarceratelouisiana.com

All power to the people.”

By Malcolm Suber

Creating a revolutionary culture that highlights the sacrifices and achievements of freedom fighters is a vital part of the working class struggle for complete emancipation. These commemorative dates allow us to remember as well as to plan for a future free of capitalist oppression and exploitation. Black August is such a commemoration that deserves the support of the working class. This commemoration was created by revolutionary fighters incarcerated in California.

Each year since 1979, organizers from the Black liberation movement (BLM) have used the month of August to focus on the oppressive conditions inside the state run gulags and concentration camps America calls prisons. We concentrate our efforts on the fight to free all political prisoners and to abolish the capitalist prison industrial complex. We struggle to expose the forced slavery conditions that our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and other loved ones who are held captive by the racist legal system. We also celebrate Black August to educate each other about the revolutionaries who have been held in isolation decade after decade.

The historical roots of Black August can be traced to the actions of Jonathan Jackson who was gunned down outside the Marin County courthouse on August 7, 1970 as he attempted to liberate three imprisoned Black Liberation Fighters: James McClain, William Christmas, and Ruchell Magee.

George Jackson was assassinated on August 21, 1971 by San Quentin prison guards. The assassination was a deliberate move on behalf of the US government to eliminate the revolutionary leadership of George Jackson.

Khatari Gaulden was murdered by San Quentin prison guards on August 1, 1978. Khatari was one of the key intellectual architects of the Black August tradition and a prominent leader of the Black Guerilla Family after comrade George was assassinated. He was murdered to eliminate his leadership and destroy the growing prison resistance movement.

In 1979 the first official Black August took place. Supporters wore black armbands on their left arms and studied revolutionary books, particularly those of George Jackson. During the month the brothers did not watch TV or listen to the radio. The use of drugs and alcohol was prohibited, and they held daily exercises to sharpen their minds, bodies and spirits. They honored the collective principles of self-sacrifice and revolutionary discipline needed to advance the struggle for freedom and self-determination of the Black nation. Black August therefore became a commemorative event urging on the BLM to fight for complete freedom.

A sampling of the racist oppression and righteous rebellion and resistance to oppression that defines this commemorative month include:

August 1619 – arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Jamestown, VA

August 1791 – start of the great Haitian revolution

August 30, 1800 – Gabriel Prosser’s Rebellion in Richmond , VA

August 21, 1831 – Nat Turner Rebellion, Southampton County, VA

August, 1963 – March on Washington, DC

August, 1965 – Watts rebellion

August 18, 1971 – Republic of New Africa shootout with FBI, Jackson, MS

August 8, 1978 – Philadelphia police attack MOVE family

August 9, 2014 – Mike Brown murdered by police in Ferguson, MO

It is important that we continue on the revolutionary path set by freedom fighters who made August a month of righteous rebellion. Reaffirm your resolve to struggle until the white supremacist billionaire ruling class is overthrown and the African American Nation is free!

The Supreme Court has only supported progress when a mass movement of the people has forced it to. Their decisions uphold what was won in the street and are mainly an effort to stop the struggle from continuing. The Supreme Court was forced to uphold the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, despite the fact that more than one of the “honorable” justices—what a joke— were members of the KKK. This decision was not made out of respect for the law, or because the Democratic Party had any say in it, but because the mass movement and sacrifice of the people willed it. The entire American court system is one of the most racist, undemocratic, reactionary, anti-worker, capitalist institutions in the country.

The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy has recently brought concerns over the makeup of the Supreme Court back into the media. The careful balance of justices is often argued about, and worry over who will choose the replacements and who will replace which justices drives election campaigns across the United States. The truth is, no matter which capitalist party chooses the successor to Justice Kennedy, the Court will still be an institution that upholds the interests of the 1%.

As a lifetime-appointed, unelected body of only nine people with nearly absolute power to decide on the laws and policies that a ect our lives, the Court’s decisions cannot be disregarded. People live or die because of Supreme Court decisions. Policies that deny people basic needs have been upheld by the Supreme Court. When they can get away with it, they rule on cases like Citizens United, for which Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, defending the buying and selling of politicians by the super-rich. They overturn the will of the people. Regulations that protect workers have been sold o piece by piece by the courts. With a stroke of their pens, they wipe out civil and economic rights for the people and uphold growing repression, white supremacy and bigotry.

On the other hand, some cases have signaled major victories for the people. Roe V. Wade was won by decades of struggle in the women’s liberation movement; Lawrence V. Texas (which effectively legalized homosexuality) was won because LGBTQ people fought back against horrifying oppression. Each of these victories were fought for in the streets and in the courts. Without the power of the people to counter the arbitrary power of the Court, we would have won nothing from them. Yet after every major Court decision, the mainstream media touts the power of the Courts and ignores the power of the people. They declare the victory of the law, of the lawyers, of the ruling class, but not of the people.

The Supreme Court is not about upholding the constitution (inadequate as it is). The Court is a political institution. Both major parties squabble over the right to pick the next Justice, not because they care about the people, the law, or the Constitution, but because of the power it grants them to look out for their own capitalist benefactors. Cries of “Save the Supreme Court” merely deceive the people. We can expect even more decisions that attack the working majority but this should only make the Court’s illegitimacy more obvious.

Clearly, the capitalist class is determined to destroy every last shred of the limited rights we have won. Whether they’re attacking us with sexism or racism, they will go to any length to push workers further into poverty. But by organizing, by mounting mass resistance, we can push back against these attacks. At the same time, we will create new organizers with a true understanding of our enemy. The will of the people should not be overruled by the whims of nine unelected people who represent the worst of the capitalist class. We call for a Peoples’ Tribunal, elected and recallable by and from the working majority. We call to abolish the Supreme Court, not enhance their authority to commit crimes against the people.