>From: Keith James <keithjame...@yahoo.com> >Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:26:28 -0700 (PDT) >Subject: [Fast4Freedom] Press Conference Friday >-- Pelican Bay State Prison Hunger Strike >Reply-To: fast4free...@yahoogroups.com > > > >Emergency Press Conference: >Support for Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay Prison > >Friday, July 1, 2011 @ 12 noon > > >KRST Unity Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science >7825. S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90047-2728 > >Phone: Contact Keith James @ 213-840-5348 (cell) > > >On July 1, 2011, prisoners in the SHU (Security >Housing Unit) at Pelican Bay State Prison begin >an indefinite hunger strike. There are 5 core >demands (see below). There is an important show >of racial /ethnic unity among the prisoners. > >This emergency press conference, on Friday, July >1, at 12 noon, will show support for these basic >demands from the SHU prisoners. Letters from >hunger striking prisoners in Pelican Bay State >Prison will be read and made available to the >press. The press conference will expose and >condemn indefinite and long term solitary >confinement as torture; as cruel and unusual >punishment (on May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court >ruled that prison conditions in California >violate the Eighth Amendmentâs ban on cruel >and unusual punishment). Pelican Bay State >Prison is considered the âmodelâ nationally >for long-term segregation and isolation. Such >long-term solitary confinement is now widespread >throughout CA and U.S. No one is sentenced in >court to serve their time in isolation (except >in very rare cases) such long-term isolation, >which includes minimuum human contact and >maximum sensory deprivation, is decided by the >prison authorities themselves. This brutality, >aimed at breaking bones and spirit, is nothing >less than crimes against humanity and they are >bbeing carried out every single day at Pelican >Bay State Prison. This press conference will >demand there be no reprisals against the >prisoners and present a vision of support that >will shake society awake on this crucial issue. > > > >Speakers/statements include Rev. Richard Meri Ka >Ra Byrd (KRST Unity Center); Clyde Young >(revolutionary communist and former prisoner); >Fanya Baruti (All of Us or None LA Chapter >Organizer); Gloria Killian (Action Committee for >Women in Prison); Paul Von Blum (professor of >African American Studies, UCLA); Luis Garcia, >Senate Select Committee on California >Correctional Systems (SSCCS); Dylan Rodriguez, >Professor and Chair, Ethnic Studies, University >of CA, Riverside (update to follow); Rev. Dr. >Lewis E. Logan, Ruach Christian Community >Fellowship; Rev. Eugene Williams, Regional >Council of Neighborhood Organizations > >Basic Core Demands From Pelican Bay Prisoners (Security Housing Unit) > > > >1. Eliminate group punishments. Instead, >practice individual accountability. When an >individual prisoner breaks a rule, the prison >often punishes a whole group of prisoners of the >same race. This policy has been applied to keep >prisoners in the SHU indefinitely and to make conditions increasingly harsh. > >2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify >active/inactive gang status criteria. Prisoners >are accused of being active or inactive >participants of prison gangs using false or >highly dubious evidence, and are then sent to >longterm isolation (SHU). They can escape these >tortuous conditions only if they "debrief," that >is, provide information on gang activity. >Debriefing produces false information (wrongly >landing other prisoners in SHU, in an endless >cycle) and can endanger the lives of debriefing prisoners and their families. > >3. Comply with the recommendations of the US >Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) >regarding an end to longterm solitary >confinement. This bipartisan commission >specifically recommended to "make segregation a >last resort" and "end conditions of >isolation." Yet as of May 18, 2011, California >kept 3,259 prisoners in SHUs and hundreds more >in Administrative Segregation waiting for a SHU >cell to open up. Some prisoners have been kept >in isolation for more than thirty years. > >4. Provide adequate food. Prisoners report >unsanitary conditions and small quantities of >food that do not conform to prison >regulations. There is no accountability or >independent quality control of meals. > >5. Expand and provide constructive programs and >privileges for indefinite SHU inmates. The >hunger strikers are pressing for opportunities >âto engage in self-help treatment, education, >religious and other productive >activities..." Currently these opportunities >are routinely denied, even if the prisoners want >to pay for correspondence courses >themselves. Examples of privileges the >prisoners want are: one phone call per week, and >permission to have sweatsuits and watch caps. >(Often warm clothing is denied, though the cells >and exercise cage can be bitterly cold.) All of >the privileges mentioned in the demands are >already allowed at other SuperMax prisons (in >the federal prison system and other states). > > > > > >From: darlene horton <fellasgi...@yahoo.com> >To: "fast4free...@yahoogroups.com" <fast4free...@yahoogroups.com> >Sent: Thu, June 30, 2011 6:23:36 PM >Subject: Re: [Fast4Freedom] Tune in... > > > >Thank you for posting I will be listen. I think >this is the channel that talked about our Lil John. But yes I will be tune in. > >From: JazzyMoe Ahmed <jazzmoe2...@yahoo.com> >To: cdc...@yahoogroups.com; CA Prison News ><californiaprisonn...@yahoogroups.com>; Cali-CDC ><cali-cdc-i...@yahoogroups.com>; Fast4Freedom >Group <fast4free...@yahoogroups.com>; CA-IFC ><ca-...@yahoogroups.com>; IFC <inmatefamilycoun...@yahoogroups.com> >Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 5:34 PM >Subject: [Fast4Freedom] Tune in... > > > > >Are you tuned into the SHU at Pelican Bay State Prison? > >Do you ever imagine yourself living the same >day, day after day, in a dark cage, alone, hurt >inside, lonely with NO view to the outside, >without ample, even digestible food? And do you >imagine yourself left to the mercy of often >sadistic guards who on a whim can do whatever >they will with you? Can you imagine spending >years on end with no human touch? Conditions in >SHUâs are so deplorable that men there have >launched a hunger strike which will go on until their demands have been met. > >Please tune into KPFK, 90.7 fm on Saturday, July >2nd at 1:00 pm for a special show on the Hunger >Strike at Pelican Bay. We will speak to former >prisoners who have tolerated unspeakable >treatment and who have resorted to different >methods of resistance and to the mother of one >of the strike organizers. We will open the >phones to those of you who wish to share your >feelings, ideas and words of solidarity. Once >again, tune into KPFK, 90.7 fm at 1:00 pm for a >special Think Outside the Cage!! > >If you are not from LA, you can listen live at <http://kpfk.org/>KPFK.org. > >geri silva >FACTS Education Fund: >Families to Amend California's Three Strikes >213.746.4844 >Fair Chance Project >213.746.4343 >3982 So Figueroa St #210 >Los Angeles 90037 >424.744.1156 - cell ><http://www.facts1.net/>www.facts1.net >www.fairchanceproject.org > > > > > > >
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