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THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT

MIM Notes 98

March 1995

Electronic Edition

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Get MIM Notes 98 from the Maoist Internationalist 
Movement (MIM), and get the latest in Maoist news 
and analysis - put a revolutionary weapon in your 
hands.

This issue features coverage of the Islamic 
struggle against French imperialism, Israeli 
aggression in Palestine and Clinton's crackdown on 
Islam in the U.S., and the FBI plot against 
Qubilah Shabazz and the Nation of Islam. Also, 
read about the settler who wasted a tagger, 
nuclear bombs, child abuse, and HUD's attack on 
public housing. All that plus culture reviews, 
letters to MIM, and the only Internet source for 
monthly news and analysis from revolutionaries 
behind the walls of Amerikan prisons.

MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the 
world's oppressed majority, and against the 
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in 
the service of the people. Struggle with it and 
write for it.

MIM Notes 98 includes:

CONTENTS

 1. ALGERIANS FIGHT FRENCH IMPERIALISM
 2. COINTELPRO HITS SHABAZZ, NATION OF ISLAM
 3. MEXICO: ALL OUT WAR DECLARED ON ZAPATISTAS
 4. WHO GOVERNS?
 5. SETTLER WASTES TAGGER IN CALIFORNIA
 6. ISO SECTARIANS ATTACK MIM
 7. ISRAELI AGGRESSION DISPELS ILLUSIONS OF PEACE
 8. CLINTON'S "EVENHANDEDNESS" EXPOSED AS SHAM
 9. REMEMBER GENOCIDE IN HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
10. CONTROL UNIT TORTURE EXPOSED
11. BOMBSHELL: THE DEATH OF PUBLIC HOUSING
12. CHILD ABUSE: "SOCIAL SERVICES" ATTACK
    INTERNAL COLONIES, NOT ABUSE
13. REVIEW: DOWNSET TAPE AND ZINE
14. FILM REVIEW: BLUE KITE
15. LETTERS TO MIM
16. UNDER LOCK & KEY


* * *

ALGERIANS CONTINUE FIGHT AGAINST
FRENCH IMPERIALISM

The January 30 car-bombing in Algiers that killed 
thirty-eight people and wounded 256 caught the 
attention of the New York Times, but its cover 
photo drew attention to only a tiny fraction of 
the blood shed in the past three years in 
Algeria's civil war.(1) Thousands die every month 
as Islamic anti-French militants and the comprador 
regime wage war. The government has France's 
monetary and military support, but the rebels have 
the support of the people.

While rightist French opinion clamors against the 
popularly-backed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) 
claiming the front wants to create another Iran, 
it ignores the very real concerns of the Algerian 
people who look to the FIS as a better alternative 
on many issues beyond religion. While the rebels' 
Islamic agenda is in many ways as patriarchal as 
the current regime (both sides give women the 
status of minors(2)), it is still a better 
alternative than the current compradors who seek 
nothing but exploiting Algeria's resources to the 
benefit of the imperialists and a tiny national 
minority. 

The war in Algeria continues despite the rounds of 
peace talks in Rome. While some observers still 
hope that the bloodshed - now estimated at one 
thousand per week(3) - will end, neither side is 
keeping its promises made around the diplomatic 
table. Advertisements in the streets of Algiers 
from the Islamic Army Group (GIA) - the most 
militant force in Algeria - warn that those who 
fight "with the pen" perish "by the two-edged 
sword."(4) 

The GIA and FIS have been at war with the 
government since 1992 when the government 
nullified free elections. The anti-French Islamic 
FIS received huge support in the ballot boxes, 
winning 47.5% of the votes in the first round, so 
the government cut off that avenue to them.(5) And 
now, three years and 35,000 deaths later, the 
French government continues its assistance for the 
comprador regime.(6)

Security forces fight in almost every province in 
Algeria. The fighting has perhaps an even greater 
intensity than the bloody Algerian war of 
independence. The government uses napalm to 
eradicate the countryside of Islamic strongholds, 
even while the fires rage over kilometers of 
forest to the Tunisian border. According to many 
witnesses, entire villages have been razed, the 
harvests destroyed and hundreds of "suspects" have 
been executed. This reign of terror perpetrated by 
40-50,000 troops is deemed necessary to control 
what the military calls "useful Algeria": the 
large urban centers and petroleum zones.(7)

The Algerian government continues making pleas to 
France in desperation. One general reports that 
"Algeria does not have the resources, finances, or 
the moral to persevere long in this way. Even if 
we suppose there are new means, new arms [France 
just gave helicopters and night-vision equipment], 
new methods of struggle, will that stop the 
violence and guarantee a return to stability?"(8)

The "eradication" campaigns are reminiscent of de 
Gaulle's *carte blanche* for his generals in 1959 
at the height of the Algerian war of independence. 
But this time, the Algerian generals have even 
less popular support than de Gaulle's troops did. 
Their only comfort is the all-out support of 
France. Algeria's former colonizer has been 
increasing deliveries of sophisticated military 
equipment to the Algerian state.(9)

France claims that it does not take sides and 
supports elections. According to France's Foreign 
Affairs Minister, "The only party that France 
supports in Algeria is that of democracy".(10) But 
actions speak louder than words. The justification 
for continuing aid is that if it were to cut off 
this aid, which has been the lifeblood of the 
oppressive regime, it would be supporting the 
rebel groups. This is of course true in that 
without France's support, the Algerian government 
would fall in short order. The French are 
terrified of Islamic rule in their former colony 
that would push French imperialist interests out 
of Algeria. MIM doubts that the French would be 
kicked out entirely (only communist revolutions 
can do that), but the FIS will surely make 
business there more difficult and less profitable.

Paris is very much a part of the war. While French 
security forces were successful in preventing the 
GIA high-jacking of a plane said to be headed to 
explode over the city, the nerves of Parisians 
were rattled nonetheless. The French are now 
looking more skeptically at their government's 
blind support of Algeria's powers that be. But 
they fear waves of refugees will pour out of 
Algeria if there is a change in power. The 
patriotic rallying for keeping Algeria French-
controlled that brought de Gaulle to power when 
the Algerian anti-colonial revolution was raging 
has morphed into a First World chauvinism that is 
leaning toward Amerika's more conciliatory 
approach.

Amerika is quietly urging dialogue between the 
government and the FIS because it realizes that 
the popular support is insurmountable.(11) It 
hopes that the more fundamentalist GIA can be 
marginalized by opening relations with moderates 
in the FIS. This is not to say that Amerika cares 
what the Algerian people want, it just wants to 
get cozy with Algeria's future rulers in hopes to 
cheaply salvage what imperialist interests it can.

The FIS has been extremely cautious not to damage 
U.S. oil facilities in Algeria because Amerikan 
assistance for the government would be a huge 
force to counter. And because of this tactical 
imperative, it is difficult to discern what the 
FIS would do about U.S. imperialism after it 
gained power.

Algerian President Zeroual has promised 
presidential elections at the end of 1995. Non-
committal reports say that the GIA has claimed 
responsibility for the January 30 car-bombing, and 
it will likely be cited as an excuse to delay 
elections still longer. The GIA, which has taken 
responsibility for somewhat similar things in the 
past (although none killed more than 5 people), 
has not officially taken responsibility. The 
government has every interest in trying to deter 
support for the revolutionaries at any price and 
may well be masquerading as its enemies in order 
to gain even a tiny shred of public support. 

The consensus in Algeria and internationally is 
quite sure that its future is Islamic.(12) The 
questions remain of when the war will end, how 
decisively France will be defeated, and how far 
forward the FIS will take the people. The Islamic 
program is much weaker than the Marxist one since 
it does not necessarily incorporate feminism and 
an understanding of the class struggle into the 
national struggle. MIM supports the FIS's 
liberation struggle insofar as it is anti-
imperialist while looking to the people of Algeria 
to go beyond national liberation and bring 
equality to the people.

NOTES:
 1. New York Times 1/31/95, p. 1.
 2. Middle East Report 1-2/95, p. 8.
 3. L'Express, 1/19/95, p. 15.
 4. L'Express, 1/5/95, p. 10.
 5. Ibid., p. 12.
 6. For a history of the origins of the struggle 
    in Algeria, see MIM Notes 62, 3/92.
 7. L'Express 1/5/95, p. 11.
 8. L'Express 1/5/95, p. 12.
 9. Middle East Report 1-2/95, p. 4.
10. L'Express 1/19/95, p. 15.
11. Middle East Report 1-2/95, p. 4.
12. Middle East Report 1-2/95, p. 7.

* * *

COINTELPRO HITS QUBILAH SHABAZZ, NATION OF ISLAM

In January, the U.S. government's semi-secret 
political police force, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI), arrested Malcolm X's 
daughter, Qubilah Shabazz. They accuse her of 
hiring Michael Kevin Fitzpatrick, aka Michael 
Summers, to assassinate Nation of Islam leader 
Louis Farrakhan.(1) The imperialist media seized 
upon this story to promote the idea that Louis 
Farrakhan was behind Malcolm X's murder.

MIM has criticized Farrakhan for supporting the 
assassination of Malcolm X. Farrakhan has admitted 
to being among those who "created an atmosphere 
that allowed Malcolm to be assassinated." To MIM's 
knowledge, however, he has not made self-criticism 
for this, but instead said, "Was Malcolm your 
traitor or was he ours? And if we dealt with him 
like a nation deals with a traitor, what the hell 
business is it of yours?"(2)

But for the FBI and the imperialist media to point 
their bloody fingers at Farrakhan for *anything* - 
let alone the assassination they committed(3) - is 
the height of hypocrisy.

Furthermore, the case against Shabazz is 
incredibly weak. The Los Angeles Times has exposed 
her accuser, Fitzpatrick, as an unreliable scumbag 
with a sordid history. According to the LA Times 
and its sources, Fitzpatrick is a switchblade-
collecting, handgun-carrying, crack-addicted 
former bomber for the Jewish Defense League (JDL) 
who was thousands of dollars in debt just a few 
months ago.(1)

In 1977, Fitzpatrick was convicted on charges of 
tossing a pipe bomb into the Four Continents, a 
Soviet bookstore in New York, on the JDL's behalf. 
In 1978, under the leadership of FBI agent Dan 
Scott, Fitzpatrick entrapped some folks who split 
from the JDL, accusing them of participation in a 
bomb plot he initiated.(1)

In 1986, he got himself kicked out of a 
Minneapolis anarchist collective for urging the 
collective "to abandon its street-theater tactics 
for more militant action. To mark Election Day, 
Fitzpatrick suggested 'some sort of attack on a 
polling place with guns or Molotov cocktails.'" 
One collective member says, "I remember him 
because we were suspicious of everyone, but he's 
the only one we actually kicked out."(1)

This past summer, Fitzpatrick admitted that he was 
smoking crack. He was thousands of dollars in 
debt. And he called up his old boss from the FBI, 
agent Dan Scott. Today, Qubilah Shabazz is in 
federal custody, while Michael Fitzpatrick is part 
of the federal witness protection program.(1)

 - MC49

NOTES:
1. Los Angeles Times 1/20/95, pp. A1, A20. 
2. MIM Notes 87, 4/94, p. 4. Boston Globe 3/11/94,
   p. 1, 14.
3. On this point, see *The Assassination of
   Malcolm X*, by George Breitman, Herman Porter
   and Baxter Smith, Pathfinder Press, NY.

* * *

MEXICO: ALL OUT WAR DECLARED ON ZAPATISTAS

President Zedillo of Mexico declared all out war 
on the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) 
and called off peace talks on February 8th. This 
hard line stance led to quick praise from the 
imperialists and was immediately followed by a 
large economic bailout aid package of over 50 
billion dollars, mostly from the United States and 
the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Zedillo has sent over 50,000 soldiers into Chiapas 
to wage this war on the EZLN. Chiapas is bordered 
by Guatemala on one side and just across this 
border are thousands more troops from the 
Guatemalan army (many financed by the Mexican 
government) cutting off any escape for the 
Zapatistas. Already the ruling PRI government in 
Mexico has arrested leaders of the Zapatistas and 
there is every indication that those arrested are 
being tortured. 

Zedillo claims that this attack on the EZLN is 
necessary because he has discovered new evidence 
that "has allowed us to prove that the origin, 
nature of the leadership, and the purposes of this 
organization are not popular, nor indigenous, nor 
from Chiapas." He went on to say, in a speech on 
February 9th "In order to protect the population, 
to prevent new illegal and violent acts by the 
EZLN, the government must immediately assume its 
constitutional mandate to preserve the safety of 
all Mexicans and preserve social peace." This 
"mandate" seems to include attacking all human 
rights groups in Mexico judging from the property 
destruction and arrests carried out by the PRI 
soldiers in the few days after this speech.

These claims by Zedillo are proven false by the 
5000 people who attended the National Democratic 
Convention February 3-5 in support of the national 
organization that the EZLN initiated. Zedillo is 
mocked by the huge marches and protests by the 
people of Mexico, both against the U.S. 
imperialist bailout aid and in support of the 
peoples struggles against the government. However, 
statements by Mexican supporters of the EZLN 
suggest that it is a pacifist organization that 
does not intend to fight an armed struggle for 
national liberation. Instead the EZLN calls for a 
national plebiscite on the February 26 and wishes 
to continue negotiations with the government of 
Mexico to achieve liberation through concessions 
from the imperialists.

MIM believes that there are times when 
negotiations with the imperialists are useful to 
demonstrate the bankruptcy of imperialism and to 
gain concessions from a position of power, but 
historically it has been demonstrated that laying 
down arms in favor of negotiations with the 
imperialists does not lead to national liberation. 
The hypocrisy and bloodthirst of the Mexican 
government has been revealed clearly for the 
people to see. To sweep away this imperialist 
disease that murders so many people the only 
solution is a revolutionary national liberation 
struggle. Although many people die in armed 
struggle, many more die of starvation, preventable 
diseases and murder at the hands of the 
imperialists.

NOTES: Apoyo, the publication of the Mexico 
Emergency Response Network, February 1995. And 
talk given by Luisa Camara, sponsored by the same 
organization.

* * *

WHO GOVERNS?

Black people were just 2.8% of all local elected 
officials in the country in 1992, according to a 
new report by the U.S. Census Bureau. "Hispanics" 
are another 1.4%, and First Nation members are 
0.4%. The percentages are only for those 
localities reporting the demographics of their 
elected officials. Women are 24% of elected local 
officials. School boards were the least white 
dominated, with 3.8% being Black. Women are 31.2% 
of school board members.

While the white nation squawks at every visible 
advance by nonwhites, these and other figures make 
it clear that white power in the electoral arena 
is hardly tottering.

 - MC12

NOTE: "Number of elected officials exceeds half 
million," Bureau of the Census press release 
1/30/95. Available on the Internet at 
gopher.census.gov.

* * *

SETTLER WASTES TAGGER IN CALIFORNIA

SUN VALLEY, CA - William Masters II shot two 
Mexican youth on January 31, killing one. The 
crime that earned Cesar Rene Arce, 18, the death 
penalty from a vigilante? Tagging support columns 
under the Hollywood freeway. 

The distinction between the settler and the 
garrison troops is mighty thin, and Masters was no 
exception. He took down their license plate 
number; Arce and David Hillo, 20, demanded he give 
them the paper with the plate number. Masters 
pulled a gun and shot them in the back as they 
turned to run. Hillo was shot in the leg, and Arce 
bled to death.

Tagging is becoming a battle ground in California 
for the rounding up of oppressed nation youth. 
There are huge programs in L.A. to round up 
oppressed-nation youth under the rubric of 
"tagging." "[P]olice agencies throughout Southern 
California have turned to the citizenry, arming 
neighborhood recruits with cameras and crime 
report forms to gather evidence against the 
elusive taggers." 

The white nation hates the taggers because their 
work is so visible. Said the LA Times: "You can 
rob a store 11 times and nobody will notice when 
they drive by, but you tag a wall and everybody 
will know a crime has been committed."

Masters has gotten some criticism - for not having 
a gun permit, but he has gotten a lot of positive 
coverage for his past as a U.S. Marine (where he, 
undoubtedly, learned the fine art of murdering the 
oppressed). Masters gets away with saying "I'm a 
Marine, [and I'll] take as many of the enemy with 
me [as I have to]."

"Law Enforcement experts" say that Masters is not 
alone: "Like racial slurs, urban graffiti provokes 
deep psychic turmoil that can push usually placid 
people to verbal excess and even violence...."

It is important to note that Masters will not be 
prosecuted for the shooting. Prosecutors believe 
it would be impossible to get a jury conviction, 
because they believe that Masters' fear for his 
life was reasonable. Yeah right, like two 
oppressed nation youth running away are a threat. 
Unless, of course, their very existence as 
oppressed people is a threat to the white nation.

NOTE: L.A. Times 2/5/95.


ATTN: TAGGERS - IF YOU GET ARRESTED...

In many areas, graffiti is a crime, and people are 
being busted for the mere possession of the 
"tools": paint brushes, markers, etc. As expected, 
people are also getting arrested for things they 
didn't do. 

MIM is running a public service announcement below 
to let taggers (and others) know what to do (and 
what not to do) when arrested. 

MIM must also add two additional notes of 
prevention: Avoid drawing attention to yourself. 
There is no need to make the pigs focus on *you*. 
This includes not breaking the law when you can 
help it - including not tagging. Revolutionaries 
avoid unnecessary confrontations with the state, 
so we can win bigger battles latter. Tagging just 
isn't worth it.

Two, remember that the only defense against 
settler and pig violence is revolution. 

What to do if you are arrested:

# Do NOT give out any information beyond your name
  and address.

# Do NOT answer any questions the cops ask. 

# Do NOT believe the cops that you will get off
  easy if you help them out - you won't and you
  could get your friends picked up if you tell the
  pigs anything about anyone else.

# Do NOT think that admitting to doing something
  minor will get you out of a charge of doing
  something major. Just don't admit to anything.

# Do call a lawyer right away. Call the ACLU and
  ask for free legal help.

# Do publicize your case, especially if you were
  framed for something you didn't do or if you
  were picked up for some bogus charge like
  possession of markers or paint to be used in the
  destruction of property. Cases like this can be
  won and can make it harder for the pigs to
  harass people in the future. Write to MIM about
  your case so we can get the word out and help
  with publicity.

* * *

ISO SECTARIANS ATTACK MIM

February 7 - Members of the International 
Socialist Organization (ISO) prevented a MIM 
distributor from selling papers to, or speaking 
with, participants in a recent protest in 
Springfield, MA. The event, organized by ISO front 
group the "Ben Schoolfield Coalition" picketed the 
Springfield police station in protest of the 
murder by off-duty pig Donald Brown of Black 
resident Ben Schoolfield.(1)

On this first anniversary of the killing, ISO 
members and some community residents, marched in 
circles chanting things like "Hey hey, Ho ho, 
Racist cops have got to go." When the MIM 
distributor approached a woman standing on the 
outskirts of the crowd and tried to sell her a 
paper, an ISO person promptly interjected, 
accusing MIM of not supporting, and trying to 
ruin, the event. Another ISO member was then sent 
over to physically obstruct the MIM distributor 
from approaching the circle or people gathered 
around its periphery.

MIM explicitly does not try to disrupt the events 
or meetings of other sectarian or mass 
organizations.(2) We also don't restrict other 
organizations from distributing literature at our 
events. Unlike the ISO, MIM believes that there is 
a science to revolution, and that by encouraging 
the masses to check out competing ideas, progress 
can be achieved. We don't hide the existence of 
other organizations from our members and recruits. 
We have strategic confidence in the masses' 
ability to make materialist decisions regarding 
the best way forward. 

MIM didn't sponsor the protest because we don't 
believe in accepting the leadership of 
revisionists who argue that the white nation and 
the internal colonies are on the same side; and we 
don't believe in pretending that the U.S. justice 
system can be reformed. 

When the marching subsided, and the crowd moved 
from the narrow sidewalk to a more spacious area 
to listen to some speakers, the MIM distributor 
was physically obstructed and pushed by an ISO 
member. When the physical nature of the struggle 
became apparent to some who were standing by, a 
man began yelling at the ISO member: "That's not 
what I thought socialism is!"  He attracted 
attention to the struggle, and caused the ISO 
member to temporarily abandon his post. While the 
MIM distributor had a couple of free seconds , 
s/he spoke with another ISO member from a 
different area, who dismissed the sectarian 
behavior as a regional problem, not indicative of 
their movement as a whole.

Yeah, right. The more sympathetic ISO member ended 
up getting a public berating on the meaning of 
centralism from the hyper-sectarian leader.

NOTES:
1. See MIM Notes 91 8/94, p. 5 for coverage of the
   murder and initial protests. $1.
2. See "Lessons on single issue organizing" in
   What is MIM? p. 14. $2.

* * *

ISRAELI AGGRESSION DISPELS ILLUSIONS OF PEACE

by MC12

Palestinian bombings and presidential summits 
dominate the Amerikan headlines, but the story of 
post-PLO-surrender Palestine is a story of 
increasing Israeli expansion and aggression - 
against a Palestinian nation united behind Islamic 
organizations. The imperialists and their allies 
screamed "terrorism" as Islamic commandos took out 
20 Israeli soldiers in a calculated bombing 
attack.(1) One civilian died - fewer than Israel 
nonchalantly kills in one day of routine bombing 
in Lebanon. This attack was a legitimate attack 
against a military target - not terrorism.

Two weeks later, state leaders from Israel, 
Jordan, Egypt and the Palestine Liberation 
Organization met to work on a united plan to 
oppose Islamic revolutionaries. Israeli Foreign 
Minister Shimon Peres said the summit represents 
"a coalition that supports peace and it includes 
both Arabs and Jews."(1) The alleged target is 
Islam, but the real target is self-determination 
for the oppressed Arab peoples.

This new coalition may expand further. The once-
progressive Algerian government has now proposed 
that Algeria and Israel work together to combat 
Islamic fundamentalism.(2)

These supporters of "peace" have taken great 
advantage of peace with the PLO. That agreement, 
the final capitulation of the PLO, left the door 
wide open for greater Israeli expansion.(3) The 
Israeli army has not left the territories it was 
supposed to relinquish in the weak-kneed deal. 
Since Yitzhak Rabin (the  supposedly liberal Labor 
Party leader) took office in 1992, there have been 
3,350 housing starts in the territories, according 
to the government.(4) The state still gives 
settlers in the territories a 7% tax break, as 
their construction projects are officially a 
"national priority."(5) The Cabinet has declared 
development of greater Jerusalem as one of its 
highest priorities.(6)

In total, Israel has seized 40,000 acres of land 
(16,000 hectares) in the occupied territories 
since the Oslo agreement in 1993. This has 
consolidated a belt of settlements around 
Jerusalem. They have pushed the Green Line (the 
old 1967 border) east, further into the West Bank. 
They are building a network of roads in the West 
Bank that are off-limits to Palestinians (for 
"security" reasons) - carving up Palestinian 
land.(7) The Israeli Cabinet recently approved 
construction of 3,000 more homes in existing 
settlements in the territories.(8) Five thousand 
Palestinians prisoners are still in Israeli 
jails.(1)

Even so, persistent guerrilla attacks within 
Israel have the Labor government on the defensive 
over its support for the non-peace process. The 
more right-wing Likud party is ahead in opinion 
polls 50-28%.(9)

In response to the bombing of Israeli soldiers in 
January, Rabin called for "separation" between 
Israelis and Palestinians.(10) This means 
maintaining the occupation of Palestinian land 
while increasing efforts to control and contain 
Palestinian people. The plan - under development 
by a special committee - would involve building 
more fences around Palestinians, and trying to 
replace Palestinian workers in Israel with 
different foreign laborers.(11) Already, more than 
half of the non-Israeli workers in Israel are 
migrant workers from Asia or Eastern Europe.(8)

As part of the "separation," Israel sees the 
creation of "industrial parks," or labor camps for 
Palestinians. Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin 
says Israel can't just fire all the Palestinians 
who work in Israel now, because the economic 
crisis that caused would lead to more war. 
Instead, he said, in the next few years, he wants 
"industrial parks" between Israel and Gaza and the 
West bank, "in which we will be able to utilize 
the relatively cheap manpower available in Gaza 
without the necessity of large numbers of 
Palestinians working in Israel."(14) President 
Clinton has said he supports the idea of 
"industrial zones" for Palestinian labor, and 
would try to help encourage Amerikan companies to 
set up shop in them.(15)

Already, a one-year project is underway to build a 
34 mile (54 km) fence around Gaza. Although that 
project is constantly set back by Palestinian 
sabotage, the "separation" plan might include a 
312 mile (500 km) fence system.(12) That system 
would represent an official annexation beyond the 
Green Line, as the Israeli side of the fence would 
include land settled in the territories.(7)

In his speech announcing the new policy, Rabin 
declared that not only will Jerusalem "remain 
united forever," but that under "separation," "the 
security border of the State of Israel will be 
situated on the Jordan River."(6)

The Likud party and the rest of the Israeli right 
oppose this plan, because they think it will lead 
to independent Palestinian territory - what's left 
of that territory by the time Israel finishes 
expanding, if anything. They also see it as a weak 
response to terrorism. Rather than pull back 
behind fences, Likud wants Israel to expand the 
practice of collective punishment by expelling the 
families of Islamic martyrs from Palestine, by 
increasing the use of detention without trial, and 
banning Palestinian motor vehicles from 
Israel.(12)

While expanding its territory, Israel has also 
used the non-peace process to improve its 
international image and gain economic benefits. 
Besides better relations with comprador Arab 
powers, Israel will soon have diplomatic relations 
with the genocidal regime in Indonesia. And the 
U.S. State Department's most recent human rights 
report is much more favorable to Israel.(13)

The facts of Israeli aggression under new 
conditions are the fruits of the PLO capitulation. 
As Palestinians increasingly unite behind Islamic 
leadership, however, there is potential for more 
positive developments. Under the leadership of the 
PLO, the Palestinian movement was tied to the 
Soviet Union and the Arab state powers in the 
region. That meant they were tied to Soviet 
imperialism. Now, Palestinians may be united with 
other masses out of power across the Arab world - 
and against the comprador national governments 
that seek to repress them.

While MIM obviously does not share the full agenda 
of the Islamic movement, we do recognize this as a 
powerful force for the genuine anti-imperialist 
struggles of the Arab and Muslim masses of the 
Middle East. As such, we support their victories 
against U.S. imperialism and its allies.

NOTES:
 1. Washington Post 2/3/95, p. A23.
 2. Israel Line 1/31/95. Israel Line is put out by
    the Israeli Information Service of the Foreign
    Ministry. Its information is available on the
    Internet through gopher at:
    israel.info.gov.il, or ftp at the same
    address.
 3. See MIM Notes 81, 10/93.
 4. Jerusalem Post International Edition 2/4/95,
    p. 3
 5. JPIE 2/4/95, p. 4.
 6. Israel Line 1/23/95.
 7. Economist 1/21/95, pp. 41-2.
 8. Newsweek 2/6/95, p. 33.
 9. JPIE 2/4/94, p. 1.
10. Israel Line 2/2/95.
11. Israel Line 1/30/95.
12. JPIE 2/4/95, p. 6.
13. Israel Line 2/2/95.
14. Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin, speaking
    1/31/95. Israeli Information Service 2/8/95.
15. Israel Line 2/14/95.

* * *

CLINTON'S "EVENHANDEDNESS" EXPOSED AS SHAM

In his State of the Union address in January, U.S. 
President Clinton announced his order to freeze 
the assets of Middle Eastern "terrorists." 
Apparently the neo-colonial Middle East "peace 
plan" was not enough to pacify the Palestinian 
masses.

Clinton's January 24 order "authorizes federal 
agencies to identify and freeze the accounts of 
U.S.-based charities they believe are funneling 
money to Middle Eastern groups engaged in armed 
opposition to" the PLO's sell-out. "The order 
names 12 such groups, including Hamas, Islamic 
Jihad, and the Democratic and Popular Fronts for 
the Liberation of Palestine. The administration 
won't say which charities it suspects give money 
to those groups, leaving American Muslims 
alarmed.... It is generally believed that Hamas, a 
militant Islamic Palestinian organization ... is 
front and center in the administration's 
sights....

"The administration plans to follow Clinton's 
order with legislation making it a crime to 
contribute to the 12 banned organizations. 
According to Forward, a [Zionist] New York Jewish 
newspaper, the new law is also expected to provide 
for easier surveillance of suspected supporters of 
'terrorist' groups....

"Clinton's order also named two venomously anti-
Arab, anti-peace Jewish groups previously banned 
by Israel: Kahane Chai and Kach. But a spokesman 
for Kach - one of whose members executed 29 
Palestinian worshipers at a Hebron mosque last 
year - told the Associated Press that the group's 
U.S. supporters were tipped off to the freeze 
several weeks ago and cleared out Kach's bank 
accounts."

 - MC49

NOTE: L.A. Weekly 2/3/95, pp. 11, 16.

* * *

REMEMBER THE GENOCIDE OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

The Smithsonian Institute recently withdrew an 
exhibit documenting the atomic bombings of 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Amerikan WWII 
veterans and members of Congress protested. The 
exhibit included photographs of the devastation 
caused by the bombings and personal artifacts from 
those killed in the bombings. It also questioned 
the necessity of the bombings and suggested that 
Amerikan racism and desire for revenge were behind 
the bombings. The veterans' groups criticized the 
exhibit for underestimating the number of U.S. 
troops saved by dropping the bomb and for 
downplaying the bomb's role in the struggle 
against fascism.(1)

MIM just wants to set the record straight: 
Dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did 
nothing to aid the fight against Japanese fascism, 
and did not hasten the end of the war, but was 
rather the first battle of the Cold War.

Japan had already sued for peace in March 1945, on 
one condition: that the emperor retain his title. 
Truman rejected this offer. Two atomic bombs 
later, Truman accepted the same offer. The emperor 
kept his title.Truman later declared that he 
dropped the bombs in order to save the lives of "a 
half million" U.S. soldiers who would have died in 
an invasion of the Japanese islands - 
contradicting reports which estimated that U.S. 
casualties in an invasion would be between 40,000 
and 50,000. Oh, yeah, and contradicting the fact 
that an invasion was not necessary to get the 
Japanese to surrender. 

While MIM sees that Amerikan racism made it easier 
to justify the bombings, we do not consider this 
the main reason for its use. The United States 
hoped to use the weapon to intimidate its main 
enemy at the time (the Soviet Union) and to back 
up the expansion of its own empire. With German 
fascism defeated, Amerika was freed up to focus on 
the enemy it had hoped Germany would destroy: the 
Soviet Union. The alliance that had been necessary 
to resist fascism in Europe and the Pacific broke 
apart quickly because alliance between 
imperialists and socialists can only be temporary.  
Imperialism cannot survive when socialism has 
strong base areas for revolution.

Secretary of War Stimson said that the new bomb 
would make "Russia more manageable in Europe." 
Stimson again: "I hope the hell [Stalin] doesn't 
come in [to the Pacific theater]." The Hiroshima 
bomb was dropped on August 8th, days before the 
Soviets attacked Manchuria.(2)

NOTES:
1. NPR, All Things Considered, 2/3/95.
2. Walter LaFeber, *The American Age*.

* * *

CONTROL UNIT TORTURE EXPOSED

In Boston, MIM and the Revolutionary Anti-
Imperialist League (RAIL) recently sponsored a  
showing of the movie *Through the Wire* at which 
members of the National Committee to Free Puerto 
Rican POWs and Political Prisoners gave an update 
on control units in the U.S. *Through the Wire* 
documents the use of the Lexington control unit 
against three women political prisoners: an 
Amerikan, Susan Rosenberg, a Puerto Rican, 
Alejandrina Torres (who considers herself a 
prisoner of war), and an Italian, Silvia 
Baraldini. Control Units are maximum security 
areas within a prison where the prisoners are 
subject to forms of torture that include forced 
waking every hour or half hour, extremely bright 
lights, little to no exercise, solitary 
confinement, physical abuse, and constant 
surveillance by cameras, even in the showers. 

The three women featured in the movie were put in 
the control unit because of their anti-Amerikan 
political beliefs and were kept there for 2 years. 
Only after extensive political agitation and 
protest was the control unit in Lexington finally 
shut down and these women transferred. The movie 
showed that the reason these women were in the 
units was not for "security" but to punish them 
for their political ideology. They had been 
offered release only if they would renounce their 
beliefs.

One comrade from the Committee to Free Puerto 
Rican POWs and Political Prisoners had just 
visited Alejandrina Torres and Silvia Baraldini 
the day before the movie was shown. Both women are 
now in prison in Danbury, Connecticut and doing 
well. They are still recovering from the torture 
in the control units and encouraged their comrade 
not to talk about them after the film but instead 
to focus on the control units that now exist in 36 
states (they were only in 4 when the film was 
made). 

In particular, Alejandrina Torres wanted to point 
to the conditions of another comrade, Oscar Lopez 
Riviera, who is now at the Florence, Colorado 
Control Unit after 7 and 1/2 years in a 22 hour a 
day lock down in Marion, Illinois. The Puerto 
Rican comrade read a letter he received from Oscar 
in mid-January who wrote (translated from 
Spanish):

"The physical plant [at Florence] is a sensory 
deprivation maze. Here what the prisoners see is 
cement and iron. Everything is painted bone-like 
white. Different from Marion, the prisoner here 
can't socialize with other prisoners. They can't 
share a stamp or a cup of coffee. Therefore they 
have tried to eliminate the solidarity factor 
fully. The prisoner depends on the jailer for 
everything. They are at the mercy of an entity 
with a dead mind and conscience. The worst thing 
is the sleep deprivation. Until today I haven't 
slept one night feeling rested and relaxed. The 
noise they make wakes me up. But also they wake me 
up with the light of a flashlight at my face and 
knocking on the window. The recreation is almost 
torture. If I go out (to an area covered with iron 
and wire on top and cement-made walls) and I try 
to run I have problems. It has been constructed 
unleveled. Thus, one side of the body is always 
higher than the other. There is no water to drink. 
The toilet doesn't work...."

The Puerto Rican comrade pointed out that the 
Lexington control unit was shut down after huge 
protests and publicity campaigns. It was through 
the efforts of concerned people on the outside 
that this small victory was possible. He stressed 
the importance of continued vigilance and protest 
against the growing number of control units. By 
making these atrocities public and bringing bad 
publicity to a prison we can help the comrades 
inside.

People who came to the event were concerned about 
the benefit that people in Amerikan society 
receive from the exploitation of other peoples. 
One woman pointed out that just by buying clothing 
you are taking a part in this exploitation which 
used cleap labor to make the clothes. The Puerto 
Rican comrade responded that if people take action 
to oppose the oppression and exploitation of 
imperialism then they can not be faulted for 
buying clothing or food, it is only by doing 
nothing to change the system that you are 
complicit in exploitation and murder. He told us 
that the women who had been in Lexington had 
refused to take part in some government work they 
were told to do because it involved work that was 
tied to the construction of weapons for the 
government. If these women could resist while in 
prison, those on the outside have a real 
responsibility to do all they can to help out.

A MIM representative suggested that if people 
wanted to get involved in work with the prisoners 
they should work with us to respond to the many 
letters prisoners send to MIM asking for 
literature and political information and struggle. 
The Puerto Rican comrade pointed out that everyone 
who gets involved with work to free political 
prisoners inevitably become very political 
themselves because it is very hard to ignore what 
you see going on in these prisons and it is 
inspirational to see the struggle of the 
prisoners.

* * *

BOMBSHELL: THE DEATH OF PUBLIC HOUSING

by Ulcer in the Beast's Belly

On December 19, the U.S. Department of Housing and 
Urban Development published a document called 
Reinvention Blueprint. The detailed position paper 
accurately characterizes the network of public 
housing authorities as, "a system [that] simply 
does not work."(p. 3) HUD then spells out a plan 
to make public housing even worse.

# *Reinvention* proposes to consolidate the
  management of the 60 existing HUD programs into
  three programs. Among other earthshaking
  changes proposed to become federal housing law,
  HUD's final attack on three million public
  housing tenants is clearly stated in white,
  black and brown.

# "We would convert operating subsidies for public
  housing agencies to rental assistance for
  residents, who would be given the choice to
  stay where they are or move to apartments in
  the private rental market. Public housing
  agencies would then be compelled to compete in
  the market place for low-income residents.(p. 3)

# "One of the greatest challenges to Amerika's
  urban future is the need to lessen the
  concentrations of poor populations that have
  become the responsibility of only the central
  cities in our metropolitan areas."(p. 5)

# "*Reinvention* would consolidate all current
  public housing, assisted housing and Section 8
  rental assistance programs into one fund that
  provides Housing Certificates for Families and
  individuals.... who would have 'the power to
  move' [according] to the discipline of the
  marketplace."(p. 7)

# "Public housing agencies would continue to
  administer rental assistance programs only if
  selected by their local and state governments."
  (p. 8)

# "Operating and capital subsidies for housing
  authorities would be converted to Housing
  Certificates ... [to] support families that are
  working ... or are participating in 'work-ready'
  and education programs."(p. 12)

# "We would change the landscape of distressed
  inner city neighborhoods [and] accelerate the
  demolition of uninhabitable and non-viable
  public housing projects. We would also end
  support for the development of 'public housing'
  developments that are exclusively occupied by
  the very poor(p. 12) ... public housing
  authorities would compete for subsidized and
  unsubsidized low-income families in a
  competitive marketplace."(p. 13)

The remainder of *Reinvention Blueprint* calls for 
the privatization of HUD's Federal Housing 
Administration (FHA) program in order to, 
"leverage private capital to help the nation 
achieve a record level of homeownership."(p. 14)

STINK BOMBS AWAY

*Reinvention Blueprint* is not a knee-jerk 
reaction to the recent Republocrat switcheroo. The 
blueprint for community destruction has obviously 
been sleeping in HUD and National Security Agency 
computers for several years: awaiting the "right" 
political climate to burst forth.

It has two major aspects. One, is the completion 
of HUD's "spatial deconcentration" master plan, 
born in the aftermath of the 1960's rebellions, 
which set out - under the rubric of "urban 
renewal" to move potentially "dangerous" 
populations away from the city centers towards the 
suburbs. 

The original "spatial deconcentration" plan was 
developed by a civilian named Anthony Downs under 
the authority of the infamous Kerner Commission 
and Amerika's Pentagon. It aimed to split 
"minority" concentrations into manageable 
bantustans surrounded by the white suburbs - and 
easily policed.

Contrary to HUD's expectation, what happened was 
that a lot of displaced people refused to fragment 
themselves completely as they moved en masse to 
new cities, or to other areas within their cities 
of origin. Examples of this twenty-year Diaspora 
can be easily seen in "ethnic" maps of Newark, 
Miami, Oakland, East St. Louis, Vallejo, New 
Haven, Washington D.C., South Central Los Angeles, 
or the Bayview Hunters Point in San Francisco. 

In *Reinvention*, Clinton and HUD propose to 
cheerfully toss an additional three million public 
housing tenants into the already existing pool of 
2.5 million Section 8 certificate users. Five and 
a half million poor people will be competing for 
apartment housing in a country-wide rental 
marketplace which has gone through the roof - 
everywhere. The political excuse is to "reduce 
welfare costs."

The subsidy for the largest group of welfare 
recipients in Amerika - tax-paying homeowners - 
who write off tens of billions of dollars in 
mortgage payments annually - will remain intact.

If this scheme goes down, "certificate" holders 
will create an incredible new demand for 
apartments. Private landlords will raise rents 
because the demand will be high and the existing 
supply of "affordable" housing is low. After 
administration fees are subtracted, the cap on 
Section 8 rents is approximately $850-900 a month. 
You cannot find a decent two-bedroom apartment in 
a major urban area today for less than $1,000 a 
month. If three million public housing tenants are 
released into this market, rents will skyrocket 
and the certificate holders will have to move 
somewhere - as yet unknown - to find family 
shelter.

Despite its wretchedness, public housing has 
certain advantages. First and last months rent 
plus security deposit are not required, and 
utility costs/deposits are manageable. Nor does 
one have to be employed in the "mainstream" in 
order to live in public housing.

The bureaucrat capitalists currently running the 
graft-ridden public housing authorities may 
believe that their little bureaucratic kingdoms 
can survive on administrative fees. Not so: the 
inefficient authorities will have to compete for 
paying tenants with "non-profit" groups like 
Catholic Charities. The scarce units available 
will be mostly leased to unsubsidized renters - 
because even "non-profits" must feed on a 
profitable bottom-line.

The second major aspect of *Reinvention* has to do 
with the Federal Reserve and the prime interest 
rate - which has been fluctuating for several 
years around an historical low. A low which the 
Fed intends to preserve as an enticement to 
capitalist investors to borrow money for 
investments to pump up a sluggish, "middle-class" 
economy - which depends on continual circulation 
of capital funds to maintain a pleasant living 
standard based on unproductive consumption - even 
as it parasitically thrives on super-profits 
extracted from the unspeakable torment of the 
Third World.

The laws of economics show that when real property 
(and rental) prices are high, interest rates 
remain low. When property prices fall, interest 
rates rise. HUD's new plan to incorporate its vast 
multi-billion dollar financial portfolio with the 
private-sector lender-driven bubble economy 
necessitates that property prices remain high in 
order to keep a downward pressure on interest 
rates and inflation.

HUD's direct subsidization of public housing units 
will now become an increased direct subsidy to 
landlords who rent to fortunate Certificate 
holders. Property owners will be compelled by the 
laws of profit to jack up rents as high as 
possible in order to suck off as big a federal 
subsidy as possible.

HUD is asking Congress to gut the Housing Act of 
1936 which - for better and for worse - has made 
"housing of last resort" available to several 
generations of impoverished people. The 
government's intention is clear: there is to be no 
more housing for people who do not work at jobs 
paying enough to guarantee high profits for 
landlords - who will then, presumably, borrow 
capital funds from banks in order to expand their 
holdings and build additional "affordable housing" 
- available to those who can afford it!

ULCER IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST

Clinton's *Reinvention* hopes to leverage billions 
of dollars in HUD "financial assets" as a 
stimulant upon the unpleasantly stagnant Amerikan 
consumer economy. It needs to do this without 
driving interest rates up so fast that real 
property values fall. It needs to keep rents high 
by increasing demand for housing. It tries to 
solve a tricky supply and demand problem by 
evicting the vast majority of public housing 
tenants into the street - which creates a problem 
of another sort: rebellion.

Prisons are being built at a phenomenal rate to 
house the fallout from the destruction of public 
housing and the incarceration of oppressed 
nations. Our brothers and sisters who have 
immigrated here from the Third World - escaping 
Amerikan military and financial oppression - will 
be competing with de-housed "citizens" for jobs 
cleaning up radioactive toxic waste dumps with 
trowels in return for chits buying dry balony 
sandwiches at the end of mile-long food-lines.

If the reader should think this scenario is in any 
way far-fetched: remember that our schools still 
pay daily homage to the slave-owners who declared 
non-voting Africans to be three-fifths of a 
person; their settler sons who destroyed the 
Indians with bullets and blankets deliberately 
contaminated with small-pox; their descendants who 
dropped nuclear weapons on an already defeated 
people in World War Two and slaughtered two 
million Vietnamese peasants in the 1960s while 
turning Africa into a killing field.

The spiritual descendants of the slave-owners have 
now declared that immigrants are non-people and 
that the shelter of 5.5 million people must be 
sacrificed to maintenance of a low prime rate.

Soon enough, people may have to prove that they 
own property, or pay rent, in order to avoid 
imprisonment for trespassing on white Amerika. The 
people can take over public housing today--by 
organizing mass movements for economic and 
political independence inside the projects. The 
birth and nurture of militant movements can 
eventually lead to class-conscious communist 
revolution. In the final analysis, nothing less 
will do.

NOTE: Reinvention Blueprint, HUD, 12/19/94.

* * *

CHILD ABUSE: "SOCIAL SERVICES" ATTACK
INTERNAL COLONIES, NOT ABUSE

by a MIM Associate

A two-year-old Black child was rushed to 
Children's Hospital of Detroit in critical 
condition on January 30, after his foster mother 
called paramedics. His body temperature was down 
to 77 degrees - at this level of hypothermia most 
people would be dead.

How did he get so cold? In the foster mother's 
original story, she put the boy to bed, came back 
to give the child medicine, and found him in the 
bathroom with his head in the toilet almost 
drowning. But doctors said this incident would not 
have caused his body temperature to drop so low - 
more likely he was left outside in the cold either 
accidentally or as punishment.(1)

This case illustrates the sometimes subtle 
difference between "abuse", "neglect" and 
incorrect decision-making by caretakers. If the 
child was unattended and a door left open and he 
somehow got trapped outside in the cold, is this 
"neglect" or just an accident? Alternatively, the 
caretaker's story may be a lie and in fact the boy 
was put outside in the cold as "punishment". Would 
a slap on the face or an hour-long verbal 
reprimand be a more "acceptable" form of 
punishment?

Those who "judge" on this matter are often doctors 
or social workers who decide whether to file an 
official report of "neglect" or "abuse" and get 
child protective service agencies involved to 
investigate and potentially take the child away 
from the caretaker. They may base their decision 
on how intelligent they think the caretaker is or 
should be, which is influenced by their perception 
of the caretaker's class, nation and education. 
Also, a bourgeois caretaker may be most readily 
"believed" and convince the doctor that "it was 
just an accident", while a proletarian or 
oppressed nationality caretaker might be expected 
to be violent and tell lies, based on class or 
national chauvinistic assumptions held by a social 
worker. 

Clearly the "incidence rate" of child abuse 
depends heavily on whether the abuse is discovered 
at all and if so, whether it is reported. An 
estimated 311,524 children (incidence rate 4.95 
per 1000 children) were reported as physically 
abused in 1986; 133,619 were sexually abused (2.11 
per 1000).(3) Another source quotes 2-2.5% of 
children abused or neglected annually in the 
U.S.(4)

According to this 1986 study, child abuse 
incidence is significantly increased with lower 
income levels (<$15,000/year) and by Blacks. The 
rate for whites was 4.32 per 1000 and for Blacks 
7.68 per 1000.(3)

There may be increased reporting of abuse in 
proletarian or oppressed nation families because 
of increased contact, harassment, and "suspicion" 
by police and social/welfare-types who assume 
criminality and violence in these groups.

In order to eliminate this attack on children, 
revolutionaries must analyze the causes of child 
abuse, the reasons for increased incidence in 
various groups, the efficacy of how capitalist 
society deals with these cases, and the way 
socialist societies have managed the care and 
protection of children. Capitalism establishes the 
stresses and isolation that lead to child abuse; 
patriarchy upholds the ownership relationships 
that encourage child abuse; and national/class 
chauvinism and enforce the slanted reporting of 
child abuse. So even if "social services" were 
sincere in their effort to stop/prevent child 
abuse, they can't touch the root causes.

NOTES:
1. Detroit News 2/2/95, p. 1B.
2. "Child Physical Abuse", Eli H. Newberger, MD,
   Primary Care, June 1993, p. 318.
3. "The White category included Whites and
   Hispanics, the Black category included Blacks
   not of Hispanic origin, and the Other category
   included all other ethnic groups (including
   American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific
   Islander)."  "The Epidemiology of Child Abuse:
   Findings from the Second National Incidence and
   Prevalence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect"
   from 1986, Joseph C. Cappalleri, PhD, American
   Journal of Public Health, November 1993, pp.
   1622-24.
4. "Child Abuse and Neglect", Richard D. Krugman,
   MD, p. 205; "Immunization", Eric Simoes, MD,
   DCH, p. 229, Current Pediatric Diagnosis &
   Treatment, 1995.

* * *

REVIEW: DOWNSET

Our Suffocation (demo tape)
1994, Polygram Records.

Downset 
Los Angeles: reflection...explanation (promotional 
zine), 1994

Before launching into criticism of Downset, MIM 
wants to be clear: this demo is great, musically 
and politically. As a self-described "Los Angeles 
Hip-Hop Hardcore" band and as "an attempt to 
communicate [about] sexism, racism, misogyny, 
economic disparity and variations of ghetto and 
barrio frustrations," Downset's work invites 
comparison with rage against the machine. Downset 
is influenced by identity politics, so they hate 
this flattering comparison.

Identity politics can be roughly summed up as the 
idea that a person or group's political analysis 
and practice is less important than their 
identity. For Downset, the most important thing 
about rage against the machine and their lead 
singer Zack de la Rocha is not what they say about 
ghetto life or anything else, but the fact that 
rage talks about ghetto life without (according to 
Downset) having directly experienced it the way 
Downset has. 

So in response to rage's lyric about gang life 
from Settle For Nothing, "I gotta 9, a sign, a set 
and now I gotta name," Downset says on Anger!, 
"what does rage know about motherfucking South 
Central? Zack, what you know about a set or a 
sign? Fake motherfucker never even seen a nine." 
Not content with one dig, another of the five 
tracks on Our Suffocation says, "i'll do more than 
rage against the motherfucking machine."

In their zine, Downset's Rey Downset says they've 
changed their songs to eliminate these lyrics, but 
their statement on the topic only compounds and 
clarifies the content of their errors: 

"What we have changed are the lyrics that aimed at 
a certain person and band that meant something to 
a generation of people. Before the fake accent 
that you could get only if you grew up in the 
ghetto, which he is far from being from.... I 
could say so much more, but one thing is for sure 
- me and others in this band are from a true 
history of hip-hop.... I know for sure no matter 
what that we will live in the shadow of this band. 
We will be compared to this band over and over 
again.... So I lay this to rest knowing how long I 
have been doing this. My sincere identity in the 
graffiti art hip-hop true school world. Knowing 
that I am from L.A. '818 Valle' and not from 
Irvine. I am from the barrio-ghetto and it means 
much to me and my identity...."

MIM says: Who gives a hip-hop whether Zack or Rey 
are from Irvine or from the 'hood? It's true that 
there is no better teacher than experience, but 
ultimately, a person's analysis needs to be judged 
on its own merits. MIM is glad that rage is not 
inhibited by identity politics, because they say 
many correct things about situations they have not 
directly experienced. For example, rage correctly 
supports the Maoist-led revolution in Peru, though 
it is unlikely they have ever been there.

Downset's identity-based approach limits them to 
talking about personal and local political issues, 
something they do well. Ironically, their best 
lyrics, in Breed tha Killa, are reminiscent of 
rage's lyrics in Settle for Nothing. Both songs 
call the murder of L.A.'s Black and Brown youth 
out for what it is: Genocide. Check it out:

"I said we got Brown and Black blood to the
 concrete,
Exposed to the systematic terrors and atrocities. 
Generations of blood-soaked families, 
Economic prison and self-hate is my birthright,
 see. 
Fratricide, Homicide, Suicide, Genocide,
They want to kill the niggers and wetbacks
 silently
Fueled by hate, fear and forced self-denial
Black-kill-Black, Brown-kill-Brown L.A.-style
They breeding them killers,
Yes, they breeding them killers.
Born in the middle of a motherfucking battlefield
Denied human rights and the wounds won't heal.
Our mothers shout a suffocating painful cry
As they watch generations of Black and Brown die.
Dignity defied by sacrificial death, 
To die for the hood, that's all I have left.
The system at hand must see one thing clearer,
The city of LA is breeding them Black and Brown
 killers
Blood to the concrete, systematic terror...."

Another noteworthy Downset track is Spoken 
Protest, which deals with the patriarchy's "rape 
ritual": 

"rape. the raping of women is a physical 
manifestation of a society that continually 
propagates women's being sexual objects....With 
the high sexual imagery, we have suffocated and 
reduced women to a sexual commodity....tv 
commercials, music videos, magazines, billboards, 
movies, sexist music, pornography - all these 
forms of so-called entertainment and advertising 
methods exploit women constantly. in the name of 
our modern day entertainment, in the name of our 
corporate economy, we have reduced our female 
population's existence in modern day terms to be 
nothing more than sexual. they have been stripped 
of their humanity just to gratify the sexual and 
egocentric needs of our male-dominated 
society....Is so-called sexual revolution, is so-
called sexual expression and so-called sexual 
freedom worth 2,000 rapes a day in our American 
culture? i say no it is no it is not...."

This song is unfortunately marred by an ending 
which suggests that putting more men in prison 
would be some kind of solution to the problem of 
rape. MIM says that the problem is not individual 
men, but a patriarchal system in which women as a 
group are not in control of government, media or 
society. Under such a system, a woman's individual 
"choices," including the choice to have sex, are 
inevitably coerced by the patriarchy which holds 
state power.

MIM encourages Downset to go beyond the 
limitations imposed by identity politics and 
individualist analysis to take on an 
internationalist analysis of groups. We encourage 
our readers to listen to Downset and to struggle 
with them directly. To their credit, they 
encourage such dialogue: "Criticize us, love us, 
hate us, all opinions are welcomed and we ask you 
to write us and communicate with us. Downset is a 
valid statement of our times and the struggle 
continues."

Contact Downset at P.O. Box 46130, Los Angeles, CA 
90046.

* * *

FILM REVIEW: BLUE KITE

by MC17 and MC206

This movie about the Great Leap Forward and the 
Cultural Revolution in China was meant to be 
reactionary and in that context, it's a pretty 
good film. It's a good film not because it 
portrays the important advances made in the 
Cultural Revolution in a way that makes clear to 
the uneducated audience why the revolution was 
such an advance (it doesn't even try to do this). 
It is a good film because it basically tells the 
truth.

The movie focuses on a family that faces a lot of 
hard times through the Cultural Revolution. Out of 
context, to an Amerikan audience, these hard times 
could seem like the fault of a failed revolution. 
This is a big problem with the movie. When one man 
dies of liver trouble, if the audience does not 
know how much medicine has advanced during the 
revolution they would think this is the fault of 
backward medical care that came from a failed 
revolution. When another man is going blind due to 
eye problems, the audience is again left thinking 
it is just the failure of medicine under Mao that 
left the doctor with only the option of suggesting 
that he not put too much stress on his eyes. 

On the positive side, the movie lets all of it's 
characters survive the Great Leap Forward with 
collective kitchens and enough (though scarce) 
food. One of the brothers in the family is clearly 
a Rightist by all that he says and does, and he is 
sent off to a rectification camp where he seems to 
learn some things. The main character admits that 
he was a Rightist all along. The husband of the 
main character is also sent off to rectification 
camp and the movie does not try to lie and make 
these camps out to be evil. The husband is about 
to return when he is killed in an accident by a 
falling tree. Again, some audiences will take this 
to mean that the revolution killed him, but we 
later learn that the husband did not view the 
rectification bitterly and was not angry that 
people had denounced his liberal political views.

Later in the movie the main character marries an 
older party member: she says she is doing it to 
provide some structure for her son. As soon as 
they move in with him the audience is struck with 
the size of his house and the amount of his 
wealth. Compared to the situation of the average 
Chinese, this man is really well off. After a 
while he tells his wife and son that he is being 
criticized and that he will be arrested soon. As 
he tells them this we see him burning papers. The 
thinking viewer of this movie should take this as 
an example of correct criticism during the 
Cultural Revolution. This man had used his 
position in the party to gain wealth and a 
bourgeois life. He even used his wife as a 
servant, contrary to the situation she had enjoyed 
in her previous marriages to poorer men.

There are examples in this movie of the Cultural 
Revolution going too far. In fact, Mao criticized 
the ultraleftists in the Cultural Revolution for 
their line of "criticize all, overthrow all." He 
said that they went too far and were too violent 
when struggle should have been carried out without 
violence and when people should have been 
rectified rather than punished. There were clearly 
people who were wrongly criticized, but there was 
only one example of serious punishment for a non-
existent crime.

One revolutionary young woman quits her job in the 
army because of what is hinted at as gender 
discrimination. She is later put in prison during 
the Hundred Flowers campaign of 1957. This is 
probably a realistic example of one of the errors 
of the revolution. Some people who were not 
politically enemies were punished because of 
appearances of their actions or because of 
overzealous cadre. She is released during the 
Cultural Revolution. And the prisons were not 
portrayed as evil institutions of torture. Again a 
mark in favor of the movie.

The movie also tries to portray an atmosphere of 
fear in which people had to watch every word they 
spoke for fear that they would be punished. The 
reality of this is that incorrect ideas should be 
criticized whenever and wherever they are found. 
It is a good example of liberalism that the main 
characters of the movie let friends and relatives 
slip by saying reactionary things without 
struggling with them over these things. Of course 
the movie did not try to explain why it is that 
people would want to struggle against incorrect 
ideas because that was not it's purpose. Wait 
until MIM produces some films.

This movie is good for Maoists to see. It is 
important that people realize that the Cultural 
Revolution was not perfect, but that it did a lot 
to advance the struggle against liberalism. In the 
context of study about Chinese history and what 
really happened, this film could be informative. 
But if you have not studied up on the Cultural 
Revolution and do not yet know why the people were 
encouraged to criticize their leaders, you would 
be better off sending $8 to MIM for a copy of Jean 
Daubier's book, *The History of the Chinese 
Cultural Revolution*, rather than seeing this 
misleading movie.

* * *

LETTERS TO MIM

WANTED: PIG RECORDS ON MAOIST PRISONERS

***MIM posted on the Internet a letter from a 
prisoner to college students talking a bit about 
the injustice system and asking students to 
support MIM's prison work. This was one 
response:***

But what is HE in prison for? If he wants our 
money. I think we should know more about who is 
being supported. It was wonderful, how he went on 
and on about the poor people in the Bronx, etc., 
but he didn't tell us anything about his crime, or 
why he is in the SHU. At a state prison here, 
often an inmate isn't put into the SHU when they 
are classified, but end up in SHU because of some 
behavior problems and their inability to get along 
with others. They are usually a danger to 
someone... whether other inmates or CO's. Just 
want to know more... or as Paul Harvey says... 
"The rest of the story..."

MIM RESPONDS: You assume, of course, that 
prisoners are guilty as charged. In a country that 
supported lynching of oppressed nations not long 
ago, it is hard to believe they would be given 
equal treatment now. Bear in mind that most juries 
are white, and that one in four white people 
across the country said that they would vote for 
David Duke if they could. One in four Amerikans 
may as well be wearing a hood, and they are not 
giving fair trials to those they build their 
nation at the expense of.

The point is that it just does not matter what he 
is in prison for, or even if he is "guilty" of 
some tiny fraction of the violence in the world. 
Most of the violence in society is perpetrated by 
people who don't go to jail for it (like Union 
Carbide massacring tens of thousands in Bhopal and 
getting off easy). The standard for punishment has 
nothing to do with the scale of the violence.

Prisoners are treated to special treatment at 
places like SHU for reasons other than violence - 
politics is plenty of a vice to get particular 
punishment. Whether it is denying parole where it 
would otherwise be given or isolation or 
confinement in supermaxes (see the movie *Through 
the Wire* for documentation of brazenly political 
imprisonment), the pigs don't treat radicals well.

N.Y. PRISONER RESPONDS: I understand that you want 
to know what i'm in prison for, but the issue is 
not myself. It is *us*, the entire prison 
population. Why do you put so much emphasis on me? 
i'm just an insignificant individual. i'm not 
speaking for my self interest but on behalf of 
over 1 million people nationwide. 

What are you gonna do: scrutinize every prisoner's 
crime before you decide if s/he should get 
literature to read and elevate his/herself? I take 
it you're a U.S. citizen and if this is so you 
should apply the same analytical "Who is being 
supported?" outlook to your beloved u.s. empire 
before you pay your taxes. If you can apply this 
to prisoners why not go the whole 9 and apply this 
to your government. 

Sure, prisoners are put in SHU because for some 
reason or another they are a danger to other 
prisoners or the institution's established rules; 
some are in SHU for organizing, some are in SHU 
for fighting. Being this is the case that 
prisoners are put in SHU because they are a danger 
to someone. Why not put the entire u.s. empire's 
military in SHU - they have proved to be an 
extreme danger to the Third World. What about 
amerikkka's politicians - you know the ones that 
support nuclear arms surely they are a danger to 
the world, the GOP and demo's both belong in SHU. 
Well at least according to your analysis. 

There is no way that the million plus prisoners in 
the u.s. can compete with the murders, atrocities, 
bloodshed, rapes and outright genocide that 
amerikkka has committed in the last 30 to 50 
years. But i bet you support Unkle Sam(assacre) 
without question. Check yourself before you wreck 
yourself. 


GENOCIDE AGAINST MEXICANS

Prop. 187 is much more than simple denial of human 
rights to Mexican people. 187 continues the 
historic attempts at genocide against our people 
by the european colonizers. 187 is a declaration 
of WAR against the Mexican people in the 
militarily occupied northern half of our Mexican 
nation.

Since the europeans first arrived in 1521, they 
began the genocide against our people. But Cacama, 
Cuitlahuac and Cuauhtemoc taught us that we can 
and must resist.First the english-speaking 
europeans militarily occupied more than 50% of 
Mexico, culminating in the U.S. invasion of 1846-
48. Even then, they gave us one year to leave our 
homeland. But we stayed and we continued to 
resist.

Then they stole communal land grants. They 
unleashed the Texas ranches on us. They created a 
special federal police force (la Migra) to keep us 
in our place. During the so-called Zoot-Suit 
Riots, they again unleashed their military 
personnel against our people. The local police 
departments are nothing more than glorified armies 
of occupation in our barrios, colonias and 
homeland. Their attempts at selective 
assassinations have failed to intimidate us. In a 
version of low-intensity warfare, they have 
attempted to destroy our political movements.

In the late 1980's, the genocidal attacks 
escalated with the English Only movement. They 
sought to outlaw the Spanish language and make 
English the official language. The same forces 
behind English Only, including the Federation for 
American Immigration Reform and the Pioneer Fund, 
are also backers of Prop. 187. The Pioneer Fund 
sponsors racist studies which seek to prove that 
people of color, Mexicans and Blacks, are 
intellectually inferior to whites.

The English speaking settlers know that we will 
eventually reclaim our homeland. HISTORY IS ON OUR 
SIDE. That is why they are now trying to 
completely marginalize us, by denying us 
historical and cultural understanding of who we 
are. The concentration camps are ready to be used 
against us.

THIS IS OUR HOMELAND. We are not going anywhere. 
They cannot deport all of us. Every Mexican must 
become an enemy of the colonial settler state.187 
is a wake-up call to resist by any and all means. 
Some will build our own institutions that do not 
depend on either the federal or state governments. 
Others will refuse to carry out 187. Still others 
will understand that we must create the 
revolutionary clandestine formations that will 
defend our people and lead to our ultimate 
national liberation struggle and socialist 
reunification of Mexico.

Create the conditions for the Mexican Intifadah!

 - Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional Mexicano


GERMANY'S VANGUARD SENDS GREETINGS

The Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany sends 
revolutionary internationalist greetings for the 
New Year 1995. We wish you success in your work. 
May the worldwide struggle for the overthrow of 
imperialism and for the victory of genuine 
socialism advance! 

 - Chairperson, Central Committee MLPD


ANARCHISM REDUX (GASP!)

Dear MIM Notes,

I received your MIM Notes consistently and have 
not been bothered by censorship yet. Please keep 
me on your mailing list.

In your last issue, MC49 did a discussion in an 
open letter to the anarchist movement.

I think the "(gasp)" interjections detracted from 
the objectivity of the letter and may be 
interpreted as disrespect for those who are 
sincerely attempting to struggle against class and 
state oppression. Lorenzo Ervin has committed a 
great deal of his lifetime toward the Afri-
American struggle and has served quite a number of 
years in prison. He is unique in as much as he has 
escalated his opposition to the establishment 
since his release from prison. I have had my 
differences with him while we served time together 
and continue to have my differences with him, but 
I will never disrespect his efforts in struggle. 
When the opportunity arises I will try to 
interject objective criticism of his political 
direction, but respect the fact that he has not 
deserted the struggle as many ex-prisoner radicals 
have.

The focus of the anarchist is different than that 
of the Maoist. The anarchist is concerned with 
eradicating the established state first, rather 
than improving the conditions of the people. On 
the other hand, the Maoist must address the 
conditions of the people primarily based on the 
communist philosophy. In the midst of oppression, 
the Maoist must provide care for the people to win 
their support before advancing to other stages of 
struggle. But I do agree with MC49 on this point, 
that a communist state must be established in the 
course of revolution to defend against the 
reoccurrence of capitalist and imperialist 
domination. A nation without a state invites 
capitalist and imperialist opportunism. That, in 
essence, is what conditions were in the Third 
World nations before they were colonized.

On the point of internationalism. Nationalism in 
the Americas is premised on the fact that racism 
as it affects movements against colonialism 
require a nationalistic perspective because the 
colony is the political reality. The borders of 
the colony under racism are defined by the social, 
economic and political restrictions placed on the 
people by racism. The borders of racism cannot be 
eradicated without an internationalist philosophy 
and political action. Without an international 
ingredient in the theory of nationalist struggle, 
the struggle would result in narrow nationalism 
and acceptance of the boundaries established by 
racism.

Lastly, I would argue further that anarchism is a 
means toward an end, while Maoism suggests both 
the means and the end.

For a better future for us all!

 - a Washington state prisoner, 12/24/94

MC49 RESPONDS:  The prisoner responds to the 
following from page 3 of the December 1994 MIM 
Notes: "The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) 
is aware that in North America today, there are a 
growing number of people who simultaneously uphold 
anarchism and revolutionary national liberation 
struggles. Two leaders (gasp!) of this trend are 
Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin (author of "Anarchism and 
the Black Revolution") and Cooperative 
Distribution Services.... The influence of these 
leaders (gasp! gasp!) can be seen in...."

The "(gasp!)"s are indeed rude, but the intent was 
not to be disrespectful of Ervin or the better 
political work by the better anarchists. Rather, 
the "(gasp!)"s were intended as criticism of the 
anti-leadership line held to different extents and 
in different ways by all anarchists. MIM wishes to 
emphasize the point that progressive leadership 
exists even among anarchists, even though many 
anarchists deny that their movement has leaders, 
let alone that such leadership can be progressive.

From your statement that "a [socialist] state must 
be established in the course of revolution to 
defend against the reoccurrence of capitalist and 
imperialist domination," we see that you agree 
with the thrust of MIM's open letter to the better 
anarchists, and with MIM's basic critique of 
anarchism.

Also we agree with your perspective on 
revolutionary nationalism and internationalism, 
which acknowledges that the two can and should 
coexist. This is a key difference between Maoists, 
who agree with your statement, and Trotskyists and 
crypto-Trotskyists like the Progressive Labor 
Party and the Revolutionary Communist Party-USA, 
who believe that there is a contradiction between 
internationalism and revolutionary nationalism.


IT'S JUST IDEOLOGY

In a recent post of alt.politics.radical-left, 
February 3, you wrote that: most First World 
workers are "not oppressed. Their interests lie in 
supporting the imperialism that pays their pay-
cheque." I could not disagree more.

It is of course true that the vast majority of 
First World workers are not revolutionary. It is 
also true that self-interested economism 
influences a great many workers in North America. 
It is not true that the interests of First World 
workers lies in the support of their bosses. It is 
through bourgeois ideology that workers in North 
America are convinced to support their rulers' 
imperialist agenda in the Third World. This 
support ties workers to their ruling class. This 
means that workers see other workers and peasants 
around the world as their enemy. For example, we 
can look at the way that American unions see cheap 
Mexican labour as a threat to their jobs. You 
cannot translate from this consent to capitalism 
that support for imperialism is in the interest of 
those in the First World. What happens with 
colonial bourgeois ideology is that those who are 
on the low end of the system end up siding with 
their bosses. This means that bosses are able to 
pay First World workers less than the value of 
their labour. It also means that workers in the 
First World can be convinced to join imperialist 
armies and kill their brothers and sisters in the 
Third World.

To argue that there is an inherent difference of 
interest between Third World and First World 
workers is un-Marxist and un-Leninist. Marx and 
Lenin called for solidarity on an internationalist 
basis. Just because a majority of workers don't 
see it that way doesn't negate where their 
interests lie.

Yours for total revolution,

A member of Downsview Branch, 
International Socialists-Canada

MIM RESPONDS: For decades, Trotskyists and their 
followers have been making the same argument. To 
help put it to rest, MIM began distributing 
Settlers: The Mythology of the While Proletariat, 
by J. Sakai, and wrote MIM Theory 1, "A White 
Proletariat?" and many other documents. At this 
point, MIM demands that such false-consciousness 
arguments be substantiated by economic analysis to 
prove their points. We urge you to read our 
material on the political economy of the labor 
aristocracy and offer us a concrete criticism.

We will take a moment to respond to this as a 
philosophical question, a privilege we have earned 
by first doing our political-economic homework. 
Marx's discovery that the proletariat was 
materially opposed to the bourgeoisie and 
capitalism resulted from an economic analysis. 
While no revolution would be successful without 
political consciousness and leadership, material 
conditions were the basis for that consciousness. 
This principle remains true today. When we look at 
hundreds of years of settlerism on the part of the 
white working class, this is what we confront. 
During this time, generations of white workers 
have eagerly benefited from imperialism. You admit 
that the "vast majority" of First World workers 
are not revolutionary. MIM asks, what is the 
*basis* for hundreds of years of such 
consciousness? You say *our* position is "un-
Marxist and un-Leninist," but where is the 
*materialism* in your argument?

Engels, and Lenin after him, both clearly pointed 
out the *material basis* for a large and *growing* 
labor aristocracy that was *bigger* than just the 
labor leaders. That was a long time ago, too.

Lenin said: "We cannot - nor can anybody else - 
calculate exactly what portion of the proletariat 
is following and will follow the social-
chauvinists and opportunists. This will only be 
revealed through struggle, it will be definitely 
decided only by the socialist revolution."(1)

MIM asks: What has the struggle revealed so far 
about the extent of support for anti-communists? 
Trotskyists want to wait for this answer to come 
from a socialist revolution of the labor 
aristocracy - so they are waiting forever. Maoists 
see the conditions of imperialism - and how they 
have developed - and we learn from them.

Engels went out of his way to describe the 
phenomenon in sweeping terms. "The English 
proletariat is actually becoming more and more 
bourgeois," he wrote in 1858, "so that this most 
bourgeois of all nations is apparently aiming 
ultimately at the possession of a bourgeois 
aristocracy and a bourgeois proletariat alongside 
the bourgeoisie. For a nation which exploits the 
whole world this of course is to a certain extent 
justifiable."(2) Engels followed, in a letter to 
Karl Kautsky in 1882: "the workers gaily share the 
feast of England's monopoly of the world market 
and the colonies."(3)

NOTES:
1. At the 2nd Congress of the Communist
   International. Quoted in J. Sakai, *Settlers:
   The Mythology of the White Proletariat,*
   Morningstar Press: Chicago, 1983. p. 154.
2. Quoted by Lenin in "Imperialism, the Highest
   Stage of Capitalism," in *Selected Works*, p.
   247. This is where Lenin says that the
   superprofits from colonies - not "ideology" - 
are
   the basis for the labor aristocracy's
   reactionary politics.
3. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *Selected Works
   in One Volume*, International Publishers: New
   York, 1968. p. 688.

* * *

UNDER LOCK & KEY

OREGON STATE "CORRECTIONAL" INSTITUTION CENSORS 
"INFLAMMATORY" MIM NOTES

Mail addressed to inmate X is in violation of the 
Department of Corrections Rule governing Mail 
(Inmate). The material has been rejected because 
it:

# Contains Inflammatory material.
# Contains items prohibited from receipt by mail.

Specific article(s) and page number(s) or 
material(s), considered objectionable: MIM Notes

 - Oregon State "Correction" Institution, 12/22/94

MC49 RESPONDS: And imprisonment and censorship 
aren't inflammatory?


TED KOPPEL INTERVIEWS HANDPICKED PRISONERS
IN PRETTIFIED PRISON

Comrades,

I must apologize for not writing more. I've been 
through a lot. This letter is to let you know I've 
received the Dec. issue of MIM Notes. I've passed 
it on for others to read.

As you know, Ted Koppel came to prison here. 
Everything was cleaned up and prisoners were 
handpicked to be interviewed. A class act!

Now we have to put up with the new oppressive 
moves being made against us. For instance all 
large radios (with speakers) are being taken up. 
Meals on lock-down are cold. And to add insult to 
injury, we prisoners can't come together on a 
common stand.

The law library was taken before I came to this 
prison. And from what I'm told, it was taken 
without a fight. Not that it would be much help, 
but learning to use the weapons of the enemy is 
always useful.

I am a Muslim and I'm working hard to unite all 
the Muslims first, then maybe the others may see 
some light. Your newsletter is always helpful 
because it shows how others, the world over, are 
standing against oppression.

My friends are three: my friend, my friend's 
friend and my enemy's enemy.Death is promised to 
all, so die with valor and resistance against the 
New World Disorder!

A brother in the struggle,

 - a North Carolina prisoner, 12/94

MC49 ADDS: See MIM Notes 96, 1/95, for a review of 
the Nightline prison series mentioned above. Back 
issues of MIM Notes are available from MIM for $1 
each.


BROTHER IN THE STRUGGLE EXECUTED

Revolutionary greetings! I am sorry it has taken 
me so long to write you back, but I am one little 
person trying to do everyone else's work in this 
death camp. Mostly I am deeply involved in my 
legal work of trying to get out of these death 
camps and get some resources on the side for 
future use.

Now before I go off into our conversation 
concerning conscious/unconscious people working or 
supporting the imperialist empire of the united 
snakes of amerikkka, let me report some happenings 
around here for your information. Just a few days 
ago, on 12/8/94 at 12:01 am, these pigs forcibly 
murdered an extremely strong Afrikan brother of 
the struggle. It is a bad time! His name was Ajamu 
(slave name Gregory Resnover), age 43. 

This was the first murder (i.e., forced execution) 
via the electric chair in this neo-colonialist 
state Indiana since the united snakes of amerikkka 
reinstated the death penalty. He was convicted in 
the 1980 slaying of a pig during a house raid. 
What is so bad is that everyone knows that he was 
not the triggerman. Even though I salute whomever 
shot the pig! Now that he was murdered, these pigs 
will no doubt also murder his comrade who is 
blamed for being the one who allegedly shot the 
pig....

 - an Indiana prisoner, 12/11/94


INDIANA MURDERS AJAMU NASSOR-RESNOVER

The state of Indiana has committed the first 
involuntary execution of a death row prisoner 
since the 1960's. The highly controversial case of 
Gregory Resnover, now Ajamu Nassor Resnover, had 
the state claiming that Resnover shot and killed a 
pig who was crashing through his front door in 
Indianapolis a number of years ago. Ajamu has sat 
on death row ever since, and on December 8th, 
1994, was murdered in the state's electric chair. 

In September, Ajamu was moved to a segregated 
housing unit, only a few short months after his 
brother Kondo was moved from the same prison as 
Ajamu down to the brutal supermax at Carlisle, 
Indiana....

The rest of the death row at Michigan City, which 
had been on lockdown since [an] escape attempt, 
was transported en masse to the MCC at 
Westville...,leaving only Ajamu Nassor Resnover on 
the Row. Meanwhile, prison officials tightened up 
security and reinforced cells and bars all over 
the death row unit.

On November 23rd, the Indiana Parole Board, after 
a clemency hearing held in Indianapolis court, 
rejected Ajamu's bid for clemency, leaving the 
matter in the hands of Governor Bayh.

Ajamu's attorney, Robert W. Hammerle, spoke to the 
board, pointing out the extremely poor amount of 
evidence against Ajamu in the killing of Indy 
detective Sgt. Jack Ohrberg. Hammerle displayed a 
letter from former chief deputy prosecutor David 
Cook, the lead prosecutor in Ajamu's original 
trial, who said that there was "a masterful 
misrepresentation of facts" in the case. He also 
quoted Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith who 
said "Gregory Resnover is not the person who 
killed Jack Ohrberg."

Also on hand to testify was Ohrberg's daughter, 
Cindy Shoudt, who seemed to feel that killing 
Ajamu would bring back her father, and certainly 
didn't seem interested in whether Ajamu was guilty 
or not. She pleaded with the board to deny him 
clemency. They denied it, leaving the matter in 
Bayh's hands, and no one was surprised that Bayh 
refused. As the date drew nearer, the NAACP sent 
petitions with thousands of signatures on them in 
support of Ajamu's life (something he said he 
"appreciated," before he died). 

Desperate, last-minute attempts to save Ajamu's 
life were made by his attorneys and many others. 
His supporters pointed out, among all the other 
discrepancies in the case, that a white man 
convicted of killing a cop (supposedly a "capital 
crime" in Indiana) was freed after seven years in 
prison less than 15 years ago, while Ajamu was on 
his way to death. But on Wednesday the 7th, as the 
sun set, police and press began to flood the area 
around the prison in Michigan City. Police were 
everywhere, blocking off many roads to the area, 
and TV trucks could be seen from Ohio, Kentucky, 
Illinois, and all over Indiana, not to mention all 
of the newspaper and other reporters.

The press swooped on anyone they could find, and 
one of the first people they found was Eric 
McCauley and Virginia Burns of South Bend's Human 
Rights Coalition, who were there to witness the 
execution, at Ajamu's request. The two were 
interviewed extensively until Bill Pelke, head of 
Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation (MVFR, 
an anti-death penalty group) called to order the 
9:00 press conference that had been scheduled. He 
spoke briefly, as did Ajamu's brother and cousin, 
Kevin, who attacked the press, calling them 
"unjust and unGodly" and holding them responsible 
for their role in Ajamu's death.

Ajamu's family spoke in his defense before the 
press and were hounded with every move they made 
before finally entering the prison walls. 
Meanwhile, large crowds of protesters continued to 
cover the area, holding signs and chanting, "Not 
in our name!" and "The death penalty has got to 
go!" 

Shortly a crowd of death penalty supporters 
gathered in the area, holding signs like "Justice 
is 50,000 volts through quivering, cop-killin' 
flesh" and other barbaric and uninformed slogans. 
These people, many of whom were cops and none of 
whom seemed to care that Ajamu was innocent (by 
the state's own admission - governor Bayh, in his 
explanation of letting Ajamu be murdered, said 
that, though Ajamu DID NOT kill Ohrberg, he 
probably did kill a Brinks' guard he was accused 
of killing as well, so Ajamu was a "criminal" and 
should be put to death). The pro-death crowd began 
to become more and more violent, pushing and 
shoving anti-murder demonstrators; a fierce verbal 
debate ensued, which finally calmed down only 
after the anti-murder demonstrators put a stop to 
it.

At 11 p.m., the witnesses were allowed to enter 
the prison. Besides McCauley and Burns, other 
witnesses included Ajamu's 18 year-old son, a 
Goshen minister, an Indianapolis Star reporter, 
and other members of Ajamu's family. Governor 
Bayh, Indy mayor Stephen Goldsmith and prosecutor 
Jeff Modisett all refused Ajamu's invitation to 
witness the murder to which they sent him.

Ajamu's father and many other members of his 
family who were not witnesses held hands and 
offered a prayer for him as the moment drew near. 
Ajamu was led out of the "waiting room" he had 
been in since that afternoon (he had refused the 
last meal and shower they offered him) and 
strapped into the chair. His face was covered with 
a black hood, which the state required him to wear 
even though he asked not to. He had given his 
final statement to his lawyers several hours 
beforehand, so he made none. At 12:01 a.m. on 
December 8th, the execution began; Ajamu Nassor 
(Gregory Resnover) was pronounced dead at 12:13.

Outside, protesters, who had been chanting loudly, 
were quieted as Ajamu's family, shaken and 
weeping, cut through the crowd and left. Some 
witnesses, many of whom were asked to witness so 
that they might report what they saw to others and 
create a movement to end the death penalty, did 
indeed tell the press graphically of the sights 
they saw. Eric McCauley and Virginia Burns 
reported that Ajamu was still even before the 
switch was pulled and remained so, even as they 
saw "sparks shooting out of his head" and final 
jerking motions, and smelled burned flesh. The 
Star reporter wrote something of a riveting 
account of the execution in the Star of the 8th; 
we print even the brief description above only in 
hope that it might make the People who don't 
already know aware of the barbaric reality of the 
"death penalty."

Ajamu's attorney Hammerle, who was stopped by the 
press on his way out of the prison (he also 
witnessed the murder), was quite visibly shaken 
and outraged, calling the whole thing "barbaric" 
and stating that "we don't even know who we are" 
here. A Dept. of Corrections [sic] spokeswoman 
came out and made the official pronouncement of 
death to the press; she was choking and weeping, 
which did not stop angry protesters from calling 
her a murderer and saying "You all are going to 
burn in hell for this!" and "You'll have to answer 
to God for this!"

Ajamu's supporters vowed that his death would not 
be in vain, and of course it won't. The funeral 
procession carrying his body journeyed to 
Indianapolis on the afternoon of the 8th, with 
many cars stopping at the governor's mansion in 
Indianapolis, honking horns and waving signs as 
the press looked on. It was clear that Bayh will 
be held accountable for the premeditated murder he 
committed (one he committed strictly for political 
gains). As we go to press, we have heard that 
someone (unidentified, but not affiliated with the 
procession) fired a gunshot at Bayh's mansion on 
the 9th, though no one was injured.

Ajamu Nassor-Resnover touched many lives while he 
was alive; no one who knew him well was in favor 
of his death. Even the prison warden at Michigan 
City choked up on the phone with him during the 
last week of his life, and guards there sat up 
nights crying as they spoke to him in those final 
weeks. He was a warrior for the cause of justice, 
especially justice for Afrikan people, and he knew 
that his death was a racist move, a political move 
and a move put forth by a brutal state and 
country. He died calmly, having said earlier that 
if the state did kill him, it must be the will of 
Yahweh. Again, however, his death will NOT be in 
vain.

Next issue we will certainly have a proper tribute 
to Ajamu from the many people who knew him and 
whose lives he touched, and we encourage those who 
knew and loved him to send in a few words (or 
pictures, or whatever) of tribute. This issue, we 
will simply close by saying that those here who 
knew Ajamu Nassor-Resnover loved him and we will 
never forget him, nor will we let his memory die. 
His spirit lives within us all, and we know the 
Creator will guide him on. We also know that he 
will Rest in Peace.... but will his killers?...

 - excerpted from The New Freedom: The Voice of 
Indiana's Liberation Struggle, Winter 94/95, P.O. 
Box 14, Culver, IN 46511.


TIT FOR TAT

I received a paper from you about my last issue. 
I'd like to continue receiving your paper.

Here's a little more input on what's taking place 
on this location: if you're not familiar, this 
prison put a brother in the electric chair on 
12/8/94. They locked us down on 12/6/94 or 12/7/94 
so they could kill him. They let us off lock-down 
on 12/10/94, two days after the murder. But here's 
the catch. On 12/13/94 at 5:30 pm, my cell house, 
DCH, was going to our last chow for the night. On 
our return, around 5:45 pm, a pig (hired killer) 
got stabbed in the chest (left side, heart) and 
the neck. The pig (hired killer) died about 6:07 
pm. So, now the whole prison is on lock-down. And 
word around this camp is we'll be down a long, 
long, long-ass time, because one of their boys in 
blue bit the dust.

The prison administration is telling the papers 
they believe it was in retaliation for the 
electrocution of a real down-to-earth comrade 
convict. So far they got two convicts for it. One 
is a Moslem. They shipped them down to that 
hellhole at Westville, the Maximum Control Complex 
(MCC). 

They also are saying they think it was a gang hit. 
They're just guessing, and don't know any facts. 
They say it was People, Bloods, El Rukns, Vice 
Lords that had something to do with the hit. 
They're saying that because of these groups' 
unity. It's strong. That Moslem brother they got 
charged used to be a member of one of them gangs. 
Then he became a Black Dragon and incorporated 
Islam in his life. So, I'm going to close this for 
now, so I can get back into my Islamic studies.

I close in peace. Power to the people.

In struggle,

 - a Californian prisoner in Indiana, 12/19/94

P.S. They won't let us get any visits from our 
loved ones either. They ain't gonna wash our 
underclothes or anything for about a month, from 
what people are saying.


MODERN SLAVERY IN FULL EFFECT

Over the last decade, government and prison 
officials nationwide have intensified their 
campaign to criminalize Blacks and Hispanics. 
While slowly establishing and solidifying code 
words and phrases which will be used and are being 
used to further perpetuate this state of modern 
slavery.

The rationale may be to make society safe, under 
the guise of the right wing's law and order, but 
the de facto truth is the enslavement of a race 
and nation of people. Rehabilitation is a code 
word for turning young Black men into old ment 
before they are released from prison, if ever. It 
is a diabolical scheme that is well-disguised, but 
nevertheless a grand and wicked conspiracy. It 
will not come as a surprise to learn that prisons 
are the number one growth industry in this 
country, a lucrative business. Reminiscent of days 
passed when our beloved ancestors were held in 
chattel slavery. I contend that the crime bill and 
imprisonment of New Afrikans is no more than the 
process of legally perpetuating slavery actually 
backed by the United States Constitution. The 13th 
Amendment states: "Neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude, *except as a punishment for a crime* 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." 
(emphasis added)

This same surreptitious process was witnessed by 
our sister Sojourner Truth as she struggled to 
establish reparation for those who had built this 
country. After the abolition of slavery, the 
United States set out to re-enslave Blacks by 
refusing to give them land or any means of self-
support after releasing them from the plantations, 
causing many to participate in unscrupulous 
activity as they were systematically imprisoned. 
Just as they are doing it today. We are faced with 
the same forced labor and the same brutal 
treatment given the chattel slave; it is now given 
to those prisoners who demand fair treatment and 
justice.

The prison guard, the street cop, the FBI, judges, 
Congress, from the Big House to the White House 
are all viscous players in this complex conspiracy 
and billions have been earmarked to keep the 
modern slave imprisoned. Understand that none of 
the monies are for vocational or educational 
programs. Like our ancestors who were not allowed 
to read or write, we must be kept ignorant because 
they realize that education is knowledge, and 
knowledge is the beginning of freedom.

There are presently over one million people locked 
behind these plantation walls, "duly convicted." 
In essence there are over one million slaves. The 
entire prison plantation is overcrowded. But so 
were the slave ships. And that didn't stop the 
haul. More and more white over-seers are being 
hired who are equipped with the sadistic 
mentalities and licentious demeanor. They are 
hired to keep the prison-plantation running 
smoothly and trouble-free. They organize like a 
paramilitary militia, composed of racist whites 
armed with all of the slave-controlling apparatus: 
guns, nightsticks, shackles, mace, full riot gear 
and protection which can be used on the slave at 
the pleasure of the overseer.

Because of the racism that bubbles from beneath 
the surface of this nation's psyche, the whole 
criminal network - cops, courts, the executive and 
legislative - will remain wicked. And they will do 
anything to the modern slaves to keep them 
stigmatized, desocialized and brainwashed into 
believing they are inferior so as to keep them 
"penally" subservient.

We have to unite against this war upon us. We are 
limited in our choice of weapons. But universal 
law dictates that a closed fist, symbolic of 
unity, is stronger than an open hand, symbolic of 
division. We must struggle to understand the 
necessity for a united front.

 - a Connecticut prisoner, 12/27/94


PRISONER CRITICIZES INDIVIDUALISM

Excuse the delay in my writing. But it's hard for 
me at times, fighting for my rights and the next 
man's, when there's always one inmate to mess 
things up. I am maintaining as best I can. And I 
hope things are well there.

I hate to say it, but I seriously think that the 
prisoners here in Michigan are really getting 
soft. Those of us who do fight all and any unjust 
treatments are getting fewer by the day. I myself 
have been put in Administrative Segregation 
(control unit) for not telling on the next 
prisoner, and a lot of good brothers are locked 
away in these control units for false charges. 
What can I do to rise the level of awareness or 
consciousness - without the goon squad gassing me 
and sticking me back in the hole for X amount of 
years?

There is little outside community help. I have 
personally written over 250 letters to every 
organization for which I could get an address to 
write to. Nothing! And I'm tired of reading about 
the fool treatment of imprisoned comrades all over 
the country.

It seems as though it is easier to sell out the 
cause and join the "I'm all for self now" club. 
Because the things these prisoners do around here 
would make you just downright sick. But I'm 
grateful that I have two brothers in my corner 
fighting just as hard as I am, with no funds or 
outside help....

The MIM Notes have been getting through. Though 
staff has been reading them before I get them, I 
still get them. I'm closing for now, in struggle 
and remaining strong.

 - a Michigan prisoner, 12/30/94