In this case, it doesn't matter if you agree, this is by far the best article NFW has had yet!
*Brainwashes you into agreeing*, just kidding, NFW does not support brainwashing.
This isn't the first time inmates have gone on strike, likely won't be the last either. But that certainly doesn't take away from how proud it makes me when slaves make a stand. I might be biased, I had fasted when I was in jail. But I was only away for five days and that doesn't really qualify, does it?
The hunger strike had started on July 8th, with 30,000 California prisoners across the state refusing to eat due to what they claim is an inhumane solitary confinement process. Today, July 18th, a total of 2,300 inmates are still refusing to eat.
The amount we lost, is saddening, but that doesn't change the importance of the act. The California prison system is obviously collecting far too many bodies. Under a court order, they must release 10,000 inmates due to over crowding. Lets face the facts here, guys, we aren't talking 10,000 dangerous people, they aren't going to rape your daughters and rob your banks (though the latter is fine by me). If the course wants to get rid of them because there are too many heads, then why the fuck are they there in the first place? *My conservative readers, assuming I have any, should attempt to give me an answer for that.
State prison officials unsurprisingly justify the cells by reciting small truths such as visitation rights, chess boards, and 27 channels on a TV. I will not list the flaws to these justifications:
1.) Visitation Rights: Okay, so what? You get to see what you can't have. You get to be forced (I say you for a reason, imagine this life as yours, you don't have to do anything serious to go to prison so this is not out of the realm of possibilities) to see the ones you love, knowing you can not hold them, love them, touch them, kiss them, sleep with them or much of anything with them. However, when you are surrounded by guards, cement and bars, it's the little sanity you will have, so you will take it. Some prisons allow sexual advances, as they are legally obligated to, but most do not uphold this law.
2.) Chess Boards: This doesn't need a lot of explanation, just because something is associated with upper class, does not make it a life saver. Having a Chess Board will not make you happy, it will not make everything okay, it will not give you your life back.
3.) Television: TV is a distraction, which is known to be harmful to the human species. It does more harm then good, and hardly makes up for being behind bars. After all, it's just another form of "See, no touch, no live".
While breaking prison rules will give any inmate a limited amount of time in solitary, if one is deemed a gang member, they may be thrown in solitary indefinitely. In all reality, being classified as a gang member, in general, is fairly arbitrary and assumptive. Imagine how it works in high school, now imagine that ten fold in a place where people may have to join up with groups in order to survive. What I am saying is, you could just be trying not to die and risk solitary because of it. I should mention that in jail I had met a man who had chosen to hang out with the white pride groups, but was Greek, and not firmly racist. He had pretended to be a part of their click, in order to survive.
Force feeding is legal, it is being practiced in Guantanamo Bay. Federal judges have denied requests to end force feeding. It is illegal to commit suicide in the united states. So if they decide the inmate is attempting suicide, they can force food into them.
The prisoners are also asking for increased privileges and improved food (though I fasted, one small taste of the food they had, by my cellmates worry and request, had made me thankful I was fasting). There is currently no sign of the demands being satisfied.
It will shortly be 11 days of the hunger strike. We owe ourselves some appreciation for what is happening. These people do not have the right to have rights, they are animals in cages, they have lost the outside world and plenty of them may never have a chance at having it again. And yet, despite all of this, they give their passion to fighting for what they feel in their hearts is worth fighting for. All our distractions, all our petty fights, all our domestic abuses over unwashed mother fucking dishes, all of this, is fucking childish.
In solidarity*
Fuckin' Fun Facts: California has previously violated the Prison System's law by overcrowding to the point of cruel and unusual punishment.
An investigation is wanted into allegations of doctors having sterilized 148 women in California prisons in the last decade.
In June a Federal judge had ordered 3,000 inmates to be moved from two California prisons due to not getting proper care and were in danger of contracting a dangerous airborn fungus.
-Arrrooo!
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