SF Bay View, January 24,
2012
by Mutope
Duguma
Written
Dec. 29, 2011 – In 1619 when the first 20 slaves out of Africa were brought to
the shores of North America and our New Afrikan struggle began, yes, we as a
people coming from the African continent, captured by brutal force, speaking
many African languages, sharing in many different socio-culture, economic and
political systems, were all forced to coalesce under the torturous brutal hand
of slavery and learn a new language, socio-culture, economic and political
system, structured around the suppression, oppression and exploitation of our
New Afrikan nation (NAN). Here we would be slaves – and chattel slaves at that
– meaning we were the commodity (something of commercial value), bought and
sold to the highest bidder.
We were
devalued and stripped of our African heritage. Our lifestyle was stolen away
from us and our ideology – all of our social practices, and even our identity.
Yes, we lost it all – our names too. Some of us have realized the importance of
names. Therefore we have taken steps to re-name ourselves while dropping our
slave names inherited many generations ago by our enslaved ancestors, names
that can literally be traced to our New Afrikan enslaved ancestors’ slave
masters. At the same time we rejected the general names placed on us to dehumanize
us as a New Afrikan people, such as the “N” word, Negro, Colored, Black,
Afro-American and Afrikan American, because we have always been New Afrikans
here in North America.
Our
struggle is one of resistance against that which has been forced upon us. Do we
easily forget our struggle for freedom? If so, then let’s refresh our memories
by reading these books in this order:
1) “The Destruction of BlackCivilization” by Chancellor Williams;
2) “There’s a River: The Black Strugglefor Freedom in America” by Vincent Harding;
3) “Slavery: The African AmericanPsychic Trauma” by Sultan A. Latif and Naimah Latif; and
4) “The New Jim Crow”
by Michelle Alexander.
 |
| photo: Mutope writes, “I insist that all New Afrikans in this country read “The Melancholy History of Soledad Prison” by Min S. Yee.” |
“The New
Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander speaks to how the judicial process toward the
New Afrikan people has not changed from 1619 to now. This New Afrikan sister
laid out how the whole system conspired against New Afrikans, subjecting many
of us to outright torture at the hands of those overseeing the prison
industrial complex (PIC).
How easily
we forget “... what began to happen in the South, particularly after federal troops
were removed in 1877. … (T)he state legislatures of every state passed laws
which began to effectively criminalize Black life and to create a situation in
which African American men found it almost impossible not to be in violation of
some misdemeanor statute at almost all times. And the most broadly applied of
those was that it was against the law if you were unable to prove at any given
moment that you were employed. So vagrancy statutes were used to arrest
thousands of Black men, even though thousands of White men could have been
arrested on the same charges but they hardly ever were. And then once arrested,
the judicial system had been re-tooled in such a way as to coerce huge numbers
of men into commercial enterprises as forced workers through the judicial
system,” explained Douglas Blackmon, author of “Slavery by Another Name,” in a
KPFK interview.
There’s no
question that our New Afrikan ancestors were tortured and murdered under the
system of chattel slavery, where they suffered every heinous act known to
mankind under the sun by the hand of their slave master – enduring a life of
misery and terror.
How easily
we forget – in California, prisoners being murdered in cold blood at the hand
of prison guards. Learn about how your fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and
cousins were tortured and murdered at the hands of CDCR prison guards who
enjoyed and celebrated the kill, like hunting wild animals. We must not forget
there has not been much change since 1619, just a more functional way to cover
up neo-chattel slavery.
Do we
forget Weusi, who was shot to death with a mini 14 assault rifle by a gun-ho
prison guard who openly fired on a melee of defenseless prisoners, shooting
nine consecutive rounds. And when he was done, there was two dead and several
wounded – at San Quentin in 1987. None of the prisoners seen it coming. This
was cold-blooded murder – with impunity.
Do we
forget the Corcoran prison guards who set up gladiator-staged fights where 50
prisoners were wounded and seven fatally wounded:
1. William
Martinez on April 8, 1989,
2. Randall
on June 23, 1989,
3. Andres
Cortez Romero on Feb. 6, 1990, one month before his release date,
4. Michael
Mullins on April 9, 1993,
5. Henry Noriega
on Sept. 11, 1993,
6. Preston
Tate on April 2, 1994,
7. Donald
Creasy on June 1, 1994.
All 50
shootings happened between the years of 1989 and 1995.
The San
Francisco Chronicle reported in “Accusations of prison coverup: Agency hidstaged fights at Corcoran, guards say” on Oct. 28, 1996, that Correctional
Officer Richard Caruso in 1994 provided documents to the FBI which showed the
prison guards were setting up gladiator-staged fights by matching prisoners up
against one another. Correctional Lt. Steve Rigg in 1994 says he learned that
some prison officers were “stacking the tiers” to stage fights among inmates.
“One guard, Pio Cruz, liked to call the fights like a sports announcer – before
grabbing a rifle and shooting the brawling inmates with wooden projectiles,
officers testified in a disciplinary hearing against Cruz, who was ultimately
fired.” Not prosecuted, FIRED – with impunity.
Mark Arax
and Mark Gladstone wrote in the July 5, 1998, Los Angeles Times, in an article
titled “State Thwarted Brutality Probe at Corcoran Prison, Investigators Say”:
“Sacramento knew the level of violence,” said Steve Rigg, a former lieutenant
who also cooperated with the FBI. “We assumed that they would read the numbers
and say something is terribly wrong here and take appropriate corrective
action. Instead, we continued to bait inmates into fights and then shoot them
for throwing punches” – with impunity.
“From the
day Corcoran opened in 1988, the escalating violence failed to set off any
alarms” – not at the local district attorney’s office, not at the State
Department of Corrections, not at the Attorney General’s Office or at the
Governor’s Office.
I was
personally involved in this manufactured violence from 1991 to 1992 and in 1995
in Corcoran SHU. I was transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) in 1992.
• In 1992,
a PBSP prison guard shot and killed a New Afrikan mentally ill prisoner – with
impunity.
• In 1993,
a PBSP prison guard shot and killed a Mexican prisoner who was to be released
soon – with impunity.
• In 1994,
a PBSP prison guard shot and killed a New Afrikan prisoner – brain matter
splattered everywhere – with impunity.
• In 2000, a
PBSP prison guard shot and killed a Mexican prisoner.
Now I
personally grew up where there was many fisticuffs and the loser would grab a 2
by 4 or a knife and not no one trying to break it up, in order to prevent the
unarmed opponent from being murdered by using a mini 14 assault rifle to do so.
Many of
these cold-blooded murderers come from the general population (GP) gun towers
to work in solitary confinement, i.e., SHU and Ad-Seg units, or officers who do
not have the nerve to work around prisoners they have a deep hate for where
their own paranoia consumes them to the point they can’t work around free
prisoners on GP. By working in solitary confinement they’re able to continue to
exercise their insidious, malicious, racist and prejudiced attacks on prisoners
with impunity.
Mr. Vaughn
Dortch, a New Afrikan prisoner who was tortured into insanity after being
housed in solitary confinement – yes, mentally ill – was removed from his cell
by force and taken to the prison infirmary where Pelican Bay prison guards
boiled him in scalding hot water and held him down in this boiling water until
he fainted. The skin on his body peeled off his flesh, while at the same time
prison guards scrubbed his body with a hard scrub brush. Prison guards were
making fun, saying, “We going to have us a white boy before it’s through,
because his skin is so dirty and rotten it’s falling off.” This was a sadistic
act carried out by racist prison guards.
Now, Sitawa
Nantambu Jamaa, s/n R.N. Dewberry, C-35671, D1-117L, had been in the solitary
confinement unit since 1983 and this incident happened in 1990 with Vaughn
Dortch, so Sitawa was in eight years and counting. He and two other prisoners
was in the infirmary when V. Dortch was brought in, so they witnessed this
whole incident and they cursed to the top of their lungs at these savages
(i.e., prison guards) and when they realized that all these prisoners just
witnessed this horrible act the prison guards went straight into action.
Lt. Brittle
walked up to Sitawa and said “Aw fuck, Dewberry, did you see anything?”
Dewberry replied, “I seen everything and where did you all take him,” referring
to how they rushed V. Dortch out of the infirmary when he fainted. Lt. Brittle
then said, “Dewberry, are you still trying to get transferred closer to the Bay
Area, near your family?” Reply: “Yes.” Lt. Brittle then said, “Then maybe we
can work something out, if you didn’t see anything.” Reply: “Expletive,
expletive and more expletives.”
Later
Sitawa would be interviewed by federal agents of the Civil Rights Division of
the Justice Department concerning V. Dortch, who would go on to win close to $1
million and all medical expenses paid – a bill taxpayers would once again pay
due to the criminal acts of so-called prison guards. As usual there will be no
prosecution. And sadly these criminals in this particular case was promoted in
many respects for a job well done. Again with impunity!
How easily
we forget: During slavery the slaves would be dropped in a black scalding hot
kettle being and boiled alive until they were dead. Some were pulled out after
they fainted as well and considered amusement for the sick audience.
Here at
Pelican Bay State Prison, we have had two prisoners allegedly commit suicide,
but how is it suicide if someone is torturing you every day of your life in
order to get you to debrief or to reduce you to an emasculated state? This is
not suicide; this is the CDCR-PBSP using its power against helpless individuals
until their spirit has been broken and their lives are no longer worth living.
These men were murdered because they were stripped of everything that makes
life worth living.
How easily
we forget
We are New
Afrikans for three primary reasons:
1. The name
gives recognition to our historical heritage.
2. When we
use the name, it is a rejection of the attempts by the U.S. government, our
colonizers, to Amerikanize us to the rest of the world.
3. When we
call ourselves New Afrikans, we identify ourselves as a historically evolved
and legitimate nation of people in the community of Afrikan nations.
Generation
after generation throughout our history, from 1619 to 2012, when we find
ourselves struggling for our New Afrikan survival, it’s not by accident that
Amerika as 2.3 million prisoners and 1 million-plus of those prisoners are New
Afrikans.
In order
for us to survive as a people, we must definitely be free to lead our own lives
as a New African Nation.
One love,
one struggle!
Mutope
Duguma, aka James Crawford, has been reporting to Bay View readers on the
hunger strike from the beginning. He is the writer of “The Call,” the formal announcement that
alerted the world to this massive hunger strike, “SHU prisoners sentenced to civil
death begin hunger strike,” “This hunger strike is far from over,” “Pelican Bay SHU prisoners plan to
resume hunger strike Sept. 26,” “Greed drives solitary confinement
torture,”
“Hip hop community, support our
hunger strike!” “Retaliation at Pelican Bay: Letters
from the SHU,”
“We are willing to sacrifice
ourselves to change our conditions” and “They took the 15 of us hunger
strikers to ASU-Hell-Row.” Send our brother some love and light: Mutope Duguma, s/n James D.
Crawford, D-05996, PBSP-SHU, D1-117U, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95532.