“The prison cannot be victorious because walls, bars, and guards cannot conquer or hold down an idea.”
DR. Huey P. Newton Prison revolts in the 20th century are marked with Black blood, sacrifice, courage, determination, pain, anger, tears, and redemption. Our potential to organize and mobilize is evident throughout the prison system today. It is a fact that the rights and privileges that our brothers and sisters receive in prisons all around the country are a direct result of strong brothers making demands and being prepared to die, to make those demands a reality. The human rights that they courageously demanded while behind steel bars and 50-foot concrete walls were not only to be granted during their term of imprisonment but also for the prisoners of the future.
THE DEMANDS:
Ending continuous physical brutality, proper medical treatment, meat other than pork, massive overcrowding, visitation rights, proper legal representation, safer working conditions, the right to financially support our families, the granting of political asylum for our political prisoners, vocational training programs, educational programs, hot water, operable plumbing, heat, consumable food, and clean water.
From the first time Africans have been put behind bars to feed this modern-day slave system, we have always shown resistance and kujichagulia. History has revealed that hundreds of prison riots have been fueled by overt and oppressive U.S. statutes, strategic military occupation, and assaults against the innocent residents of Black communities throughout the country.
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