[Ppnews] North Carolina - Central Prisoners Vote to End Hunger Strike

[Political Prisoner News]

  Central Prisoners Vote to End Hunger Strike

August 4, 2012
http://prisonbooks.info/2012/08/04/central-prisoners-vote-to-end-hunger-strike/#more-1422

We just received word that earlier this week prisoners at Central in 
Raleigh voted to end their hunger strike, started on July 16th in 
protest of conditions on Unit 1. We have not heard from prisoners at 
Bertie or Scotland. Small groups of prisoners at Foothills CI and Tabor 
CI have also said they have joined the protest.

The strike was organized to take aim at the fundamental conditions of 
sensory deprivation, psychological and physical torture, and abuse that 
characterize solitary confinement, and for that matter, prisons in 
general. It was also catalyzed by the need for law libraries for 
prisoners to be able to be better organize and defend themselves in the 
legal realm.

Some of the short term demands of prisoners, such as tools with which to 
clean cells, clearing the windows to the outside, and other demands have 
already been granted, but more significant demands have been put to the 
unit manager and have yet to be addressed. For the strikers involved, it 
seems like this strike was a way to garner much needed attention towards 
their conditions, as well as demonstrate to other prisoners that it is 
indeed possible to organize across lines of race or gang status, and to 
do so with meaningful support and solidarity from the outside.

At least one of the strikers, Jamey Wilkins, who has also been active in 
a successful lawsuit against guards, is facing reprisals for his 
involvement in organizing activity. Despite not having write-ups or 
infractions, he is being recommended for Supermax. Outside supporters 
are strongly encouraged to continue to call in or demonstrate on his and 
others' behalf; prison officials are trying to send a warning to others 
who would organize or rebel, and they must be opposed resolutely.

In related news, several of the "Strong 8? prisoners, eight men who 
refused to continue to work in the face of unaddressed labor grievances 
in Central's kitchens, have been taken off I-Con status and allowed back 
to general population, despite their involvement in the hunger strike. 
Others have remained on solitary due to (the admin. claims) infractions.

This hunger strike has garnered a good deal of attention, and the 
support and solidarity of a number diverse groups. At least four 
solidarity demonstrations have occurred, as well as a growing swell of 
support from alternative and social media sources and call-in days from 
all over the country. So it seems appropriate to end this update with 
some words of thanks from the strikers with regards to outside support 
and protest:

/"I had assumed that the strike was over until Friday when I heard it on 
NPR! I'm going to practice solidarity with my fellow activists abroad 
and push out 2 or 3 days...I really appreciate you guys on your activism 
and bringing things together. Stay solid!" -Foothills CI, Morganton, NC/

/"I've been housed on Unit 1 since may 15th 2009 for assault on police 
back in 2007. So I know all the bullshit that goes on here at central or 
unit 1. I heard y'all  by my cell window good around 1pm or 130 pm on 
Sunday, but i couldn't understand the words that was said because 
everybody on unit one was kicking their cell doors." -- Central Prison, 
Raleigh, NC/

/"Keep up the good work all the up and tell everybody we do really, 
really appreciate all the help of stepping up for prisoners period." -- 
Central Prison, Raleigh, NC/

/"I told a couple guys about the hunger strike and we began a little 
something of our own. It's only like four of us, but four is plenty!" 
//- Tabor CI, Tabor City, NC/

/"Thank your for the demo! I heard it from outside. The solidarity is 
felt." -- Central Prison, Raleigh, NC/

/"We heard y'all! I was ready to go all out!" -- Central Prison, 
Raleigh, NC/

Hopefully this strike can be seen and felt as a beginning. Not to 
editorialize, but we would urge fellow supporters on the outside not to 
see this sort of flare-up as a simple quest for certain demands, like 
toilet brushes or cleaner windows or even law libraries. This kind of 
moment, even on the small scale in which it has occurred here, can only 
be fully understood as a struggle for dignity and freedom in the face of 
the largest and arguably the most brutal system of policing and human 
warehousing in the history of the world. The forms of these moments will 
grow and change: it may be a hunger strike today and a riot tomorrow, or 
a quiet study group the next day. But the content of these struggles, at 
least for some, remains a burning desire for liberty set against an 
institutional matrix of petty tyrannies and genocidal abuses that 
characterize all prisons everywhere.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863-9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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