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Russell Maroon Shoatz <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:freemaroonshoatz@gmail.com"><freemaroonshoatz@gmail.com></a><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span
style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"><font size="4">MAROON UPDATE: </font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span
style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"><font size="4">Rising like a
Phoenix from the Ashes</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">April 7, 2014</span><span
style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Greetings Maroon
Supporters,</span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Thank you again
for your steadfast support
to the international movement to free Russell Maroon Shoatz. His
transfer from 22 years of solitary
confinement into general population was the result of a coordinated
strategy by
Scientific Soul Sessions (SSS) and the Campaign to Free Russell Maroon
Shoatz
on artistic/cultural, political, and legal fronts that were championed
by the
power of the people. It is a historic
people’s victory. This is especially
significant since the U.S. government is determined to break the spirit
of
political prisoners through confinement, silencing, and torture. </span><span
style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Here is an
update on Maroon’s transition
into general population at SCI Graterford, Pennsylvania’s largest
maximum-security prison: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">It has been five
weeks since his
transfer. Every week he gains his
humanity back, as he learns how to live without shackles on his hands
and feet,
breathe fresh air for the first time in months, and carefully re-teach
himself
how to redistribute his weight in order to walk up and down stairs
again. He is
acclimating to his new surroundings and becoming familiar with how
prison
authorities regulate his life in general population. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Upon his
transfer, Maroon was introduced
to a new set of rules and regulations, some of which were specific to
him. Without a doubt, the prison authorities are
keeping a very sharp eye on him, his movement, and his communications.
</span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">SCI Graterford
confines up to 3,500
prisoners. They are holding Maroon in
the newest wing where prisoners are completely broken. They have lost
all self-respect and dignity. They have been broken by the prison
system
and living out of fear and desperation.
Upon entering his new cell, fellow prisoners surrounded and begged
Maroon for food. This is unimaginable to
Maroon since any sign of weakness makes you vulnerable to manipulation
by both
prison authorities and prisoners. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Along with the
breaking of prisoners’
spirit, this is also a result of the privatization of prisons as they
cut
corners to make profit. The prisoners
are not getting fed enough during mealtimes so they are desperate for
food. Most don’t have the outside support and cannot
afford to buy food and drink from the commissary. As a result, the
spirit of the prisoners is
so low and defeated that Maroon spends most of his time alone in his
cell
reading, writing, and studying.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Maroon is
gaining clarity on the trauma
caused by long-term solitary confinement.
He understands more concretely how prolonged solitary confinement has
been specifically designed and used to target and destroy prisoners who
display
political leadership or abilities to organize prisoners (i.e. political
and
politicized prisoners). He is barely
beginning to recognize all the psychological and bodily harm it has
done to him
over the past decades. Despite the fact
that Maroon is one of the stronger prisoners, it is clear that 22 years
of
solitary confinement has done severe damage to him. One can only
fathom how much of a toll
solitary confinement takes on prisoners that are not as strong-willed
as
Maroon. </span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Overall, Maroon
is in a better situation
than he has been in over 22 years. However, we have serious concerns
for his
safety. Anyone of those broken
prisoners could be manipulated to cause him bodily harm. Likewise,
prison authorities could find
arbitrary reasons to throw Maroon back into solitary confinement. Our
work to protect him is just beginning. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">We will keep you
– his ardent supporters –
regularly updated on Maroon’s progress and with his campaign as we
transition
into a new phase demanding a full release from prison. </span><span
style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Russell Maroon
Shoatz is an innocent man
who has suffered tremendously under the duress of state torture. He
needs the kind of rehabilitation that
prison may have once promised, but clearly can’t and won’t give him.
His cruel punishment - 22 years of continuous
solitary confinement and torture - has well exceeded his original
sentence. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">It is time to
free Russell Maroon Shoatz!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">FREE
MAROON!</span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"> <br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">Scientific
Soul Sessions | </span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.scientificsoulsessions.com/"><span
style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua';">www.scientificsoulsessions.com</span></a><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Book Antiqua';"><br>
NYC
Campaign to Free Russell Maroon Shoatz<br>
International Campaign to Free Russell
Maroon Shoatz</span></p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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