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<div style="display: block;" id="reader-header" class="header"> <b><small><small><a
href="http://sfbayview.com/2016/04/tipping-point-in-texas-prison-strikes-the-history-of-slavery-is-at-stake/"
id="reader-domain" class="domain"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://sfbayview.com/2016/04/tipping-point-in-texas-prison-strikes-the-history-of-slavery-is-at-stake/">http://sfbayview.com/2016/04/tipping-point-in-texas-prison-strikes-the-history-of-slavery-is-at-stake/</a></a></small></small></b>
<h1 id="reader-title">Tipping point in Texas prison strikes? The
history of slavery is at stake</h1>
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<p><strong><em>by the IWW Incarcerated Workers’ Organizing
Committee (IWOC)</em></strong></p>
<p><em>April 16, 2016, Texas</em> – Since <a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/04/04/the-strike-is-on-texas-prisoners-strike-for-human-rights-end-to-prison-slavery/">April
4</a>, prisoners in at least four Texas prisons have
been on strike for better conditions and an <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution">end
to slavery</a> and <a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/03/22/work-stoppages-in-texas-planned-for-early-april/">human
rights abuses</a>. This strike is but the latest in a
<a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/04/01/announcement-of-nationally-coordinated-prisoner-workstoppage-for-sept-9-2016/">nationwide
mass movement inside prisons for dignity and freedom</a>.</p>
<p>Minimum wage in Texas prisons is <a
href="http://www.prisonpolicy.org/prisonindex/prisonlabor.html">zero
dollars per hour</a>. Access to medical care requires
a <a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/03/22/work-stoppages-in-texas-planned-for-early-april/">$100
medical copay</a>.</p>
<p>“My son and others are literally sitting down to say,
‘Stop killing us. Stop enslaving us. We are human. This
has got to stop,’” said Judy, whose son’s prison is on
lockdown. “I think the strike should spread. I believe
prisoners and families together have the power to
collapse this system.”</p>
<p>Striking prisons have been put on lockdown in an
attempt to “<a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/04/05/strike-roundup-day-1-texas-prisons-shook-by-iwoc-initiated-strikes/">conceal
the strike</a>,” and the battle of wills is being
daily tested by the inhumanity of the administration. No
lights, two peanut butter sandwiches a day, no phone,
mail or visitation from the outside world. And likely <a
href="http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/09/just-released-video-of-georgia-officers-beating-inmate-with-a-hammer-warning-graphic-video-2752594.html">far
worse</a>.</p>
<p>Since the strike’s inception, the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has been trying to contain the
strike and paint the strikers as causing harm to inmates
and families. They threaten additional lockdowns, forced
transfers, violence – even a statewide lockdown.</p>
<p>“I know we with family inside are hurting when we are
cut off from our loved ones – when we hear rumors of
additional lockdowns, when they threaten locking us all
out,” said Ann, whose husband is in Robertson and who
lives in Fort Worth, Texas. “But don’t blame the brave
souls standing up. Blame TDCJ. Blame those willing to
torture families rather than give us justice.”<br>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">“Texas is running a slave
plantation. They work with companies to take advantage
of slave wages, and keep expenses as low as possible
by forcing people into inhuman conditions. But prisons
can’t run without inmate labor. Change is coming
because prisoners are growing a mass movement in
prisons, one that won’t stop until prison slavery is
abolished,” says Nicholas Onwukwe, former prisoner and
co-chair of the Incarcerated Workers’ Organizing
Committee, which is organizing of support protests,
including this one on April 9 in Austin, Texas.</p>
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<p>IWOC believes TDCJ’s actions to be an intentional,
routine tactic. “They are trying to change who the enemy
is,” said Nick Onwukwe, co-chair of IWOC and a former
prisoner. “Trying to get you to believe the enemy isn’t
the slave master; it’s the slave who sits down and says,
‘Enough!’”</p>
<p>Increasingly, lockdowns are becoming reality. Already
there are additional lockdowns at Jester III, Dalhart
and Beto, partial lockdowns at Coffield and Allred, and
a confirmed order for lockdown at Michael for this
morning, April 16. Is the strike spreading? Will TCDJ’s
tactics backfire? We may be at a tipping point.</p>
<p>“This is not a time to watch,” said <span>Brianna
Peril, IWOC co-chair and former prisoner. “Gather your
family and loved ones. Start a chapter. Go outside the
nearest prison and make enough noise that those inside
know the free world is with them. The history of
slavery in the United States is at stake.”</span></p>
<p><strong>Get ready!</strong></p>
<p>The movement to end prison slavery is growing.
Prisoners in Alabama have recently confirmed their
commitment to <a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/04/06/free-alabama-may-day-call-out/">striking
this May</a>, while prisoners across the country are
calling for <a
href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/04/01/announcement-of-nationally-coordinated-prisoner-workstoppage-for-sept-9-2016/">nationally
coordinated prison shutdowns</a> on the 45th
anniversary of Attica this September.</p>
<p>Like all futures, it will be decided by those who show
up. <a href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/contact/">Get
involved</a>. <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/448081628715734/">Call</a>.
<a href="https://iwoc.noblogs.org/donate/">Donate</a>.
This is our time.</p>
<p><em>Contact IWW Incarcerated Workers Organizing
Committee at <a href="mailto:iwoc@riseup.net">iwoc@riseup.net</a>
or 816-866-3808.</em></p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
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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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