[Ppnews] This Hungerstrike is Far From Over

[Political Prisoner News]

a Letter from Mutope Duguma (s/n James Crawford):

This Hungerstrike is Far From Over

It is a sincere pleasure to once again extend my 
hand to my beautiful New Afrikan people. I have 
been recuperating from not eating for 20 days 
straight and I can tell you based on my personal 
experience that it was hell! I could feel the 
life gradually being sucked out of me.
Â
It had been as cruel as I imagined it would be, 
but we had guys falling out every day and me and 
my celly lost 40 pounds. My celly is Sitawa (R.N. 
Dewberry), who sends his regards. He had to be 
shipped out to Corcoran SHU due to how frail he 
had gotten. He’s 6 feet 1 inch and weighed 206 
pounds, and he went all the way down to 166 
pounds. And I am a 6-foot-3-inch frame, weighing 
250 pounds. I went down to 210 pounds.

But it was definitely a scary event because you 
never knew when it was your time to fall out due 
to starvation. I noticed if you have a fast 
metabolism your weight will fall off real quick, 
because Sitawa looked scary thin. I was worried about him.

When you love your people, you always are 
concerned about them. I told him to just stop 
moving around so much, but he’s a revolutionary. 
We argued about trying to save one another 
throughout the whole time while we both was slipping away very slowly.

Now we are trying to get our weight back up 
because this hunger strike is far from over. You 
know Sitawa is one of our four principal 
negotiators. He represented all of the New 
Afrikans held in solitary confinement throughout California.

Right now due to the negotiations on July 20, 
2011, the hunger strike was called off 
temporarily because CDCR (California Department 
of Corrections and Rehabilitation) Undersecretary 
Scott Kernan and Secretary Matthew Cate begged 
our negotiators to call off the hunger strike and 
give them two to three weeks to implement our 
five core demands. We’re still waiting as of Aug. 7, 2011.

Then these two idiots propagate that our 
negotiators settled for a watch cap, proctor and 
calendars when many of us been held in solitary 
confinement on the word of a prison snitch for 10 
to 40 years. And we settled for this crap? Be for real.

So our negotiators are not worried because the 
only thing important is what they do and say in 
this next negotiation. He promised all five of 
our demands along with progressive change. So if 
he came empty-handed, then it’s back to the beginning: hunger strike.

We have 500 prisoners who literally didn’t want 
to get off the hunger strike, but we have to be 
mindful that these prisoners, including 
ourselves, are willing to sacrifice our lives – 
because what other choice do we have outside of 
being subjected to torture for the rest of our lives?

So does it matter to us? No, because for 21 1/2 
years we have been quietly held in Pelican Bay 
State Prison solitary confinement under some of 
the most horrible conditions known to man. So we 
continue to struggle to be treated like decent human beings.

I’ll keep you all posted because this hunger 
strike hasn’t even got off the ground yet!

The system cannot play us because we are going to 
make peaceful demonstrations in order to resist 
this torture, and the hunger strike is definitely 
a peaceful stance we can continue to exercise.

It’s been my pleasure!
One love, one struggle.

This letter was received by the 
<http://sfbayview.com/2011/this-hunger-strike-is-far-from-over/>San 
Francisco Bay View on Aug. 12. Send our brother 
some love and light: James Crawford, D-05996, 
D1-117U, PBSP-SHU, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City 
CA 95532. He is the writer of 
“<http://sfbayview.com/2011/the-call-hunger-strike-to-begin-july-1/>The 
Call,” the formal announcement that alerted the 
world to this massive hunger strike, in which 
6,600 prisoners participated, according to CDCR’s 
own records. As the strike was about to begin, he 
wrote 
“<http://sfbayview.com/2011/shu-prisoners-sentenced-to-civil-death-begin-hunger-strike/>SHU 
prisoners sentenced to civil death begin hunger 
strike,” explaining the reasons for the strike.

*******************************************************

Join and Support the Statewide Mobilization to Sacramento August 23rd

<http://t.ymlp100.net/mmhadayqwaaaujeafaqh/click.php>Prisoner 
Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition

On August 23rd, San Francisco Representative Tom 
Ammiano and the Public Safety Committee in the 
State Assembly of CA will hold an informational 
hearing on conditions and policies of the 
Security Housing Units at Pelican Bay. This is a 
major opportunity for supporters outside of 
prison to support the hunger strike and to 
pressure state legislators and the CDCR to make substantial changes.

Support families & community members to give 
testimony on the conditions of the SHUs and 
amplify the voices of the thousands of prisoners across California!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
If you’re in California or on the West Coast:
    * Join the Statewide Mobilization to 
Sacramento! Come to Sacramento on August 23rd for 
a day of action to support the hunger strike! If 
you need a ride, contact 
prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity at gmail.com as soon as possible.
    * Pressure your Legislators! Call and/or 
visit your legislators and urge them to attend 
the hearing on August 23rd, as well as visit the 
hunger strikers at Pelican Bay and other prisons
    * Make Some Noise! Organize demonstrations, 
events, rallies in a city near you targeting your 
legislators’ local offices leading up to the 
hearing or during (if you’re legislators are not attending)!
    * Support Transportation for supporters across the state!
    * Contact 
prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity at gmail.com if you 
can drive a car from where ever you are in CA to 
Sacramento and have room for more passengers.
    * You can also donate funds to Prisoner 
Hunger Strike Solidarity so that families and 
community members across CA can get to Sacramento 
on August 23rd. Donate by going to California 
Prison Focus’ website, on the left-hand side 
there’s a donate button that will link you to 
CPF’s paypal account. Or, write a check and mail 
it to California Prison Focus/ 1904 Franklin Suit 
507/ Oakland CA 94612. Make sure to put a note on 
your check or paypal transaction “hunger strike” or “coalition.”
If you’re outside of California:
    * Support transportation for supporters 
across the state! Donate funds to Prisoner Hunger 
Strike Solidarity so that families and 
communities members across CA can get to 
Sacramento on August 23rd. Donate by going to 
California Prison Focus’ website, on the 
left-hand side there’s a donate button that will 
link you to CPF’s paypal account. Or, write a 
check and mail it to California Prison Focus/ 
1904 Franklin Suit 507/ Oakland CA 94612. Make 
sure to put a note on your check or paypal 
transaction “hunger strike” or “coalition”
    * Pressure your Legislators! Contact your 
state legislators and urge them to get every CA 
state legislator they know to attend the 
Legislative Hearing on the 23rd, as well as visit 
hunger strikers at Pelican Bay and other prisons.
    * Make some Noise! Organize local rallies, 
demonstrations and events in solidarity with the 
hunger strike near or on August 23rd to help 
spread awareness about the strike, the hearing, 
and local struggles against imprisonment.
**For Supporters Everywhere: We encourage all 
supporters to continue spreading the word about 
the strike and the upcoming hearing, through 
emails, facebook, text-messages, twitter–all 
tools of social media and communication. We also 
encourage supports to continue writing prisoners 
and sharing words of support, encouragement, and 
updates on the strike and statewide mobilization 
to Sacramento for the hearing. 
<http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/write-to-the-strike-leaders/>Click 
here for more info to write to the hunger strike leaders.




Freedom Archives
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San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

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