#operation push

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365 blk!

[strathshepard]

Jesse Jackson, Operation PUSH, Chicago, 1975

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✊🏾 “At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.”~ Rev. Jesse Jackson (1941-2026) ✊🏾🇺🇸

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Rashid Johnson faces an “inciting a riot” charge for reporting on #OperationPUSH

Incarcerated Florida organizer and Minister of Defense of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (Prison Chapter) Kevin “Rashid” Johnson is facing political repression in the form of an “inciting a riot” charge for reporting on Operation PUSH.

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Florida Officials Deny Operation PUSH Is Ongoing, Even As They Retaliate Against Prisoners

More than a week since Operation PUSH launched in Florida prisons, officials claim there is no strike, even though there are several reports of retaliation.

Publicly, FDC insists there is no Operation PUSH inside its facilities. Yet incarcerated people have reported “active participation or repression of some sort” in at least sixteen state prisons.

SPARC argues this is part of FDC’s strategy of severing communication to “create the perception of inactivity and break the spirits of those participating in the strike.” Incarcerated organizers have expressed the importance of solidarity and communication with those on the outside, both for morale and for protection, for many years.

FDC threatened organizers with “harsher retaliation” if they corresponded or in some cases merely received literature from advocacy groups like IWOC and Fight Toxic Prisons.

Lockdowns, disconnected phone lines, and mass searches interrupted lines of communication, and incarcerated people suspected of organizing resistance were split up and transferred to other facilities.

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In a statement released online, organizers wrote, “It’s time we reverse the psychology and STAND together. The way to strike back is not with violence as this is what they want! If we show them violence they will have a legitimate excuse to use brute force against us and explain to the public that they had to use brute force in order to contain the situation. However, their weakness is their wallet.” And indeed their wallet would be affected by the strike, as the prison industry makes a whopping $2 billion annually off unpaid prison labor. Their statement goes on to say, “Our goal is to make the Governor realize that it will cost the state of Florida millions of dollars daily to contract outside companies to come and cook, clean, and handle the maintenance,” the manifesto explains. “This will cause a total BREAK DOWN.” Monday’s scheduled protest are a culmination of efforts by inmates, their families, and organizations across the country. As an homage to Dr. King’s legacy of civil disobedience, the lay down will be a peaceful protest that they hope will eclipse that of 2016’s massive, IWOC-organized strike September 9, 2016, which commemorated the anniversary of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison riots in New York. They are asking that nonprisoners who would like to show support do so by donating to the cause and attending solidarity rallies across the state from 1 to 3 p.m. on Monday. For those not in Florida, there are still many ways to get involved. One of the major ways to help is by donating to local organizations fighting for restorative justice models and inmate rights. You can also support the effort to end voter disenfranchisement and restore the right to vote to over 1.5 million previously incarcerated citizens by supporting the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and signing the petition. What will it take for us those of us outside of prison walls to join the fight? What will it take for us to realize that the nature of the criminal justice system is not to prevent crime or rehabilitate those who have violated laws, but its primary concern is with punishment, exploitation, and control of Black and brown bodies. At the core of these grievances is merely a plea for basic human dignity, to which we are all entitled. And how long before we recognize the obvious- that we are all sinners, have all been guilty of breaking the law at some point in our lives. What has spared us from the fate of those whom society has labeled as criminals and cast aside has been some combination of luck, happenstance, or privilege. Even as laws are passed across the country to legalize marijuana, there are people serving life sentences for first time drug offenses. And as the cultural terrain shifts back to a time where overt bigotry, violence, and racism are not only tolerated but celebrated by those in office, how long before the rights we enjoy and our very existence is criminalized? In the fight for the rights of the incarcerated, the life we save may be our own.

To honor Dr. King’s legacy is to support the Florida prison strike by Isis Miller

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On a literal daily basis prisoners are gassed, tortured and/or brutally beaten by guards with the full complicity of medical and mental health staff.  As part of this culture of abuse, grievance officials routinely trash prisoners’ attempts to grieve their mistreatment.  This to eliminate any records of the abuses and to frustrate any potential attempts at litigation (1). These and attendant conditions illustrate the inhumane and unjust outrages that Florida prisoners are protesting. Take for example that FDOC prisoners are forced to work without pay.  Only one job pays a token wage (namely the prison commissary), which, at $50 a month, is lower than 3rd world sweatshop rates. The enforced slave labor in the FDOC is a literal continuation of the old antebellum slave system, selectively enforced against people of color and the poor and based upon the 13th Amendment which only modified slavery at the end of the Civil War in 1865, to permit enslavement of those convicted of crimes.  It was under this reformed slavery that Blacks were targeted for re-enslavement and the FDOC was established three years later in 1868 which the FDOC proudly boasts on its seal (2). Coupled with Florida prisoners receiving no wages, they must purchase basic hygiene supplies, seasonal clothing, shoes and supplemental foods and beverages from a grossly overpriced commissary and package system, which weighs heavily on their loved ones.  Otherwise prisoners must do without. Again, by contrasting the FDOC with other prison systems that I’ve been recently confined to, I can readily illustrate and attest to this pricing scam.  In fact, those on the outside can compare the prices between FDOC’s packaging system with that in Texas, by visiting access.com and FloridaPackages.com for Florida prices and going to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s (sic!) website and going to Ecommdirect.com for Texas prices. FDOC prices are literally double or more the prices of the same or similar items sold to Texas prisoners.  Here are some random examples comparing the 2017 prices of the same or similar items sold to FDOC versus TDCJ prisoners: 1. A Speed Stick deodorant is $2.50 (TX); while a generic Oraline Secure roll-on deodorant is $4.00 (FL); 2. One AA battery is $.27 (TX); a pack of two AA batteries is $3.02 (FL); 3. A roll of toilet paper is $.50 (TX); $1.00 (FL); 4. Ten letter size envelopes are $.30 (TX); $.80 (FL); 5. Multivitamins—100 count—are $2.30 (TX); $7.21 (FL); 6. A 16.9 ounce bottle of water is $.15 (TX); $.99 (FL); 7. A 3.5 ounce pouch of mackerel fillets is $.85 (TX); $1.59 (FL); 8. A 4 ounce bag of coffee is $.85 and $1.90 (TX); $6.03 (FL); 9. One Top Ramen soup is $.30 (TX); $.70 (FL); 10. Ten individual packs of oatmeal are $1.50 (TX); $5.30 (FL); 11. A bottle of nasal spray is $1.85 (TX); $8.75 (FL), and so on. Again, these are only random samples showing the comparative overpricing of items sold to FDOC prisoners.  It should also be kept in mind that the quality of goods sold by prison vendors are typically inferior to those sold to the general public. Forced to work without pay and to purchase goods at usurious prices, while most come from poor communities, prisoners are especially vulnerable to such pricing scams, and most obviously cannot afford to purchase basic necessities, supplement the inadequate prison meals and nutrition, and acquire the few allowed amenities at the prices set by the FDOC.

Florida Prisoners Are Laying It Down by Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

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It’s high time to expose the rulers, law makers, and law enforcers in Florida and in this country at large. Therefore we are calling on the people of this state to help put a stop to all the injustice, lies, and deceit once and for all, especially those of us, whom through trickery, have been victimized and as a result are entangled in the web of lies and deceit. Throughout the presidential campaign, Donald Trump, now this nations president, was adamant about deporting illegal and criminal immigrants. He was met with a hard fight with the governors of the states (especially the Democratic Party). Why? Because immigrants are their bread and butter. The American people are always been led to believe that their leaders wisely put tax payers dollars to good use to keep the street of this country safe by keeping criminals and the corrections system and off the streets. The truth is tax dollars do not fund prisons, prisoners do. How? Free labor force!!! Prisons in America are nothing but a different form of slavery plantations and the citizens of the country are walking zombie banks. There are so many Haitians, Jamaican, and Latinos in the FDOC serving sentences that exceeds life expectancy and or life sentences who are not being deported. They use all immigrants, for free Labor and then deport them. Why flood the system with immigrants waiting to be deported after serving their entire sentence? Because of the benefit. The undeniable truth is Florida prisoners are slaves who work and do not get paid. New age slaves within the prisons system!!!

A statement from Haitian prisoners supporting Operation PUSH