80.-radical-resistance-for-prison-abolition.pdf
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Radical
Resistance
for

Prison
Abolition

by Comrade Frank Talk,
a Captive New Afrikan Revolutionary


Originally published on Abolitionist Media Worldwide — English (2021)

hetps:/ /www.amwenglish.com/articles/radical-resistance-for-prison-abolition-by-comrade-
frank-talk-a-captive-new-afrikan-revolutionary/



Note: cover photo is from construction site of youth prison, set on fire during George Floyd
uprising in Seattle last year.

Reprint by Night Owl Distro / Chicago
Radical Resistance
for Prison Abolition

by Comrade Frank Talk,
a Captive New Afrikan Revolutionary

Introduction

We do not believe that real prison abolition can happen without
there first being a revolution or radical social transformation of
society as we know it.

With that being said, we have to ask our selves: then what is our
vision and what is the strategy to make that vision a reality?

We believe in a two-pronged or multi-pronged approach. We do
not support a strategy that involves making prisons more
comfortable or kinder, gentler places of oppression. We believe in
concretely supporting prisoners in their efforts to organize and in
putting mechanisms and programs in place that help to transform
the social prisoners’ mentality to that of a revolutionary political
cadre. We believe in helping to put in place the necessary
infrastructure on both sides of the wall, geared toward bringing
revolutionary prisoner resistance into reality. We don’t want to
make prisons more comfortable. We want to make them
ungovernable, unmanageable and uninhabitable (3 U’s), while
sabotaging and attacking the prison-industrial complex’s
operations on both sides of the razor wire fence.

There can be no revolution inside of the prisons, but there can be
insurrection and revolt inside with critical support and material
resources from the external movement.
A New Approach and Assessment

At some point, the outside prison abolition movement has to stop
playing by the rules laid down and established by the state. How do
you allow the enemy to establish the parameters for combat, the
tules of engagement?

Allowing the enemy to determine the rules of engagement is one of
the reasons that the so-called “Left” has been so toothless and
ineffective when it comes to building and supporting a radical
prison movement. As our political prisoners and prisoners of war
languish in these dungeons for decades, way up into their 7os and
80s, the tendency of the outside movement has been to only want
to engage in safe forms of struggle; “legal” forms of struggle and
resistance. Some of these forms of struggle have only served to
expose our people and networks to the intelligence-gathering
operations of the state surveillance apparatus (for expample, non-
conflictual, small protests at DOC headquarters and the like).
Because of this tendency to only engage in “struggle” on the state’s
terms, the state doesn’t fear the left or feel it will be held
accountable for it’s kkkrimes against us. Holding candlelight vigils
outside of prisons while we are marched into death chambers or
locked in solitary confinement for decades is an ineffective strategy
for seriously challenging the genocidal operations of the prison-
industrial complex.

Any serious movement that professes to be revolutionary must
have some teeth and be prepared to bite.

We must have a vison of what we’re fighting for and a strategy for
how to make it materialize, while also guarding against counter-
productive adventurism. If we genuinely believe in fighting to
bring about a revolution or cultivating the terrain to help facilitate
revolutionary struggle, then we have to move in the direction of
creating the infrastructures to facilitate, and more importantly, to
sustain that escalation of strategies and tactics.
Instead of putting out calls for mass actions by outside elements,
we believe that it would be more effective to critically support
prisoners with materials, resources, etc, in developing not only
inside/outside working relationships, but also in building inside
infrastructures geared toward making the 3 U’s a reality.

There are other groups, both liberal and progressive, that can focus
on various aspects of prison reform, solidarity, etc. This is a manual
to suggest some other forms of struggle that are geared toward
sharpening overall contradictions with the state. Setting an
example and ushering in a new tone to be not only amplified but to
be emulated. So that when we call for mass actions, we can also
have those hard line elements with teeth, prepared to take a bite
out of kkkrime. While simultaneously, tens of thousands of
prisoners can mobilize, work strike, sabotage factories and critical
equipment, shutting down the profit-driven machinery of the
state... cost the state millions in lost profits, in overtime, in security
costs, in replacement of equipment.

We ain’t looking for no photo-ops or likes on social media, we're
trying to strike blows toward prison abolition! We want the state to
feel our pain!!!

Just imagine if tens of thousands of prisoners were striking or
protesting in conjunction with outside autonomous, leaderless,
strike teams carrying out strategic acts of support and solidarity as
prisoners demand the repeal of the kkkrime bill, three strike laws,
the abolition of the death penalty, mass release of elder or geriatric
prisoners due to Covid or whatever, etc etc... it takes the struggle to
a whole different level and puts it in a different light.

It exposes the hypocrisy of the US government's claim that it
doesn’t have political prisoners. It exposes the blatant, day to day
human rights abuses of the prison-industrial complex, that the US
commits while claiming to the rest of the world that it is the
champion of human rights. It also further strips away the
legitimacy of the state. It in fact exposes and kriminalizes the state,
and allows other movements to step forward and educate the
masses of people about the existence of political prisoners and
prisoners of war in US prisons, to demand their release from a
position of strength. It allows for other aboveground formations to
agitate, educate, and organize amongst the people and do mass
work around other popular issues and make the connections with
the prison-industrial complex, especially in relation to national
oppression.

Resistance Behind the Walls: Dismantle, Disrupt, Destroy (3D’s)
We want to organize revolutionary formations behind the walls
and schools for cadre development. Some of these structures
already exist, the key is to connect them with outside formations
who are willing to coordinate and work in tandem with them,
providing concrete material and tactical support. Pushing the
concept of the 3 U’s and 3 D’s it is necessary to push to turn these
kkkamps into guerilla training base camps, while moving to arrest
the operations of these kamps. Shut it down, lock it down. When it
is shut down and locked down, the state can no longer use or
depend on prison slave labor. This cuts into the state’s profits. It
also forces us to engage in class warfare among ourselves as
prisoners, as it forces us to each pick a side. Ride with the prisoner
Klass or support the agenda of the state.

Military Strategy Behind Enemy Lines

While we create study and struggle groups to raise revolutionary
consciousness, we also must create basic units that are for training
and are militarized. Cadre who are being fielded to the outside to
join the movement and those who are stuck on the inside to engage
the state through a war of attrition. Historically the response to
various abuses by the state or any type of armed resistance has
either been spontaneous or the seizing of housing units and
hostages. Then negotiating around a set of demands and calling for
the media. We believe that without coordinated outide tactical
support that this tactic is outdated. That in such scenarios, while
briefly it might expose certain conditions and allow us to exact
some form of vengeance, it has all too often placed us in a situation
where we've only negotiated for another hundred years or been put
ina situation where the state can execute us under the color of law.
While the outside movement either abandoned us after the initial
sparks or wasn’t strong enough to sustain any type of momentum
to defend us and support us in winning our demands.

In fact, if the external revolutionary forces were developed, and
with the right political practices, we wouldn’t have to make such
sacrifices.

The tactic of the guerilla should be applied behind the walls. Small
units of three to five cadre, self-contained cells that’s a part of larger
networks operating on a mutual strategy of lightning strikes
targeting high-profile targets, specifically targets that have a
reputation of abusing and/or terrorizing prisoners. No
discrimination against so-called race or gender. Such high profile
targets will set the tone and signal to lesser important elements the
seriousness of the matter.

In a lot of the older prisons, padlocks and other types of locks are
used to secure areas and panel boxes. Let’s say after an anonymous
list of demands have been dropped, through an organized
campaign all of the padlocks in the housing units and common
areas become super-glued to where none of its internal
mechanisms would work. Let’s say critical machinery in key profit-
driven factories come up destroyed or broken or key parts of
machinery disabled. Let’s say the key components in the kitchen
freezer is sabotaged and the locking device is jammed. Let’s say
after outside comrades provided critical material a P.B. or an I.E.D
was left in the kitchen after hours to cause it to burn down, thereby
forcing the state to bring in the national guard to feed us. Let’s say
while things are tense and on edge a b. . . threat was called in to the
facility. Say this was during peak season of profiteering. Let’s say
some of the larger slave plantations in the south where you have
fields of crops. Crops that happen to catch on fire . . . tractors or
heavy equipment that has sugar or cement poured into gas tanks
(destroying the engines). K-9’s come up poisoned. It cost time and
money to train attack, cell-phone and drug-sniffing dogs.

In most prisons their supply warehouse is located outside of the
perimeter or is accessible with little security other than an alarm
system and rolling vehicle patrol. Not immune to a fire.

Often the carpool of official vehicles, transport vehicles, perimeter
check vehicles, etc, gators and other types of vehicles used to get
around the prison are outside the perimeter. The ‘fleet’ is often
unsecured and accessible. Vulnerable to sugar, cement or gasoline.

Again, these actions is capable of making a statement. A statement
that will make sense where thorough groundwork and agitation
has been done beforehand. We believe that such actions that can’t
be swept under the rug will inspire and motivate comrades and
potential recruits behind enemy lines. This is about taking the
initiative to change the terrain and conditions, which we can build
on.

This tactical approach also applies to DOC Central Offices and
various less-secure DOC facilities. Again, you have unsecured
fleets of vehicles, only camera surveillance. Arrogant and
overconfident personnel that can be followed home, where they
can be targeted for direct action and exposure in their communities
for their oppressive and fascist actions. Why should they be
allowed to return home and live in peace?? Why shouldn’t their
neighbors be made aware of their krimes? Neighborhoods should
be saturated with flyers. If they got school-age kids, schools should
be targeted for agitation, education, organiazation... Guard
recruitment and DOC public relations events shouldn't be allowed
to occur...Agitate, Educate, Organize (A.E.O)...
Especially if we're dealing with high-ranking personel in the
prison-industrial complex. Pressure!! Force them to be on defense.

Why should these torturers [c/o’s involved in indefinite solitary
confinement regimes, denying necessary medical treatment, etc.)
not be outed, not be exposed to their community? Not be held
accountable when comrades like Tookie Williams or whomever is
murdered by the state?? This doesn’t take a revolution or army, all
it takes is people who are committed and serious and know how to
keep their mouth shut. Forced on the defensive!

Prisons are generally isolated and not self-contained entities.
Meaning they have to truck in their supplies. The mail, various
chemicals, food products, etc. Why not a push for a divestment
campaign like was organized against apartheid South Africa? As an
added incentive to encourage divestment and the cancelling of
contracts, we have elements do the A.E.O. around it, while we have
other units hitting them where it hurts, forcing them to
withdraw/reconsider contracts.

How is it that new prisons and supermax torture units are still
being allowed to be built? In Germany in the ’60s and ’70s, the left
was allowing such facilities to be built nearly to completion, and
then blowing them up! Hitting them where it hurts!!

To us, the tactics and strategies discussed above are what would
move us toward abolition. To us this is moving the movement
forward and being proactive. It is also setting the tone and teaching
through action and practice.

This strategy for us is what sharpens overall contradictions and
removes us from the defensive/reactive posture that plagues the
abolition movement’s ability to actually change anything
substantial. It puts us in a position to take the offensive and be
proactive about forcing concessions. Us taking it to the enemy on
his own terrain!!!
It’s time to bite instead of just growling. It is also time to stop
banking on some liberal administration in the white house to save
the day or do for us that we know deep down we will have to fight
for ourselves.

All Power to the People!!!

Comrade Frank Talk

Sent by email.



Reprint by

Night Owl Distro / Chicago
2021