Revolution #200, May 1, 2010
The Prison Ban on Revolution Newspaper is Inhumane and Unconstitutional
Overturn the Ban!
From readers in prison:
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Imagine you are in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of a prison, locked in a solitary cell for 23 or more hours a day, every day, year after year. Your lifeline to the world is a newspaper and all of a sudden prison officials decide that you cannot read it anymore. As a prisoner wrote: "I’ve been getting the Revolution paper for about 8 years and can’t imagine being in this dungeon without it."
In February, 2010, prison officials at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison declared that Revolution newspaper was banned from their institution. The ban must be OVERTURNED.
Many people from all sections of society who have listened to these prisoners’ voices have been struck by the power of their words and their moral vision for transforming society. Now it is up to those on the outside to make sure this lifeline is not cut off and these voices are not muffled or worse silenced.
Here is how you can help today:
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From a reader: "I have seen the future in these letters" As a reader of Revolution’s letters from prisoners, I am outraged that a prison in California or ANYWHERE USA is banning their right to read Revolution newspaper. This goes to the most basic rights of people locked up on the bottom of society to lift their heads to understand the world and through their voices to be part of changing it. Do prisoners have a right to develop as critical thinkers? Do prisoners have a right to the wonder and awe of science? Do prisoners have a right to atheist views and to break the mental shackles of religion? Do prisoners have a right to understand why so many of them are in prison? Do prisoners have a right to learn how to build bonds of multi-racial unity through recognizing the common roots of their oppression? Do prisoners have a right to understand the oppression of women, to reject the misogyny and porn so prevalent in prisons? Do prisoners have a right to explore alternatives—radical, revolutionary and Communist solutions to the plight of the people and of the planet itself? Do prisoners have a right to transform themselves into emancipators of humanity? I have read the letters. I have seen the future in these letters. I see in your prison bans the echo of the past when it was a crime for slaves to teach themselves or be taught to read. It is as basic as this—Do prisoners have a right to a life of the mind, to be human even under the most horrible conditions? YES THEY DO! |
Our Mission: The Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF) is an educational literature fund that fills requests from U.S. prisoners for revolutionary literature. (For our full Mission Statement and more information on PRLF, go to our website: www.prisonersrevolutionaryliteraturefund.org) The Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund is in affiliation with International Humanities Center, a nonprofit public charity exempt from federal income tax under Section 501[c](3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Send your checks to Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund, 1321 N. Milwaukee, #407, Chicago, IL 60622 Make checks to: Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund Credit card and Pay Pal donations can be made online at: www.IHCenter.org/groups/prlf.html ("International Humanities" will appear on your credit card statement), or at www.prisonersrevolutionaryliteraturefund.org To volunteer with or contact PRLF: (773) 960-6952 or prlf_fund@yahoo.com |
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