by Shine White

I promised to refrain from writing to you all with my ideas and concerns as they pertain to correcting the corrector, due to it falling on deaf ears and blind eyes every time.

It is somewhat frustrating but not at all confusing. I have come to overstand you people clearly, the discernment to do so is sharpened daily. Y’all may be subjectively sincere in attempts to build solidarity behind these walls, however, objectively what is taking place is quite the opposite—because at the same time that y’all choose to do what is comfortable, y’all are consciously ignoring the overall struggle of NC prisoners which impedes the growth of an actual “Prison Movement” here in NC. Y’all have refused to deal with the complex problems and responsibilities of building an effective sustainable prison movement by pretending that you are too busy with other projects related to the struggles of prisoners. The prison movement here in NC is nonexistent and the struggles centered around prisoners have been trivialized to represent a recreation or a hobby by those of you who profess to be abolitionists, anarchists, activists etc…. To say that you are for something—such as prisoners rights—but to have no strategy or willingness to actually ameliorate the living conditions prisoners find themselves subjected to can only raise questions.

As it stands you all have an unfortunate propensity to create false hope amongst NC prisoners. Falsely assigning y’all’s “activism” a “solidarity” status covers up for slighting the legitimate political needs of these prisoners. Of course they don’t recognize this for numerous reasons. Prisoners tend to be receptive to what y’all may tell them—y’all’s stated intentions. Prisoners are a particularly vulnerable and desperate social group, an isolated group whose severely miserable predicament leaves them desperate for any sympathetic ear and tending to be less critical of those who present themselves as sympathetic. The average prisoner generally lacks political awareness and training and access to revolutionary literature. So they are least suited to critically challenge what is being presented to them as being “revolutionary,” “prison abolitionism,” “solidarity,” etc.

Furthermore, when criticized, y’all have the tendency to either ignore the criticism totally or blame others. How do you suppose we identify and correct errors and solve problems that affect the struggles of prisoners? The answer is simple. The way to do this is by the democratic method, the method of discussion, criticism, persuasion and education and not by ignoring the problems. As Mao recognized:

“What is work? Work is struggle. There are difficulties and problems in these places for us to overcome and solve. We go there to work and struggle to overcome these difficulties. A good comrade is one who is eager to go where the difficulties are greatest.”

He went on to say:

“We must thoroughly clear away all ideas among our cadre of winning easy victories through good luck, without hard and bitter struggle…”

The seriousness of what is at stake should impress itself on us all. I’m talking about moving from the particular to the general—about moving from where we are right now to actually agitating, educating, and organizing in each prison, so as to build the foundation upon which will stand a NC prison movement. I’m talking about preparing prisoners for the return to their communities wherein they will engage in transforming said communities into base areas of culture, social, and political revolution. I’m talking about providing prisoners with the necessary resources needed to assure a successful reentry.

To succeed in each of these objectives, we need organization. We cannot entertain thoughts of ameliorating the lives of prisoners until we have the requisite power to do so. In order to obtain such power we must acquire and effectively use the weapon/instrument of organization. Any and all activities initiated by us in this protracted struggle must be organized. Anything that undermines this must be viewed as a danger.

Prisoners need organization. Organization unites, gives direction, and breadth to particular work. The lack of organization affects all other problems. It leaves prisoners with no place to go to join the struggle, no way to connect to something larger than ourselves, no form for struggling and resolving our problems. The failures and the dissolution of previous organizations have served as an excuse for anti-organizational tendencies: attacking and undermining all forms of organization. The idea prevails that organization means giving up individual integrity, or is irretrievably sexist/male dominated, or is by definition oppressive. Like every other revolutionary movement on earth, we desperately need a good organization, strong and healthy, to embody the struggle and direct our energies like a spear. Twos and threes is not good form for anything—it won’t put out a newsletter, organize campaigns or force administrators to compromise.

Again, I question your objectives. If you are involved simply because you are chasing the emotional impact of being rebellious and confrontational, then by all means continue as you have, however you should let the prisoners whom you “support” know that you are not actually for ameliorating the lives of prisoners but that you are chasing an emotional high and you have no intentions of stepping outside your comfort zone.

In closing, I want to point out that some of my komrades and even a mentor of mine suggested that I reconsider sending out this letter simply because it may offend some of you, resulting in the loss of y’all’s “support.” I’ve taken this into consideration and I hope that won’t be the case. I cherish the relationships I have built with y’all, however the words of Mao come to mind:

“We must undoubtedly criticize wrong ideas of every description. It certainly would not be right to refrain from criticism, look on while wrong ideas spread unchecked and allow them to dominate the field. Mistakes must be criticized and pernicious weeds fought wherever they crop up.”

I sincerely hope that we can struggle forward and figure out what it is that we must do moving forward. But to imagine that ameliorating the lives of prisoners is conceivable without Mobilizing, Organizing, Revolutionizing, and Educating, we will always be at odds!

REBUILD

Komrade Shine White