Image: “Bars 1” by Josh MacPhee, thanks to JustSeeds. Description: Black background, with white bars bent and broken in the middle.
Stephen Wilson, a Black queer abolitionist organizer and a prisoner of the state of Pennsylvania, is once again facing retaliation, harassment, and repression at SCI-Fayette. A rank-and-file prison cop named Digiacomo, who has for months made a habit of targeting Stevie, recently had Stevie sent to solitary confinement (the hole) on a completely fabricated and un-corroborated write-up. The prison’s official kangaroo judicial theater predictably backed up cowboy cop Digiacomo, and sentenced Stevie to 30 days’ time in the hole. Now, following the fantastic allegations of the write-up, they argue that Stevie is a danger to the population at Fayette, and they plan to transfer Stevie. If it could happen right away, Stevie would welcome a transfer away from Digiacomo and Fayette’s abuse. But here’s the thing: the PA-DOC’s prison transfer queues are backed up for months, which means that Stevie’s 30 days in the hole has been extended indefinitely through a procedural and logistical loophole.
This most recent fabricated write-up from Digiacomo accuses Stevie of verbally threatening another prisoner. That person, along with everyone else in ear shot during the time when Digiacomo says this supposedly happened, denies ever having been threatened in any way by Stevie. Stevie, very familiar with the prison’s internal hearing process, called four witnesses well in advance of his hearing. Yet Stevie was denied this right by the hearing examiner, who cited the logistical inconvenience of bringing the witnesses a few hundred feet to the hearing. Stevie replied by suggesting that the examiner herself visit the block and ask the witnesses what happened, to which the hearing examiner said that even if she did that, she would still believe Digiacomo. Then she suggested that, by the prison’s hearing rules, she would be required to take the guard’s word over a prisoner’s. Or 5 prisoners, in this case.
Pretending to be doing Stevie a big favor, the hearing examiner promised to transfer Stevie to a new block after his time in the hole, to separate him from Digiacomo. The examiner seems to have remembered the history of Digiacomo’s one-sided obsessive harassment of Stevie. The hearing examiner had commented on this months earlier, at another hearing, when she said to Stevie, “Wow, he [DiGiacomo] really has it in for you.” This writeup, now resulting in what amounts to a conviction in the twisted internal prison hearing system, could keep Stevie locked up well past his minimum by giving an already hostile parole board an easy excuse to defer his release. It must be reversed and removed from his record.
In the short term, thanks to the backed up transfer schedule, Stevie could be looking at half a year in solitary confinement. That means no yard, one short call a week, literally no time out of cell, no access to the prison’s email service, no commissary, no human interaction (unless you count guards), dangerously cold temperatures, and an all-day blaring TV set to some vapid news reports on loop. Officially, Stevie’s maximum time in the hole is 30 days. This is due to a weak limit put in place for people who, for mental health reasons, are deemed especially vulnerable to the psychological (and physical) terror of solitary confinement. When we asked him about the indeterminate solitary sentence being in violation of this limit, he said “in the end, they can do whatever they want.”
Blatantly maneuvering around their own pathetically inadequate rules (even according to their own logic), SCI-Fayette has consolidated its efforts to isolate and separate Stevie. The process was initiated by an angry guard known by prisoners and some guards alike as an especially violent and out of control goon, and it was completed through the administrative hearing system. Finding yet another way to weaponize the virus that runs rampant through PA-DOC’s compounds, Fayette has Stevie locked in the hole on a sentence so indeterminate that it isn’t officially recognized as a sentence at all. His release from the hole is not pending approval by a board or the expiration of the term, but some future logistical solution to the transfer backlog, who knows when. The cops at SCI-Fayette have exemplified the prison’s reaction to the perceived threat of prisoner activism and organization, employing a combination of acutely racist and personal hostility, mindless bureaucratic procedure, and “factors” claimed to be “out of their control.”
Last time Stevie was sent to the hole, which was also an act of retaliation by Digiacomo, Stevie was abruptly grabbed and hauled down there with no time to prepare his things. The prison failed to deliver his blood pressure medicine for almost two weeks, putting him at serious risk of stroke. In the process of being transferred he was stripped of his eyeglasses and his partial denture. The glasses took over a month to replace, impairing his ability to see and read in the interim, and his partial has yet to be replaced, over 2 months later. As a result, he still has difficulty eating and reports having dropped weight.
These acts of violent retaliation against Stevie are not exceptional. They are almost quotidian reactions of the prison system against anyone who dares engage in such radical practices as speaking with other prisoners about prison abolition, convening reading and study groups, telling people outside about the conditions inside, and, perhaps most offensive to the Fayette regime, using the prison’s own grievance system. It is vital that we respond to and really oppose retaliation against Stevie, and everyone inside who puts their health, safety, and—thanks to the indeterminacy of ranged sentences and the absolutely bankrupt parole system—freedom on the line. Below are some actions that we are asking you to take to get Stevie’s back. More are coming soon.
Look out for phone zaps–actions where we flood the guards with calls to let them know that Stevie has strong, informed outside support. The first one will be later this week.
Call in starting now. These are ongoing scripted calls to the main PA-DOC office, to let them know what’s happening at Fayette and (more importantly) to let them know people are following Stevie’s struggle against repression. These are not like calls to electeds–we are not asking for a vote or a favor. Prisons operate on the experience-based assumption that no one outside knows what’s happening inside. Calls break that assumption, and can really help force small actions on the parts of administrations and guards.
Write to Stevie. Send him articles, poems, artwork, and words of encouragement. These help support him personally, and they show the prison the depth of his support out here.
Smart Communications / PA-DOC // Stephen Wilson LB8480 // SCI-Fayette // PO Box 33028 // St Petersburg, FL 33733
Donate to our book and commissary fund and help us send books to people inside so that we can keep up some of Stevie’s political education work while he is in the hole. Comment “books”
Venmo: @SolidarityMachine
CashApp: $SolidarityMachine
Description: Stevie is standing in front of some glass block in a prison visiting room. He is wearing a brown button down shirt and dark brown pants, tan boots, hands in his pockets and looking at the camera.
Stephen Wilson is a Black queer abolitionist writing, organizing, and building study groups and community behind the wall at SCI-Fayette in Pennsylvania. Ian Alexander is his friend and comrade on the outside. This interview is the first in a series that will be published together as a zine.
Ian Alexander: When and how did you become an abolitionist in your thinking, and how did you become an abolitionist in your practice?
Stephen Wilson: These questions reminded me of some anecdotal advice Mariame Kaba gave organizers first encountering a community or group. She talked about how important it is to be a noticer, to observe what is already there. Often, we enter communities revved up to teach and show and convey. But if we took the time to observe and learn, we would see that there are ideas and practices already in place that are abolitionist, even if the people don’t call them that.
Before I ever read any abolitionist theory, I already had some abolitionist ideas. Before I called my praxis abolitionist, parts of it already was. I have often spoken about how the ballroom community prepared me for this work. It was within that community that ideas about non-disposability and centering the needs of the most vulnerable/impacted were first taught to me. It was within that community that I first learned about mutual aid. We didn’t call ourselves abolitionists, but we were practicing it.
My conscious embrace of abolitionist theory occurred soon after reading issues of The Abolitionist and having conversations with Jason Lydon at Black & Pink. Critical Resistance-New York City sent me lots of materials to read and answered tons of questions. Before this time, I was more of a disillusioned progressive. I knew we could create a better world but was frustrated by the tools and means at our disposal. No matter what we did, the system was changing. Not real change. It never occurred to me that we could do away with the entire system. That the system itself was the problem. Abolitionist theory created new possibilities. It opened new ways of seeing and being. It wasn’t a tough leap for me from progressive to abolitionist.
Practicing abolition is harder, especially behind the walls. Abolition is not supposed to be an individual exercise. It is about community, about connection. And that is what makes it hard in prison. We are conditioned and encouraged to separate, isolate and differentiate.
IA: Could you say a little bit about the difference between “progressive” politics and abolitionist politics?
When I say progressive /reformer, I am referring to a mindset that couldn’t see beyond or outside of the system. A mindset that lacked imagination and viewed the system as necessary to solve our problems. I couldn’t imagine the work, whether it was on educational, public health or social justice issues, being done outside of the system. So I found myself frustrated but constantly pushing for tweaks to make the system more responsive. I couldn’t see that the system was the problem.
Abolition broadened my imagination and helped me to see outside of the box/system. It also restored my faith in us. I believe we can keep each other safe. I believe we can provide for each other. I believe we are enough. I now know that the system was never broken. It was doing what it was meant to do: control, surveil, punish and kill us. No amount of tweaking will change that. Now, I see the need to abolish the system and create new relations. As long as one works within the strictures of the system, that world will be impossible.
IA: What were some of your hurdles, struggles and frustrations early on? How did you overcome those–and how have you still had to fight to overcome them?
SW: I knew that in order for me to deepen my practice I needed a community. So I began to reach out to others, extending myself. Abolitionists must extend themselves. I passed out literature and formed discussion groups. And none of this would have worked if I hadn’t been really striving to show abolition to others. In prison, we have a saying: “Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see.” So people are looking and they are keeping tabs. Are you really about what you say? Especially when adversity strikes? So practice was necessary. And being in here, in this environment, definitely forced me to deepen my practice.
One of the earliest big hurdles I had to overcome was materials. The prison isn’t going to provide us with radical, transformative materials. I had to find sources to provide us study materials at low or no cost. Reaching out to presses and zine distros enabled me to procure materials. Without materials, there is no study group. This hurdle is often the biggest one for prisoners who want to start a group.
Connected to this issue is the matter of accessibility. So much of what is written isn’t accessible to most prisoners. Sometimes, it is a matter of forum. There are very informative essays, articles, panel discussions and excerpts online. Prisoners cannot access these materials. This barrier keeps us uninformed and out of discussions. Another accessibility issue concerns writing style. Often, there is no way into the text for prisoners. I am reminded of Ruthie Gilmore’s statement about thinking theoretically but writing/speaking practically. She talks about writing like you want to be read. So many people are writing like they don’t want to be understood by the masses. If people need a dictionary or encyclopedia to read your work, they most likely won’t.
To overcome the obtuseness of texts, I found myself “translating” materials for our study groups. The message contained in the texts was beneficial, but I had to explain what the message is to others. Without understanding there is no application. It was frustrating but it made me better. I learned how to create good discussion questions. I learned how to connect the readings to real life situations and encourage application. It made me and the group participants more critical thinkers.
IA: How do you start a study group in a prison?
As I said before, without materials there is no study group. So it is important that we find sources for materials. That is step one. Sometimes, you already know what you are looking for. You may want to study Black liberation struggles. So you contact a zine distro or press and request materials relevant to the topic. Other items, you don’t have a particular topic so you can request a catalogue from a distros that covers many topics. I would suggest ordering a catalogue.
It is important to talk to participants or potential participants about what they are interested in studying. Even if one feels some other topic is more important, it is important to start where the people are. So even though I feel patriarchy is a topic everyone inside needs to study and tackle, I didn’t start there. I had to get people interested in and acclimated to study. That meant meeting them where they are. Prison issues and racism are easy entry points to studying. From these topics, one can springboard to other issues.
Starting a study group means spending some money. Even if you get the zines for free, you have to pay for copies. In PA, we aren’t allowed to receive multiple copies of any publication in the mail. So people cannot send a prisoner two copies of any book, journal or zine at one time. This means I usually received one copy of a text. I had to make lots of copies for the groups. That costs. Then, there are supplies. Martin Sostre opened a bookstore in Buffalo. He wanted it to be a learning site for people, especially the youth. And it was. He made it easy for them to learn. He provided a space. He provided the materials. All at no cost. So they kept coming back. I had to do the same thing. I had to cover all costs for the groups. That means composition books, pens, pencils, folders and paper costs had to be covered. And as the groups grew, so did the costs. But the upside is that the groups grew. We made studying easier for the people so that is what they did.
IA: What is the role of outside support in all this?
SW: Outside support is critical to maintaining study groups. We need material support as well as guidance regarding how to handle group dynamics issues. We were/are fortunate to have a strong support circle that provides both for us. Without them, we couldn’t do this work.
IA: What are your goals going into a new study group? How do you inspire interest in new and potential comrades?
SW: Choosing study materials is a combination of assessing where the people are and the particular needs of the environment. Choosing materials for a group of people who are already readers and who like to hold discussions is very different from choosing materials for people who haven’t been exposed to such activities. Likewise, there may be particular issues at a site that make studying certain topics more important and relevant. Here , at SCI-Fayette, which is built on a toxic site, materials on environmental racism and environmental justice resonate with prisoners. This topic may be the gateway for many prisoners to studying other issues. The point is that the choice of study materials is always connected to where the people are and what is happening there.
IA: What role have teaching and mentorship played in this process for you?
SW: In the beginning, I did assume a leadership role. But it wasn’t leadership in the sense of making decisions for everyone or having authority over others. It was leadership that was grounded in responsibility. I felt responsible for the groups. I had a commitment to nurture and grow them. I knew I needed help and readily reached out for it. Also, I tried to get people involved and taking responsibility for tasks. I wanted them to own the groups. Then they would care about them.
It is important to cultivate leadership inside. At any moment, any of us can be transferred. So it is important to plant seeds and tend to them while you can. This is one area we need to do lots of work on inside. We have to work harder to create a network of people inside who can create and sustain study groups.
IA: What makes a good abolitionist teacher?
SW: Being a noticer is important. We have to notice who is doing what and how. At Smithfield, I had spent years cultivating relationships and a reputation for sincere concern for others. This made it easier for me when I began groups. People already knew and trusted me. When I came to Fayette, I didn’t have that history. There were people here who knew me from Smithfield and there vouching for me helped tremendously. But I spent time noticing who was doing what. I noticed who was in the dayroom reading. I listened to conversations. And people watched me too. A few guys came up to me and told me they overheard my conversations on the phone. I had been talking with other abolitionists. What they heard piqued their interests. They also saw what I was doing. Mutual aid is major inside. Nothing speaks like action. They saw me practicing abolition. They saw me practicing mutual aid. They saw me practicing solidarity. These acts opened the people’s hearts to me. I can honestly say that I have received just as much respect and love from prisoners here that I did at Smithfield. I know that this mutual love and respect is built on knowing and being present for each other.
IA: How do you start to build relationships with new people on your block?
SW: There is nothing like face to face organizing. To be there, in the trenches, with others, struggling and organizing together builds bonds of trust and care. There are people behind these walls whom I have organized with that I will always feel a deep connection to. We are in the belly of the beast. And when others stand with you inside of this place, it creates something special between you.
To organize inside, you have to be a people person. You cannot be shy. You have to notice things. There have been times when I hear young prisoners talking about something and I listen for a while. Then, I ask questions. Asking questions is a great way to enter a conversation. Interjecting with a statement is risky. Making declarations, especially when they contrast the participants stance, can lead to arguments and accusations of not minding one’s own business. But when you ask questions, especially those requesting more info or clarification, it allows the young prisoner to be heard and express his/her views. This doesn’t happen too often for them inside. It seems everyone wants to tell them what to do and think, but who is listening to them? I do. And because I do, they listen to me.
Also, being open to feedback and criticism is important. Be human. Don’t try to come off as a know it all or like you have all your shit together. When I found out that Maroon was here in the infirmary, I was looking for a way to connect to him. I knew the barbers go to the infirmary to cut hair. When I went to the barbershop, I struck up a conversation with a baber and asked him if he knew Maroon. He didn’t, but he knew whom I was talking about. He had seen him. I gave the barber some materials, including Maroons’s The Dragon vs. The Hydra essay. I told him to send my love to Maroon the next time he went to the infirmary to cut hair. I also told him how I wished I could spend time talking to Maroon about his work. That was enough to spark the barber’s interest.
The next time I went to the barbershop, the barber excitedly told me how he had spoken to Maroon a number of times since our last appointment. He told me how they discussed the essay too. I was so jealous! But what stuck with him the most, and this is according to his own words, was how Maroon remained humble. He was amazed that this elder who had spent so much time in the trenches still felt he has so much to learn and still needs to grow. The barber told me he expected this elder to act like he had it all together, all figured out. But he didn’t. The barber told me how Maroon inspired him to always study, keep learning and keep growing.
The point is that we, organizers and activists, our behaviors and attitudes, are determining factors in how far and wide abolition can go. This is why the internal work of abolition is so important. That’s why the presence aspect of abolition is key to expanding the awareness and the possibilities of abolition. As I said before, prisoners believe nothing they hear and half of what they see. We have to make that half count. To riff off a Lisa Nichols quotation I read years ago: Abolition is not just what you feel or what you say. It is what you do. So what are you doing?
IA: How has COVID-19 impacted your work?
SW: COVID19 affected our ability to meet face to face as much as we would like to. But it didn’t stop us from studying. We issue composition notebooks to everyone. We provide copies of the reading materials and discussion questions. Participants can submit their answer by writing in their comp books and turning them in for feedback. We are able to comment on each other’s answers and leave our own comments.
It became much more like the inside/outside study groups we have in which we read and discuss materials with outside allies. The point is that study never stopped. Moreover, I found that there was an uptick in interest. With the prison’s normal operations shuttered, people are looking for other things to do. The normal distractions, TV and tablets, become boring quickly. I have been disseminating lots more materials since the viral outbreak.
IA: How do you inspire long term interest and growth in new, old, and potential comrades?
SW: Really it has never been about them trusting me because they haven’t heard of abolition. It is about getting them to trust themselves and their communities to handle harm without calling the cops. Part of our task is convincing people that we have within us the resources to handle harm. We can make us safe. For so long, people have been told only the cops can make us safe. Only prisons can keep us from being harmed. People are starting to see that cops don’t produce safety. All of the police violence captured on camera is making people question the supposed link between cops and safety. We need to do more to get people to see that prisons don’t produce safety either. Because the quotidian violence of prisons is mostly hidden from the public this task becomes harder than showing that cops don’t make us safer. One of the biggest obstacles in abolitionist organizing behind the walls is convincing people that we can keep each other safe.
IA: You have told me a lot about the importance of history, and seeing yourself as part of a tradition. Could you talk a bit about that?
SW: If we don’t know the movement history, if we don’t know the elders and what they have accomplished, we will find ourselves stuck in old problems, spinning our wheels, and attempting to enact failed solutions. I love studying movement history and elder bios. I find inspiration. I find strategies and tactics I can adopt or adapt. I find confirmation. And that’s important too. Sometimes, we wonder if what we are doing is worth it. Reading movement history and elder biographies convinces me that it is. There have been times when I have faced repression from prison officials and began to feel depressed. During those times, I reflect upon what so many others have endured and my spirit is comforted and emboldened. Reading about people like Martin Sostre, who was wrongly arrested and sentenced to nine years because he educated the people, keeps my head up during these periods of repression. Many of our elders have been physically, mentally and emotionally abused, but they remained strong. History becomes a living tool.
Oppression breeds resistance. And often, resistance breeds more oppression. It is a dialectical relationship. Behind these walls, oppression can take many forms: solitary confinement, physical assault, constant shakedowns, constant transfers (diesel therapy), destruction of property, denial of parole and even frame-up on new charges. The administration will employ many different measures to effect compliance. They don’t want us to learn anything that will keep us from coming back to prison. They don’t want us to learn anything that will enable us to benefit our communities. I have said before: a learned prisoner is an affront to the PIC.
IA: So beyond study, what about struggle? How do you decide when to really jump into action, and when to wait something out?
SW: How do I decide when something is worth it? Is it the right thing to do? That is the question. I don’t tend to think about what the administration will do to me personally. Because the tactics I use aren’t those that will give the administration grounds to oppress us, tactics that knowingly subject others to possible harm by officers, my main issue is doing what is right and alleviating oppressive conditions. Recently, I have been thinking about developing a criteria regarding when we implement action plans.
This new way of thinking occurred to me after a recent incident. We are not under normal operations. So our time out of cell has been curtailed. We are being let out 35-40 people at a time. We are given limited time to shower, make phone calls, use the kiosks and exercise. Certain officers purposely allow us out late and put us in early. This creates problems for us and between us as we try to stay in contact with family and friends and stay clean. I attempted to address this issue with the unit manager. I thought we had come to a solution. But an officer did exactly what we discussed shouldn’t happen in front of the unit manager. And the unit manager refused to do anything. Instead, he wrote a false misconduct against me to get me removed from the block. And it didn’t end there. The next day, my comrade was placed in solidarity for emailing people informing them of what happened to me. Their solution is simple: whoever is complaining, remove them. And it works to produce a chilling effect upon others.
I began to think about how we could approach this official tactic. What counter-tactic would work? One thing I learned, and Maroon wrote about this many years ago, is that we need to develop hydras and not dragons. There is only so much space in solitary. They cannot lock us all up. Moving together is always much more powerful than moving alone. The incident made me think about deep organizing and assessing just how much strength we have and how much actual support. The deeper the support, the more likely the success and defense against official repression.
Personally, I have a great support team. Their support enables me to keep going. This is why I stress connections across the walls. While I have faced repression here, they are beginning to understand that they cannot harm me without consequences. People care. People will agitate. The administration knows if we have support or not. That knowledge shapes their actions.
IA: So the struggle leads you back to study. How do you help others bring those two aspects of the work together?
SW: Generally, going into any study situation, my goal is to convey meaningful knowledge. I want people to learn things that will enable them to better understand the world and empower them to change it. Specifically, I do an assessment before determining what text we will study. I try to figure out what participants already know about certain topics. I try to understand the different ways participants learn. This can only happen if I build relationships with potential participants first. My point is that study circles need to be participant-focused. Often, facilitators focus on the syllabus and getting through the texts. The focus needs to be on those in the group and facilitating understanding and application. If we get through a text and the participants having extracted anything meaningful, something they can apply to their lives, I feel we haven’t succeeded.
Out there, you have to talk prisons up. Not so inside. Prison is our environment, our world. So everyone inside has an opinion about prisons and policing. I don’t have to create interest in these topics. It is already there. What I try to do is get people to see these issues differently. And many are willing to take another look. One good way to get started is by doing definitional work. Getting people to think about how they define certain terms is really about getting them to think about how they view the world. Two of our first definitions to explore are community and safety. How people define these terms is important. And often, we find that people change their definitions after study.
IA: How do you combat reactionary tendencies, patriarchal behavior, homophobia and transphobia, misogyny, anti-Blackness, ableism, and other forms of chauvinism and anti-solidarity thinking and behavior?
SW: Prison is a hyper masculine environment. Patriarchal thinking, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism are rampant behind the walls. The only way to handle these oppressive behaviors is to confront them straight up when they manifest. I do so by questioning the person’s motive. We have sports teams inside. Often, teams are created through a draft process. The coaches often don’t know whom they are drafting until it’s over. During one volleyball season, a coach selected an openly queer prisoner. He didn’t know it until the first game. He didn’t start the prisoner until late in the first game. That is when he realized the queer prisoner was a great volleyball player. Players on his bench balked at playing with the queer prisoner and began to make homophobic comments. I walked over and asked them if they felt they were better players than him. They knew they weren’t. I asked them if they thought they would become gay if he played on the team with them. They vehemently denied this. So what is the problem? They were there to win a game. The best player on their team happened to be queer. So what. When confronted with their bigotry, most prisoners, being unable to defend it, pipe down. When enough of us do this, things will change. And they need to. Homophobia, transphobia, and ableism are prejudices that are still acceptable in our society.
IA: How have you navigated the guards?
SW: Most officers stay out of the way. They see us studying and leave us alone. They walk by and spy on us, but they don’t try to break us up. They allow us to pass out materials on the block. From the officer’s perspective, our studying is a good thing. We are quiet and less likely to get into trouble, especially the kind of trouble that would require more work from them. It is the upper administration that is antagonistic toward study groups. They see us building influence and they don’t like it. They are the ones who create obstacles to study, not the front line officers.
At Smithfield, we were able to do more because the administration actively recruited us to create positive outlets for prisoners. Fayette is very different. 180 degrees different. We do more work on our own. But I find that Fayette has created, through its oppressive acts, a hunger for knowledge among the prisoners. The organic desire is greater here.
IA: Why do you go through all of this, comrade?
SW: All I am doing is passing along the goodness that has been given to me to make the world better.
[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]
Welcome to In Contempt, a new column based on the existing prison rebels birthday listing, but expanded into a more general look at repression and other relevant news from a prison abolitionist perspective. Here’s a few things that have been going on over the last month or so let’s dive in.
Uprising Defendants
Everyone should support the defendants facing charges related to their alleged participation in the George Floyd uprising – this list of our imprisoned comrades needs to be getting shorter, not longer. The status of pre-trial defendants changes frequently, but to the best of my knowledge they currently include:
David Elmakayes #77782-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Shawn Collins #69989-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Steven Pennycooke #69988-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
When writing to pre-trial prisoners, do not write about their cases or say anything that you wouldn’t want to hear read out in court. If you have any updates, either about status changes meaning that people should be removed from this list, or about names that are missing and should be included, please reach out.
A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While Deric was acquitted in court of all charges in relation to the uprising, he is facing continued retaliation, as he has been moved out of state to Pennsylvania, where many Vaughn defendants are being held on lockdown indefinitely (via placement on PA’s Restricted Release List) on vague and questionable grounds. Years after the uprising, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.
Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going toconnectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NS2698”.
Birthday: February 6
Address:
Smart Communications / PA DOC
Deric Forney – NS2698
SCI Coal Township
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733
Luis Sierra (Abdul-Haqq El-Qadeer)
A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Abdul in relation to the uprising, Vaughn defendants continue to face retaliation. Abdul is also a contributor to “Live from the Trenches,” the Vaughn 17 zine.
Delaware appears not to have an inmate email system.
Birthday: February 19
Address:
Luis Sierra #00455723
James T. Vaughn Correctional Center
1181 Paddock Rd
Smyrna, DE 19977
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections refuses to waste money on individual COVID-19 tests for the prisoner population, instead preferring to test each prison’s accumulated sewage for COVID levels.
An official PA DOC memo dated January 21, 2021 from Secretary of Corrections John E. Wetzel states, “Facilities will increase [prisoner cohort sizes] at different times, and in different amounts depending on their local infection rates, and the results of sewage testing.”
Recent sewage testing at SCI Fayette indicated increased COVID-19 levels, delaying an increase in prisoner cohort size until additional testing can be performed.
Prisoner cohorts, assigned groups for movement, are allegedly designed to limit the risk of exposure by reducing prisoner to prisoner contact. The theory is, if one person in the cohort is exposed to COVID-19, or tests positive, the entire cohort is quarantined to prevent spreading the virus.
In application, once a prisoner is exposed to, or tests positive for the virus, no other members of that cohort receive automatic COVID testing unless they register a fever. If a prisoner tests positive for the virus, their cellmate is not automatically tested, despite being forced to continue to live in close proximity to the infected person. Even if a prisoner is coughing or fatigued, they are not automatically tested.
By not testing these prisoners, the prison administration is allowed to keep the appearance of a low COVID-19 infection rate, choosing instead to test everyone’s feces collectively to see how many prisoners are actually sick.
This month we are asking that folks write letters of support to former Black Panther, Kamau Sadiki. Kamau has been held in the Augusta State Medical Prison for years and suffered medical neglect. Right now, Kamau is in danger of needing his left foot amputated and needs to see a wound specialist. Before you join us next Monday to write a letter, please take a minute to tweet at @GovKemp & call the Augusta State Medical Prison at (706) 855-4700 to demand he be taken to the wound care clinic ASAP. At the letter-writing event, we will have an update about the medical campaign and send words of solidarity directly to Kamau so that he knows, and the prison knows, this situation is getting wider public attention.
At age 17, Kamau dedicated his life to the service of his people working out of the Jamaica office of the Black Panther Party. Kamau worked in the Free Breakfast Program each morning and then went out into the community to sell the BPP newspaper later in the day. At nineteen, Kamau was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). Several members of the BLA, including Kamau, left New York City and lived in the Atlanta area for a short period of time. On the night of November 3rd 1971, witnesses observed three black males run from a van where a police officer was murdered at a gas station in downtown Atlanta. The witnesses failed to identify Kamau from a photographic line-up and there was no physical evidence that implicated him. In 1971, the Atlanta police department closed the case as unsolved.
In 1999, the FBI in pursuit of collaboration in their attempts to recapture Assata Shakur (the mother of one of Kamau’s daughters), a political exile in Cuba, threatened him with life in prison if he did not assist them. When he did not comply, the FBI convinced Atlanta police to re-open the case and charge Kamau. He was arrested in 2002 in Brooklyn, New York some thirty-one years later after the murder. In 2003, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and ten years to run consecutively for armed robbery. Much of his sentence has been spent in a medical prison because he suffers from Hepatitis C, Cirrhosis of the Liver, and Sarcoidosis. February 19th will be his 68th birthday so send him some birthday love as well!
This event will be held on Jitsi – we’ll post the meet link on social media the day of. You can also message us to get the link beforehand.
If you can’t join us on Monday, send him a message of hope and healing at:
Freddie Hilton #0001150688
Augusta State Medical Prison
3001 Gordon Highway
Grovetown, GA 30813
We also encourage sending birthday cards to political prisoners with February birthdays: Veronza Bowers (the 4th) and Oso Blanco (the 26th).
[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]
Inspired by the spirit of the Political Prisoners Birthday crew, here’s a short listing of some rebel prisoners who have upcoming birthdays in January.
Everyone should support the defendants facing charges related to their alleged participation in the George Floyd uprising – this list of our imprisoned comrades needs to be getting shorter, not longer. The status of pre-trial defendants changes frequently, but to the best of my knowledge they currently include:
David Elmakayes #77782-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Shawn Collins #69989-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Steven Pennycooke #69988-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Finally, much as I hate to see even more of our lives and communications being enclosed by tech companies, it seems inescapable at the moment, so for anyone who doesn’t want to leave their house to buy stamps/cards/envelopes or to send mail, a reminder that many prisoners can be contacted electronically, via Jpay or similar services.
Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “AM-4272”.
Birthday: January 15
Address:
In 2018, the PA Dept of Corrections instituted a restrictive mail policy where all mail to prisoners must be sent through a mail processing facility in Florida where all correspondence is scanned, copied and then the copy is mailed to the prisoner. There is an active campaign to get Gov. Wolf to repeal the restrictive policy so that friends and family members can send mail such as greeting cards again.
Smart Communications/PADOC
Joseph Bowen #AM-4272
SCI Fayette
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
United States
[Philly Anticap note: Everyone arrested has been released. See Up Against The Law’s post here]
Several people were arrested Thursday night after police and city highway patrol officers responded to reports of large unruly crowds and vandalism at federal buildings in Philadelphia.
Police observed a crowd on the 900 block of Market Street at about 8:50 p.m. Thursday, on New Year’s Eve. A 25-year-old man threw a brick through a window of the Robert Nix Federal Building, according to police.
The man, along with another man, age 24, and two 23-year-old women, all dressed similarly in black clothing, tried to flee the scene, but were taken into police custody.
The damage to the Nix building was estimated at $3,000.
Shortly after at 9 p.m., Philadelphia Highway Patrol officers were also in the area of 900 Market Street responding to reports of a large group of people breaking windows and spray-painting the federal building.
Officers stopped three individuals who had spray paint on their clothes, markers in their possession, and other suspicious materials.
A 25-year-old man had a glass jar with a fuse going into a bottle with a strong flammable odor, police said. He also had a container with a powder labeled “Fire Starter.”
A 22-year-old woman had bottles of liquids with chemicals and spray paint on her hands and clothes, police said.
And a 26-year-old woman had spray paint on her clothing.
The three individuals were taken into custody and charged with attempted arson, risking catastrophe, having an incendiary device, conspiracy and related offenses.
The materials they had with them will be examined by bomb technicians, police said.
Looking back at 2020, we welcomed home several political prisoners, including Chuck and Delbert Africa (the last of the MOVE 9 still imprisoned), Ramsey Orta, Chelsea Manning, Red Fawn Fallis, David Campbell, Jay Chase, Jeremy Hammond, and Jalil Muntaqim. We mourn the passing of Delbert Africa in June, though we are glad he was able to do so from outside the prison walls. Since the police killing of George Floyd in May, we have witnessed a rise in people willing to directly confront the system, many of whom are currently facing lengthy prison sentences if convicted. Providing support and solidarity to these groups and individuals will be paramount in the year ahead.
Political Prisoner Birthdays
With four political prisoner birthdays in January, the new year is a great time to throw an online prisoner letter-writing party! The personal touch of a birthday card means so much to those inside, so write a letter, have people sign a card, and show your solidarity with those locked behind bars. Remember that prisoners at Federal prisons (USPs and FCIs) cannot receive cards, colored paper, or colored ink.
January 15th
Joseph Bowen*, #AM4272
Smart Communications / PA DOC
SCI Fayette
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
*Address card/letter to Joe-Joe
“40 Years a Prisoner” is a new documentary exploring the MOVE 9, political prisoners connected to Philadelphia’s back-to-nature organization, which has faced police brutality and state repression since its inception.
Lore Elisabeth is among the hundreds of people who have contracted COVID-19 from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ federal detention center in downtown Philadelphia (FDC Philadelphia). She is recovering well and helping others to weather this storm wrought by the cruelty of a few and the incompetence of a great many more. The facility continues to obstruct information and preventative care to those who need it, but you know that’s when people like Lore can help the most ????
Lore contracted COVID-19 some time between October 26 and November 6. She was especially ill with flu symptoms for about 10 days but maintained steady breathing throughout. During this time she received no medical attention save for a nasal swab test and a bottle of tylenol. She was not informed of her positive test result.
FDC Philadelphia imposed a strict lockdown on November 1 due to the rampant spread of COVID-19 throughout their building. Lore and others in the women’s unit were let out of their cells weeks later, by which time more than half of them had contracted the virus. Another detainee then informed Lore that a warning sign was hung on her cell door during the lockdown. A staff nurse eventually confirmed to Lore this meant that she’d indeed had the virus. As they continue to get sick, women are now moved into the special housing unit (SHU)—solitary confinement—for weeks at a time, a regular violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture committed by US federal prisons.
This is infuriating, but it is not surprising. FDC Philadelphia’s inability to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep its detainees healthy has been known since the onset of the global pandemic. FDC Philadelphia’s own staff joined an OSHA complaint against the Bureau of Prisons in March, arguing that their facility constituted an imminent danger to all. A lawsuit filed in April finally succeeded by October to force the facility into at least performing regular COVID-19 tests. The case reports, the complete lockdown, and a communications blackout followed.
Hundreds of people at FDC Philadelphia have been infected since October, including dozens of staffers and correctional officers. Still, we cannot expect conditions to improve meaningfully in the near term because FDC Philadelphia’s correctional officers continue to flaunt even the most basic COVID-19 protocols, like wearing masks and social distancing. I observed this during the very brief time in October when outside visitations were allowed. COs demanded that I remove my latex gloves before entering, claiming that they attract the virus. They refused repeatedly to maintain even a reasonable distance from our mom, a senior with elevated risks of COVID-19 complications. Even with us in the meeting room, groups of 5-6 gathered closely and maskless to socialize. It is no wonder that they continue to infect people, the majority of whom are simply waiting for their day in court.
This didn’t have to happen. Since the virus took hold in the United States, public health experts have clamored for home confinement of pre-trial detainees, compassionate release of medically vulnerable and/or suffering seniors, and other provisions available to prison wardens around the country. Their pleas fall on deaf ears. Wardens have approved fewer than 2% of the compassionate release requests they’ve received. FDC Philadelphia has even less reason to worsen this crisis. The facility is primarily a pre-trial detention facility, wherein people like Lore are confined before they even get to mount a defense. This may be because they cannot buy their freedom through the abominable cash bail system or, like Lore, they are just too useful as political effigies.
We are lucky to still have Lore. We warned the US Attorney’s office that they weren’t equipped or motivated to protect Lore’s health. They countered first by blocking Lore from signing the HIPAA releases that were necessary to share her heart condition, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affirms puts her at elevated risk for COVID-19 complications. When that failed, they falsely claimed that FDC Philadelphia could take proper care of her. Lore has been denied her prescription medications for Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) and other conditions since she was taken into custody. I’m relieved that we don’t currently need to call the facility every day, only to be denied any kind of proof-of-life, but we must now focus on the myriad potential near- and long-term effects of COVID-19 that FDC Philadelphia will not treat.
All of this could have been avoided. We begged for the opportunity to care for Lore safely at home until her trial, which still has no foreseeable start date. Sadly, the judge decided that Lore’s charges and treatment in confinement were too obviously political in nature and extent to grant her this safety, lest others take sympathy with her and join the movements for racial justice and against police brutality.
We need to step in for a broken criminal justice system. Lore is just one of the more than 275,000 people who were forced to contract COVID-19 in a prison cell —1 out of every 5 incarcerated people in the United States. I’m very grateful to the Marshall Project for collecting these statistics assiduously throughout the year, providing us some useful perspective on the scale of the crisis, and I encourage you to donate to their efforts. Likewise, the Amistad Law Project, who organize so well on the behalf of people incarcerated by the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The people incarcerated at FDC Philadelphia and other federal prisons nationwide deserve the same kind of support.
At the moment, the women’s unit at FDC Philadelphia has Lore to help them ???? Since recovering from Covid, she has been absolutely tireless in collecting public health and legal information for them, quickly becoming a kind of unofficial librarian for the group in addition to its de facto therapist ???? I’m so proud of her! I know you are, too. If you haven’t had a chance recently, please send her your love and let her know that she isn’t forgotten. (We’re using the free Ameelio app to send pics too, and it’s good!). Lore’s wishlist is also up-to-date with reading material to share with the whole unit. And if you’re feeling especially generous, donate to her fund via PayPal or Venmo. With a major fundraising goal met, this money can go to her commissary fund—mostly pre-packaged food to augment the typical meal of an apple and a peanut butter sandwich.
Please hold Lore and FDC Philadelphia’s detainees in the light with us ????☮️
Happy solstice everyone! As 2020 draws to a close and we celebrate the days getting longer, join us next Monday at 6:30pm to show anarchist political prisoner Eric King some solidarity and send new year’s cards to comrades behind bars! We’ll be joined by someone from Eric’s support crew to provide the most updated info and answer questions. This event will be held on Jitsi – we’ll post the meet link on social media the day of. You can also message us to get the link beforehand.
Thankfully the mail ban against King has been lifted for the time being, so we’re taking this opportunity to send him some love. 2020 has been a rough year for many, particularly people whose lives are in danger inside prisons and folks like Eric who are facing additional repression such as communication restrictions and solitary confinement. Eric’s account of life in solitary confinement in the Bureau of Prisons (Flipping the Script) was featured in Solitary Watch earlier this year. Read his take on the Kafkaesque existence of over 10,000 people being housed in segregation for at least 23 hours a day.
If you can’t make the event, please drop him a line without mentioning his current case, Covid, or anything about the mail ban.
Eric King #27090-045
FCI Englewood
9595 West Quincy Avenue
Littleton, CO 80123
What’s so sad now a days these young men would rather fight someone over $5 then peacefully stand up for their rights and what they believe in. I must specify because these devils are crafty that everything I am doing and attempt to do in the future is PEACEFUL so I do not care if they read it or know its from me. I would like to put certain information on these social media sites such as what’s going on in the prison as well as the individual it is occurring with. Sci ***** is EXTREMELY corrupt! They plant drugs and weapons on inmates, the guards bring in phones and drugs. In other facilities when the inmates get caught with these things they’re usually transferred. Not here. They sweep it under the rug and keep it in house because then it will prove the corruptness of this institution. They took away our mail and visits so please explain why and how the drugs are still entering the facility at an all time high after all the jails having NO VISITS for over 8 months!! I was transferred from SCI+++++ for no reason 200 miles away from my family because of grievances and a lawsuit I was filing. They kicked me out and said I was a high ranking gang member calling shots and I was a threat with no misconduct, no proof or anything. Placed me in the hole up here for two weeks telling me welcome to *****. That was September of last year. In this past year I’ve seen staff abuse both physically and verbally, officers lying on misconducts, racism and bigotry at an all time high and basic corruptness. The racism even lies with the officers and their co workers smh. I would appreciate pen pals and any literature you may be able to share. I believe we need a social media site where we can expose not only the institutions but the individual staff as well.
TWO:
CW: Racist, homophobic slurs and violence
There’s this one sergeant who is not only racist, a bigot and disrespectful but also abusive physically, verbally and mentally! His name is Sergeant HATER. The staff below him are intimidated because of his stripes and those above him are intimidated because of the union. He’s assaulted inmates and wrote misconducts stating the inmate assaulted him but once video is reviewed it is seen to be a lie; dusted under the rug. He’s lied on numerous misconducts; dusted under the rug. He’s been assaulted due to his behavior after he was put on suspension and wasn’t allowed to work on any blocks! Dusted under the rug. Now I’ve dealt with racism, belittling sexual context (Mexican cocksucker and I’m not even Mexican!), retaliation for placing numerous grievances and complaints on him and all that happens is grievances are denied and/or rejected. He’s continuously denied me showers, phone calls and the opportunity to clean my cell all on his watch during a pandemic. Continuous racist and derogatory remarks. I’ve had one lieutenant attempt to assist me by the name of [FRIENDLY] but honestly NOTHING has changed it continues to get worst! Today he once again denied me a phone call which I was signed up for as well as a shower and when I asked the other guards who was working with him why I wasn’t allowed the response was “I’m not getting in between you and HATER’s gang war.” Just like in the street when an officer is doing something wrong, instead of his partner or fellow coworkers letting him know he’s doing things wrong they turn a blind eye or condone in his actions. There needs to be a way that we expose these guards and those actions to society and the public. We must let everyone know what goes on even if that means we start a webpage and post all grievances up as well as the answers to the grievances so EVERYONE is held accountable for their actions. I understand the job of a correctional officer but the racist undertone and continuous abuse can not be acceptable! Thank you
Everyone should support the defendants facing charges related to their alleged participation in the George Floyd uprising – this list of our imprisoned comrades needs to be getting shorter, not longer. The status of pre-trial defendants changes frequently, but to the best of my knowledge they currently include:
David Elmakayes #77782-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Shawn Collins #69989-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Steven Pennycooke #69988-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Please do not write anything to pre-trial defendants that could in any way have a negative impact on their trial, and keep an eye out for changes in their status.
Finally, much as I hate to see even more of our lives and communications being enclosed by tech companies, it seems inescapable at the moment, so for anyone who doesn’t want to leave their house to buy stamps/cards/envelopes or to send mail, a reminder that many prisoners can be contacted electronically, via Jpay or similar services.
Fred “Muhammad” Burton
Fred Burton is one of the Philly 5, a group of men accused of an alleged attack on a police station that left one officer killed. He was sentenced to a life term for murder. Burton has maintained his innocence since his arrest. His preferred name is Muhammad, but envelopes should be addressed to Fred Burton.
Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections,” going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “AF3896.”
Birthday: December 15
Address:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Fred Burton
AF3896
SCI Somerset
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida
33733
USA
Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz
A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Alejandro in relation to the uprising, all Vaughn-related prisoners continue to be targets for retaliation. More than three years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.
Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NW2883”.
Birthday: December 17
Address:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz, NW2883
SCI Mahanoy
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733
USA
Jonathan Rodriguez
A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Jonathan in relation to the uprising, all Vaughn-related prisoners continue to be targets for retaliation. More than three years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.
Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0434”.
Birthday: December 31
Address:
Smart Communications / PA DOC
Jonathan Rodriguez – NU0434
SCI Houtzdale
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733
USA
Hello, my name is Antoine, better known as Indy. I’m a 28-year-old Black, Bisexual man, incarcerated in Pennsylvania. I am an LGBT activist and prison abolitionist. I’m serving an 8 to 20-year sentence and I’m 10 years into it. I have been in solitary confinement since September 26, 2017 on the allegation of assaulting a prison cop. Which is part of why I’m reaching out to you all. This officer attacked me days before. I reported it.
I will be going on hunger strike to bring awareness to the unconstitutionality surrounding this status of long-term solitary confinement in Pennsylvania, which is called “Restricted Release List” or RRL. I’m on this status because of the officer’s actions.
It seems I will be flying solo on this strike, which is why I’ll need as much outside pressure as possible.
Although there are a lot of issues in relation to solitary, I can only list a few of them in my demands because I am riding alone. My ultimate goal is to be released to general population, but I don’t see that happening by me striving alone and with little outside support.
My Demands:
Access to my mandatory parole programs. I have been past my minimum, and therefore potentially eligible for parole since July 2018. I’m not given access to programs on RRL. So I will continue to be denied parole for not doing my programs. Although it’s not my choice.
Work. I need to be allowed to come out of my cell and be able to work. I’ve sat in solitary for 3 years with no work, education, or psychology programming structure.
RRL Review. My annual RRL review was supposed to be in December 2019. It never happened, which is a violation of my due process. And when I started filing grievances about it, I received a stream of false misconduct reports (starting in February 2020). All to justify keeping me on RRL. The duration of my time in solitary can no longer be ignored.
Sufficient Food, Drinkable Water. The food we get while in solitary is less than 2,000 calories per day. The water is brown at random times.
A real grievance process. We need a change in the grievance system because these problems never resolved and constantly recurring.
As I said, there’s more. But these are the simplest and most urgent demands. Your help and support is needed and appreciated. Please circulate this to as many as you know. Thank you.
“Police brutality is the reason our people are inside,” says Russell Shoatz III, Maroon’s son. Maroon has been in prison since 1972 because he was a leader in the fight against police in the 1960s and ’70s. He’s an elder of the most powerful movement this country has ever seen.
Maroon was held in solitary confinement for nearly 30 years, after two escape attempts he made over 40 years ago in the tradition of the maroon communities that escaped enslaved Africans created throughout the Americas. In his book, Maroon the Implacable, he makes this history come alive for younger generations. During his almost half-century in prison, he has mentored dozens of fellow prisoners, some of whom have joined the movement on the inside and outside.
As COVID-19 surges through the state and tears through its prisons, loved ones of incarcerated people are asking for the immediate release all elderly and medically vulnerable people in prison, and simply for prison staff to wear face masks and be tested for COVID-19.
Amid the horror that is the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections right now, Black liberation movement political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz may be one of the best examples of how that horror is playing out for elderly prisoners and their families. Maroon is 77 years old and has been fighting stage 4 colon cancer for over a year. After testing positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 11, Maroon was held in a gymnasium with 29 other men—and only one toilet to share between them. His urgent surgery for the cancer is being denied.
According to Theresa Shoatz, his daughter, Pennsylvania prisoners have been unable to make phone calls to let people outside know how bad COVID is inside right now.
Maroon must attain freedom. In an act of solidarity, while suffering in innumerable ways, Maroon himself told his daughter to advocate for the other 29 guys left in the gym.
This month we are asking that folks write letters of support to former Black Panther, 
