United Front for Peace

The Ministry of Prisons (MIM-Prisons) is an organizer for pluri-national peace in the prisons of the USA, educating members in order to unite for a real change, a movement towards dignity, human rights, and freedom from Fascism!

Action: 24 hour Strike/Day of Solidarity
 Date: 9 September 2012
 Contact: mimprisons@lavabit.com,  www.prisoncensorship.info
 Sponsors: initiated by SAMAEL, taken up by the United Front for Peace in Prisons, including the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons and United Struggle from Within

2012-07 "Call for Solidarity Demonstration September 9" by SAMAEL [http://prisoncensorship.info/news/all/US/1419]:
SAMAEL is calling on all prisoners to engage in a solidarity demonstration on Sunday, September 9, 2012. We are requesting all prisoners (who are able) to embark on a solidarity fast and work stoppage from midnight September 8 to midnight September 9 in a show of solidarity by:
* Fasting for the period above cited unless a medical need necessitates eating.* Refrain from working for our captors (or slow work to minimal output) for the period above cited.* Engage only in anti-oppressor, networking and solidarity actions for the period.* Cease all prisoner-on-prisoner hostilities regardless of set, race, custody, gender, religion or other division.* Show respect for our mutual bondage and suffering as well as the sacrifices of all revolutionary brothers and sisters.
This is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Attica uprising and is intended to draw attention to our devolving treatment and escalating abuse of prisoners by the state.
We welcome all prisoners - confined or not - to show support by participating or speaking out.
Just one day, just one voice!
We do not expect our brothers and sisters to incur casualties or harm - we do want to send a message, not to them only, but to each other. This is an us thing - a true united front.
Just one day.

MIM(Prisons) adds: We support this call from a group participating in the United Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP) for a day of peaceful unity and protest, and will work with local organizing cells to coordinate this demo. This is an opportunity for the UFPP to build on the principle of Peace: "WE organize to end the needless conflicts and violence within the U.$. prison environment. The oppressors use divide and conquer strategies so that we fight each other instead of them. We will stand together and defend ourselves from oppression."
This 24 hour action will require a little sacrifice by prisoners, but should incur no harm, and should lead to a reduction in violence as all prisoner-on-prisoner hostilities cease for the day. We can build greater awareness of the oppression against which we fight, and build the unity that is necessary for that battle, by organizing groups and individuals to participate. Comrades organizing around the solidarity demo are encouraged to send their plans or reports to Under Lock & Key. Note that copy for the next issue will be due the week of the demonstration, so send your reports in on September 10 to make the deadline.
From Georgia [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/news/all/GA/1420/] to California [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/campaigns/CA/15], from Virginia to Illinois [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/news/all/IL/1386/], all across the United Snakes, let's show that the prisoner struggle is one common struggle.

2012-08-01 "Build a United Front for Peace in Prisons" (initiated in March 2011)
[http://prisoncensorship.info/campaigns/CW/19]:
Solidarity and Peace Demonstration September 9: Tell your contacts inside about this call for a country-wide demonstration to draw attention to the degrading conditions in U.$. prisons! You can print out articles (linked in this paragraph or listed below) to send to your contacts behind bars and print the Day of Solidarity flyer to distribute on the streets. Now is the time to start organizing for the demonstration. Comrades should use this as an opportunity to get their fellow prisoners connected, and to spread the five principles of the United Front for Peace in Prisons.
Rebuilding the anti-imperialist prison movement means uniting all who can be united around the common interest of the U.$. prison population in solidarity with the oppressed people of the Third World. Various tactics have been used by the state to promote and exacerbate existing contradictions among the lumpen, leading to the acceptance of the capitalist ideology of "Do me."
Torture, abuse and lack of freedom faced by the oppressed nations and particularly the imprisoned population can only be addressed by building bridges along common interests and focusing our struggles on the real enemy - the imperialist state.
After years of printing this message from countless individuals across the United $tates (including the campaign for a Peace Process in Pelican Bay [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/campaigns/CA/6]) a handful of organizations came out with a Statement of Unity around which to build such unity. (also see the Announcement of the United Front [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/news/all/US/978]): This page will serve to collect the statements of unity received from groups who are working in solidarity with the United Front as well as reports on the progress of efforts to build peace and unity in U.$. prisons. Study, spread and promote the 5 principles.

United Front for Peace in Prisons - Statement of Principles
 -----------------------------------------------------------

 The basis of any real unity comes from an agreement on certain key ideas.
 This statement does not grant authority to any party over any other party.
 We are mutually accountable to each other to uphold these points in order to remain active participants in this united front.

 1.      Peace WE organize to end the needless conflicts and violence within the U.$. prison environment. The oppressors use divide and conquer strategies so that we fight each other instead of them. We will stand together and defend ourselves from oppression.

 2.      Unity WE strive to unite with those facing the same struggles as us for our common interests. To maintain unity we have to keep an open line of networking and communication, and ensure we address any situation with true facts. This is needed because of how the pigs utilize tactics such as rumors, snitches and fake communications to divide and keep division among the oppressed. The pigs see the end of their control within our unity.

 3.      Growth WE recognize the importance of education and freedom to grow in order to build real unity. We support members within our organization who leave and embrace other political organizations and concepts that are within the anti-imperialist struggle. Everyone should get in where they fit in. Similarly, we recognize the right of comrades to leave our organization if we fail to live up to the principles and purpose of the United Front for Peace in Prisons.

 4.      Internationalism WE struggle for the liberation of all oppressed people. While we are often referred to as "minorities" in this country, and we often find those who are in the same boat as us opposing us, our confidence in achieving our mission comes from our unity with all oppressed nations who represent the vast majority globally. We cannot liberate ourselves when participating in the oppression of other nations.

 5.      Independence WE build our own institutions and programs independent of the United $tates government and all its branches, right down to the local police, because this system does not serve us. By developing independent power through these institutions we do not need to compromise our goals.

Updates/Reports from Inside:
All links to the following headlines are provided at this website [http://prisoncensorship.info/campaigns/CW/19]
Continuing the Debate on the Need for New Organizations (August 2012)
Promote Prisoner Day of Solidarity - September 9, 2012 (July 2012)
North Carolina in for Solidarity Demo (July 2012)
Call for Solidarity Demonstration September 9 (July 2012)
Five Percenter Shows Unity with United Front for Peace in Prisons (June 2012)
Debating the Need for New Organizations: Cell Structure and United Fronts (May 2012)
South Carolina Struggles and Lumpen Organizing (April 2012)
Who's Leading Lumpen Peace Work? (March 2012)
MPMM signs on to United Front for Peace (March 2012)
Brutality and Resistance in Pennsylvania Demonstrates Need for United Front (March 2012)
Criticism and Good Communication Helps Us Grow and Develop (January 2012)
Black Mass Army Joins United Front for Peace (December 2011)
Proof!: The State Lies in Order to Censor (November 2011)
Revolutionary Mandingo Warriors Join United Front for Peace (November 2011)
USW Study Cell Signs onto UF for Peace (October 2011)
Hunger Strike First Step in Building United Front (October 2011)
Ghost Guerilla Mafia Signs on to United Front (October 2011)
Build the United Front to Address LO Contradictions (September 2011)
S.O.B. Joins United Front (September 2011)
United Revolutionary Movement Joins United Front for Peace (September 2011)
UF for Peace in Prisons Statement from USW cell (September 2011)
Enforcers Elite Society joins United Front (September 2011)
United Gangsta Nation joins forces with UF for Peace (August 2011)
PBSP Hunger Strike Update - Education Needed (August 2011)
BORO Calls on Leaders of Lumpen Orgs to Step Up (July 2011)
United Front for Peace (July 2011)
National Liberation Revolution of Oppressed Persons Signs UF for Peace (June 2011)
Revolutionary Gangstas Join United Front for Peace (June 2011)
SAMAEL Signs on to UF for Peace (June 2011)
Peace First, Then Unity (May 2011)
New Man Corp supports UF for Peace and Freedom (May 2011)
NJ Avalon Crip Signs On to UF Statement (May 2011)
Lack of Education Limits United Front (May 2011)
Peace Movement Destroyed in Infancy (May 2011)
We Must Advance the United Front for Peace! (May 2011)
United Front and First Nation struggles (May 2011)
We Want Peace agitational pamphlet (April 2011)
Statement of Unity from the Makavelian People's Party (MPP) (April 2011)
United Front for Peace in Prisons - Statement of Principles (March 2011)
Announcing the United Front for Peace in Prisons (March 2011)
Ex-Capo Joins Peace Agreement (March 2011)
Lumpen United Front: Its Basis and Development (November 2010)
In Unity & Struggle: Why United Front? (October 2010)


"Unlock the Box: The Movie"
[http://www.abolishcontrolunits.org/movie]
 Unlock the Box is a movie documenting the struggle to put an end to long-term isolation in u.$. prisons that has been waged by prisoners and activists for decades. Starting from the premise that long-term isolation is a form of torture that serves no purpose except the state's oppressive aims at social control, Unlock the Box documents the many forms of struggle that this movement has taken over the years.
 Each narrative is highlighted by the voices and artwork of current and former prisoners who have done time in control units. Also featured, is new research on the growth and extent of the use of long-term isolation in the united $tates. Throughout the movie there is a focus on lessons from struggle and analysis of the relationship between the prison movement and the global effort to put an end to imperialism in all its forms. The desired purpose of the movie is to continue to bring the realities of the torture going on in these prisons to a broader audience and to help create greater clarity on what needs to be done to replace a system of torture with a system that works in the interests of humynity.
Watch a clip [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/pbshuvideo]
Interview with Reel Soldier Productions on Stopmax screening [http://www.prisoncensorship.info/news/all/US/217/]
download flier from StopMax [http://www.abolishcontrolunits.org/handout.pdf]
Review by Prison Legal News [https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/displayArticle.aspx?articleid=21229]
DVD orders: Order online through Kersplebedeb for $14 plus shipping. [https://secure.leftwingbooks.net/index.php?l=product_detail&p=774]
If you are interested in ordering DVDs in bulk to distribute please contact: unlockthebox@nym.hush.com
Screenings: Anyone is free to screen Unlock the Box to whoever, whereever and whenever. We only require that you notify us of any public screenings. To obtain a copy (or many copies to sell at the event) to screen, send info about your screening to: unlockthebox@nym.hush.com