2007, 5TH FEBRUARY- PROTEST UPDATE
FEBRUARY 5TH, 2007 PROTEST UPDATE
GRUE
It was about 4:00 a.m. They had just served what they call “breakfast” All they gave Comrade Will was a food loaf. And not only a food loaf but an old food loaf; and an old lunch or dinner food loaf. He was supposed to get a breakfast food loaf, which is the only food loaf that has remained somewhat consistently edible. It’s not made out of cornmeal, but some kind of biscuit mix in which can be found pear slices, apples, or pineapples. They are actually sweet. When most people are placed on food loaf, they tend to ration out the breakfast food loaf, eating a quarter of it at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and eat the remainder at night to curb those late night hunger pangs. They have to do this because lunch and dinner food loafs are so disgusting they refuse to eat them.
Food loaf is a sort of brick of bread in which everything that is served on a regular tray is supposed to be baked. However this is not the case, as demonstrated with the description of breakfast food loaf—regular breakfast never consists solely of bread and fruit. Lunch and dinner food loaf is made like cornbread (i.e. cornmeal) in which you will find carrots, green beans or greens the majority of the time. And as you guessed, regular trays never consist solely of cornbread and vegetables, though they feed us more vegetables and starches than anything else. More often than not food loafs are not thoroughly cooked so they remain “wet” in the middle. These food loafs are meat free. Therefore the food loafs are greatly deprived of the essential nutrients and calorie intake delineated by TDC’s Dietician in Huntsville, TX.
In Ruiz v. Estelle (503 F/supp1265;1360) the landmark civil suit brought against TDC that revolutionized Texas prison conditions, a footnote defined “Grue” as a substance created by mashing meat, potatoes, oleo, syrup, vegetables, eggs and seasoning into a paste and baking the mixture in a pan.” Further they stated, “The district court invalidated the serving of a restricted diet of “grue” to inmates in solitary confinement.” The deprivation of food is cruel and unusual because “the pains of hunger constitute a dull prolonged sort of corporal punishment. That marked physical effects ensue is evident from the numerous instances of substantial weight loss during solitary confinement.”
Comrade Will, just as Woods, and Gonzales were placed on “food loaf” which is nothing but “grue” in retaliation or as punishment for their protest. This administration’s justification for placing us on a “restrictive diet” is always based on “safety and security.” Nevertheless, Ruiz stated the “American Correctional Association standards state that it is essential that food not be used as a reward or punishment; and that segregated inmates be on a full regular diet.”—at 1361.
Though sometimes recalcitrant prisoners are placed on this “restrictive diet” to break their “spirit not just by denial of physical comforts but of necessities to the end that his powers of resistance diminish,” prisoners are specifically placed on this restriction when they commit an act that hinders food serving operations, or more specifically occupy bean slots, refuse to relinquish hand restraints, or food trays. By being placed on food loaf (GRUE), which comes in a bag, you no longer have access to a tray. When the pod officers serve the prisoner this bag of grue, the prisoner is forced to sit on his bunk while the pod officers open the bean slot, placing the bag of grue in the prisoner’s cage. This not only degrades the prisoner in that officers utilize this opportunity to exert their authority by coercing the prisoner to obey their jeering orders if the prisoner wishes to eat, but it is suppose to prevent the prisoner from occupying the bean slot. Being placed on food loaf does not prevent prisoners from being able to keep their hand restraints.
If the administration’s concern is to temporarily prevent prisoners from occupying food/bean slots, instead of feeding the prisoner grue in a bag, why can’t they feed him a “Johnny sack” (a bag with two sandwiches), which is more nutritional value than grue. The kitchen keeps Johnny sacks in stock, more so than food loaf. Why go out of the way to feed a prisoner a block of cornbread with carrots in it when they can feed him a Johnny sack of sandwiches which will not only serve the same purpose as the food loaf, but also contains meat? “The 8th amendment prohibits punishments that serve no valid penological purpose and needlessly inflict pain”—RUIZ.
Anyhow, after being served my breakfast tray, when the pod officers came around picking them up, or “slopping” them, as the officers call it-as if they see us as hogs (I tell them all the time, “you can only ‘slop’ hogs”) I occupied the food slot. When Sgt. Miles came I explained to him how Comrade Will was fed an old lunch or dinner food loaf for breakfast. Sgt. Miles, who I’ve never had any dealings with, said “It’s taken care of.” I pulled my arm out of the slot to give the Sgt. a chance to own up to his word. Unfortunately he didn’t. He just said it to get me out the slot. He lied! Comrade Will was denied what he was supposed to have, and I felt like I let my comrade down.
DRIVE……
In Strength and Solidarity,
Reginald “Omari Huduma” Blanton
THOSE WORDS WERE NOT MINE
These words were
not
rehearsed.
They SCREAMED !!!
from a place
I’m trying to remember:
“Mo-B! Mo-B!
My brother
we are standing
in solidarity
with you!
They!
Are!
Trying!
To!
Kill!
MY!
Brother!
Today!
…Mo-B!
feel our spirits,
our revolutionary rage!
Mo-B!!!
We are speaking
your strength into existence!
We are speaking
Your peace into existence
…I’m placing my humanity
between
you and the Machine.”
…And by then,
my Diamond-Soul was gleaming.
I was overwhelmed.
I was not speaking.
I was praying.
This
Was something divine.
These were not mine.
“I am Omari Huduma.”
“DRIVE!”
Still ashy, I wrote this after BEing carried back from the shower. These words (and I say “words” with a grimace) in quotations are what shined forth from my mouth today in protest of Daroyce “Mo-B” Mosley’s murder date. This sit-in protest occurred mere moments after Jasiri also engaged in a sit-in protest a few sections over. I couldn’t see him, but I heard him. In fact, the entire universe heard us. The question is, who will listen
…shortly later…
Comrade Amun refused to come out of the shower. I didn’t know how far he was going to take it. The shower, which is no larger than a trailer-home closet, is no place to resist a 5-man team. People have suffered serious injury over the years by refusing to come out that shower. I was worried about my comrade.
Sgt. Brown requested 2 cans of chemical agents. Two cans! That’s a lot of gas for such a small space.
Sgt. Brown gave Amun 2 direct orders, which Amun refused to obey. Sgt. Brown then released what seemed to be a 5-second burst of chemicals into that shower, closing the bean slot. With no air circulating inside, that box of a shower can become suffocating; then add chemical agents in there?!! By their Use of Force plan, they are only
Suppose to release 3-second bursts at 5-minute intervals. Sgt. Brown was playing games.
Comrade Amun knocked on the small, square plexi-glass window on the shower door 3 times to signify that he would come out, but Sgt. Brown ignored him. Amun knocked three more times but Brown ignored him still! By then I was furious. I don’t even remember all I said. Brown was suppose to open the bean slot so Amun could strip out and come out of the shower. Sgt. Brown was leaving him in that small box full of chemical agents to maliciously teach Amun a lesson! It wasn’t until after the third time he knocked that Sgt. Brown finally opened the bean slot. And guess what—his supervisor was standing right there. How do you feel about this?
After Amun was placed inside his cage and Sgt. Brown concluded the use of force, he waved jubilantly as he walked off the section.
What does this mean? The more we protest, the more their repression will intensify. Non-violent protest is like the scent of blood to these sadists. Non-violence unveils the sadistic nature of a corrupt power structure. Things will, indeed, worsen for us.
DRIVE!
Omari Huduma, AKA
Reginald W. Blanton