Hunger strike Successful!

Hello supporters,

Keith/Bomani just shared that they were able to meet with the Warden this morning after 4 days of being on hunger strike and successfully negotiated full reinstitution of their previously earned privileges, ones that some were attempting to corrode. He, Hasan, Jason, and Greg send their heartfelt thanks for any and all ways in which you lent of yourself during this struggle. They’ve agreed to end the strike.

One love.

Message from Keith Lamar on the hunger strike:

I just met with my attorneys, Alice and Staughton Lynd, along with the warden and North regional director, Mr. Ishee. At present, we're still on strike pending a meeting with the warden, which he assured me would happen "sooner than later." I anticipate it happening in the next day or so. In the meantime, this is my understanding of where things stand:

No one to date has accepted responsibility for rescinding our privileges, but the why and wherefores of that is neither here nor there. What matters is that it not happen again, and I was assured by Mr. Ishee that unless warranted (based on our personal behavior), our privileges would not be summarily rescinded as they were. In addition, there's several issues with respect to visiting and other areas that were already in place before new administration came about, and these things will be discussed with warden in aforementioned meeting. It's my general feeling that these matters will be resolved, and that present problems will not recur again.

To the larger issue of our general situation, we all agree that we cannot rely on the system to deliver the justice we seek. As with the case of our privileges, the only way things will l change is through the utilization of our own agency, and with the support of The People. This lesson is continually being taught to us, and I think we can

Three Uprising prisoners on hunger strike to restore communication access.

In clear retaliation during the 25th anniversary of the 1993 uprising, the Ohio State Penitentiary administration rolled back communication access and possibly other conditions exclusively for the survivors of the Lucasville Uprising.

Please call Ohio State Penitentiary between 9am and 5pm EST. Dial 330-743-0700 and press 0 then ask to speak with Warden Bowen.

SUGGESTED SCRIPT:

“Hello, my name is _____. I'm calling to demand you reverse Friday's policy changes that imposed new restrictions on prisoners impacted by the Lucasville uprising. None of these prisoners violated any rules and there's no justification for rolling back important policies that help them survive the 25 years of solitary confinement the ODRC has cruelly subjected them to.”


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS:

Lucasville Anniversary Coverage Roundup.

Here we will archive links to any media coverage from the uprising. If you notice anything we're missing, please contact insurgent.ben@gmail.com and we'll get it added. Thanks!

Truth-out: Twenty-Five Years After the Lucasville Uprising it's Survivors are Leading a New Prison Resistance Movement. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/44285-twenty-five-years-after-the-lucasville-uprising-its-survivors-are-leading-a-new-prison-resistance-movement

Reportback from Solidarity rally at SOCF: https://itsgoingdown.org/solidarity-rally-outside-lucasville-prison-to-mark-25th-anniversary-of-uprising/

Audio report from that action. https://itsgoingdown.org/audio-report-rally-outside-lucasville-as-hunger-strike-begins/

Lucasville Uprising Survivors On Hunger Strike After Ohio Prison Officials Restrict Communications https://shadowproof.com/2018/04/25/lucasville-uprising-survivors-hunger-strike-restrict-communications/

Final Straw Radio interview with Mosi Paki and Niki Schwartz: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2018/04/15/after-25-years-two-perspectives-on-the-lucasville-uprising-by-the-final-straw-radio/

Worker's World Interview with Hasan: https://www.workers.org/2018/04/10/lucasville-prison-uprising-25th-anniversary/

Socialist Worker interview with Hasan: https://socialistworker.org/2018/04/17/when-lucasville-rose-up

SF Bay View article by Greg Curry: http://sfbayview.com/2018/04/lucasville-rebellion-longest-prison-riot-in-history-began-25-years-ago-on-april-11-1993/

The Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center of Cincinnati published a short piece: http://ijpccincinnati.org/featured/lucasville-25-years/

Newafrikan77 blogpost on the uprising: https://newafrikan77.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/25-years-the-lucasville-prison-rebellion-4-11-1993-never-forget/


Mainstream Coverage:

Associate press is re-running old articles from 1993: http://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/wednesday-marks-25th-anniversary-of-lucasville-prison-riot/1111839871

Dayton Daily News: https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/things-remember-about-the-lucasville-prison-riot-years-later/OOZzf7iPcYnlEKF0wZ8mAM/

Newark Advocate: https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/2018/04/11/former-prison-boss-says-lucasville-riot-spurred-needed-reform/503553002/

Act in Solidarity with the Survivors of the Lucasville Uprising!

Central Ohio IWOC, the Free Ohio Movement and Lucasville Amnesty call for actions and raising awareness around the 25th anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising on April 11-21. Drawing attention to this pivotal event in the history of prison in Ohio and the US, protesters will hold a 3PM noise demo on the 21st outside the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville where prisoners held a cell block for 11 days in April of 1993.

Prisoner survivors of this rebellion have spent these 25 years acting as beacons of resistance despite suffering in solitary confinement and on death row. Their persistent and stiff resistance has wrenched concessions from the State of Ohio, improved conditions for all prisoners at the supermax and inspired and participated in the burgeoning nation-wide prisoner resistance movement. From another cell-block occupation in 1997, to lawsuits against the supermax, to successful hunger strikes in 2011-2013 (see links below), to death sentence resistance, to Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan's participation and advocacy for the nation-wide strike and prisoner protest on September 9 2016, these prisoners have been at the heart of the burgeoning prisoner resistance movement.

Organizing for the 25th Anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising

Twenty-Five years after the longest prison uprising in which people died, the full story has not been told. April 11, 2018 will be the 25th Anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising, a defining event in the history of criminal justice and prison systems in Ohio and the United States.

Lucasville stands out from other prison uprisings in many ways that deserve greater examination. The uprising claimed 10 lives over 11 days and ended in a negotiated surrender, the terms of which the State of Ohio refused to honor by targeting those who negotiated with them during the uprising.

We have distributed two documents, assembled by Staughton and Alice Lynd, esteemed labor lawyer historians from Youngstown, Ohio. The first describes the uprising and subsequent prosecutions in greater detail, exposing the state's behavior during the uprising, and extensive prosecutorial misconduct in the trials following it.

The second is a list of people willing to be interviewed for the 25th anniversary of the uprising. These contacts include:
- Niki Schwartz, who Ohio brought in to negotiate the peaceful surrender

- Defense attorneys from the trials
- Prisoner survivors, including those on death row, those still in prison, and those who have been released.
- Activists, film-makers and organizers.

Five men have been condemned to death and many more to long sentences served almost entirely in solitary confinement at the Ohio State Penitentiary, a supermax prison built in the wake of the uprising. These prisoners have been influential writers, activists and organizers beyond their own cases, and despite their very restrictive conditions of confinement and isolation.

Their 2011 Hunger Strike partially inspired the interracial solidarity of the Pelican Bay Hunger Strikes, which expanded to include over 30,000 prisoners. Siddique Abdullah Hasan, one of the death row survivors, was a lead organizer of the September 9, 2016 national prison strike and protest, the largest prisoner-led protest in history.

The impact and historical resonance of the Lucasville Uprising is still felt in Ohio and beyond 25 years later. The consequences remain dire, and the story remains largely untold. Please review these materials and consider covering the 25th Anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan's phone access renewed.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan called a number of his supporters this morning. He's doing well and is excited to have access to one of his most useful organizing tools restored after a 90 day restriction.

The ODRC took away phone access from Hasan and Jason Robb without adequate due process because they claimed the prisoners were paid to appear on the Netflix documentary series Captives. The prisoners responded with hunger strikes that lasted until they were moved to the infirmary for weight loss and dehydration.