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interested in leading workshops to educate the public about the Pelican Bay Hunger Strikes currently taking place in prisons across California. This is intended for facilitators and not participants; however, participants will be given comprehensive handouts. The curriculum can be used for youth and adult audiences. The teach-in is approximately an hour and fifteen minutes in length and is best with 2 facilitators (1 leading, 1 supporting each section/part). Please feel free to revise this according to the needs of the group. In solidarity. Supplies needed: blue or masking tape, post-it notes, large piece of paper, writing utensils, timer/watch Prep: Agenda (written out) Introduction (15 min) A facilitator will explain to the group that the teach-in will start off with the voices of people in solitary and that afterward there will be introductions and discussion. Please choose one of the 2 statements below. After reading one of the below statements out loud, invite people to introduce themselves (Name, Preferred Gender Pronoun, Where are you coming from?, etc.) and share a short reaction to the statement that was read. When everybody is given a chance to introduce themselves, please go over the agenda. Option 1: Mumia Abu Jamal Solitary confinement, especially for extended terms, is quite literally soul damning or the states way of killing without killing. Ive seen men mutilate themselves, cut their necks, their throats, all because the mind killing boredom drove them out of their skulls. Theres a reason the United Nations special rapporteur calls solitary a form of torture if one is held that way over a few weeks, because it is. Thats why guys across California staged hunger strikes, as did men in Georgia and in Ohio, because solitary was killing them and by starving themselves to death they could determine their own destiny. Option 2: June 20 Statement From Pelican Bay Short Corridor Collective! The principal prisoner representatives from the PBSP SHU Short Corridor Collective Human
Rights Movement does hereby present public notice that our nonviolent peaceful protest of our subjection to decades of indefinite state-sanctioned torture, via long term solitary confinement will resume on July 8, 2013, consisting of a hunger strike/work stoppage of indefinite duration until CDCR signs a legally binding agreement meeting our demands, the heart of which mandates an end to long-term solitary confinement (as well as additional major reforms). Our decision does not come lightly. For the past (2) years weve patiently kept an open dialogue with state officials, attempting to hold them to their promise to implement meaningful reforms, responsive to our demands. For the past seven months we have repeatedly pointed out CDCRs failure to honor their word and we have explained in detail the ways in which theyve acted in bad faith and what they need to do to avoid the resumption of our protest action. On June 19, 2013, we participated in a mediation session ordered by the Judge in our class action lawsuit, which unfortunately did not result in CDCR officials agreeing to settle the case on acceptable terms. While the mediation process will likely continue, it is clear to us that we must be prepared to renew our political non-violent protest on July 8th to stop torture in the SHUs and Ad-Segs of CDCR. Thus we are presently out of alternative options for achieving the long overdue reform to this system and, specifically, an end to state-sanctioned torture, and now we have to put our lives on the line via indefinite hunger strike to force CDCR to do whats right. We are certain that we will prevail. the only questions being: How many will die starvation-related deaths before state officials sign the agreement? The world is watching! Onward in Struggle and Solidarity. Todd Ashker, Arturo Castellanos Ronald Dewberry, aka Sitawa Ice Breaker: Mind Map (15min) A facilitator will write the word CONFINEMENT in large letters on the board or on a large piece of paper. The facilitator will pass out two post-it notes to each participant, instructing them to think about words that relate to confinement, and then to write down two words they come up with on the post-in notes. After a couple minutes, the facilitator will ask participants go up to the large paper and paste two post-it notes on the board. Invite participants to draw lines to connect the words to confinement and/or other words that were put on the large paper. Afterwards, a facilitator will lead participants in a small discussion on the words they posted and why. Pop Quiz (15min) In this part, a facilitator will ask participants questions about Pelican Bay to see how much participants already know. After the questions have been asked, a facilitator will pass out a hand-out with comprehensive information about the Hunger Strikes.
Where is Pelican Bay located? When did the 2013 hunger strike begin? How many people were involved on the first day of the hunger strike? What does SHU stand for? What are the dimensions of a SHU cell at Pelican Bay? According to the United Nations, how many days in solitary confinement constitutes torture? How many people are currently being held in solitary confinement in the United States? How many people have been held in solitary confinement for over twenty years? How many inmates are in California prisons currently? What percentage of California inmates are in solitary confinement? What is in a Pelican Bay Prison cell?
About 145,000 in state and another 10,000 prisoners held in private, out-of-state prisons Seven percent A sink, a toilet, a concrete stub to sit on, small stub resembling a counter, two bed slabs on the back wall, two thin blankets, steel-plate doors with penny-sized holes, food slots which are also used for shackling for the few occasions prisoners leave. No. How are prisoners sent to solitary confinement? Prisoners can be sent to solitary confinement based on presumptions that theyre associated with a prison gang. The evidence of gang association can be as trivial as who signed their birthday card, what books they read, the art they draw, or who they say hi to. What are the prisoners 5 Core demands? When did the first Pelican Bay hunger strike begin? Comparatively, how many people participated on the first day of this hunger strike? Is solitary confinement part of a prisoners sentence? The first Pelican Bay hunger strike began on July 1, 2011 According to the CDCR, approximately 6600 prisoners had refused food in the first days of the strike
1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse 2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria 3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Americas Prisons 2006 Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term Solitary Confinement 4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food 5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Inmates.
Activity (15 min) A facilitator will hand out a roll of tape and ask participants to indicate, using the tape, a 6 ft. x 9ft. space on the ground, to represent the size of a solitary confinement space. The following activity will include using the 6x9 area. Secret Simon The group will form into a circle. A facilitator will select one person to be the Guesser, who will immediately leave the room. A facilitator will then select another person to be Simon. After Simon has been selected, have the Guesser return. Simon will initiate a series of movements that the other participants will mimic. The Guesser has one minute to guess which participant is Simon. The participant who was guessed incorrectly, must silently enter the 6x9 space.** The Guesser after guessing incorrectly, also has to enter the 6x9 area. The facilitator will select a new Simon, and the old Simon now becomes the Guesser, and a new round begins (participants in 6x9 area continue to remain in the space until end of game). If the Guesser is correct, then the participant playing Simon will become the new Guesser and the facilitator will select a new Simon. Keep playing until there are no remaining participants or ten to fifteen minutes have elapsed. The facilitator is also encouraged to create arbitrary rules throughout the game, to represent the arbitrary reasons inmates are sent to solitary confinement (e.g. anyone laughing has to enter the 6x9 area; anyone in the 6x9 area wearing jeans has to stand up or close their eyes, etc.) Facilitator is encouraged to change and create rules based on their discretion. **In the 6x9 space, participants must sit quietly facing outward or away from each other. Discussion (15min) Facilitator will lead the group in a debrief of the activity, as well as, a dialogue that explores how participants can support the Hunger Strike and/or prison abolition work.
What were the hardest or most challenging parts of the game? How did they make you feel? What was being sent to the 6x9 like? Did you feel that you had a voice or a sense of agency? Given what you have learned about the Pelican Bay hunger strike, how did these games resemble scenarios that prisoners are forced to endure?
(Depending on the size of the group, divide participants into two large break-out groups to discuss follow-up actions) How can we as individuals or members of social justice organizations help support both prisoners involved in the hunger strike and prisoners in general? What are ways that we can work to dismantle the Prison Industrial Complex?
Additional Resources Resources with more info: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/the-prisoners-demands-2/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican_Bay_State_Prison http://pelicanbayprisonproject.org/ http://kasamaproject.org/files/prison_edition.pdf Abolishing the Prison Industrial Complex by Herzing CURB - 50 Ways to Reduce the Number of People in Prison in California Heiner - Social Death and the Relationship Between Abolition and Reform