I tend to not speak very publicly about stuff like this because I don't tend to judge or dictate how others relate to a colonial government on stolen land. But I did request my vote-by-mail ballot & something I'm thinking on is....
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...how confident I am that my vote will be counted, because of the fact that Massachusetts is one of the more "progressive" (hate this word) states when it comes to voting practices & rights. And how it's also one of many (most) states where incarcerated people cannot vote.
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Most of us on this website are aware of how limited voting is. And yet there is something to be learned from 1) past black freedom struggles oriented around voting rights and 2) the last prison strike's demand for voting rights.
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Every time I vote--whether in local, state, or national/general elections--I feel sick to my stomach. But I do it because I think about family elders who struggled to vote, and incarcerated friends & family who wish they could vote.
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I don't fully know what it means to respect & support struggles for voting rights when we are attempting to dismantle the very government whose elections we are participating in. But I know that the complexity of these struggles & their histories is something I want to hold.
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You can read the full list of demands from the 2018 strike here:https://incarceratedworkers.org/campaigns/prison-strike-2018 …
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Also, a lot of incarcerated & formerly incarcerated organizers have critiqued the model of the strike as a form of prison resistance. I don't have any links off-hand that succinctly & accessibly explain this critique, but if someone does, please feel free to reply/link below!
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Replying to @HueyTheTrans
When it comes to any acts directly against the US prisons, which is totalitarianism and fascism at its max, resistance is life or death. In most cases leadership is place in holes for years. For us to be able to pull together in here to challenge this industry, was resistance
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Replying to @JailLawSpeak @HueyTheTrans
Prisoners are a class. Certain interest we have that to a free world person may seem petty or all together irrelevant in the political arena. Take the opportunity to vote, this would give a voice to the voiceless in here, and change the level of oppression on an immediate level
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Take the challenge to the antideath penalty and terrorism act of 1996. To prisoners how/when we could challenge prison conditions and even file appeals about convictions would change drastically for the better if this was no more. To the free world person it seems petty on face
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Replying to @JailLawSpeak @HueyTheTrans
B/c this area can lead to somewhat transparency, the power that be fight tooth and nail to maintain the current status quo by all means. It is war on every level you can think of. So yes when prisoners rise up to challenge the policies that legitimizes the system it is resistance
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Replying to @JailLawSpeak
That's real and makes sense to me. "Seems petty on face"--but isn't -- is a really useful formulation for me. And "war on every level," too. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
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