Tuesday, December 11, 2012

San Quentin Six Declare Solidarity with CA Prisoners’ Agreement to End Hostilities

The authors dedicate their essay to Marilyn Buck (1947-2010).

San Quentin 6 Declare Solidarity with CA Prisoners’ Agreement to End Hostilities

by Sundiata Tate, Bato Talamantez and Giappa Johnson – three of the San Quentin 6

(Reprinted in full by Angola 3 News. Watch the video of our April 6, 2012 event, featuring Bato Talamantez at the end)

We strongly support the statement issued by the Pelican Bay prison Short Corridor Collective calling for the end of racial and factional hostilities inside California prisons and in county jails. We believe that this along with our struggle for human rights is a most righteous cause which will have a tremendous impact on changing the perception that the Security Housing Units (SHUs) house only the worst of the worst.

The truth is that the SHUs are filled with those who have transformed themselves into socially conscious men and women who desire to live more productive and constructive lives while working to bring an end to their tortuous living conditions. These comrades who have issued the agreement to end hostilities demonstrate their commitment to changing not only their conditions but themselves. Furthermore, they seek to change how prisoners are treated and how prisons are currently run.