Thursday, January 6, 2011

How and why is this staying out of mainstream media?

From Correntewire and Davey D’s Hip-Hop Blog

Georgia — On Thursday morning, December 9, 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked down in their cells in a peaceful protest for their human rights.
The December 9 Strike became the biggest prisoner protest in the history of the United States. Thousands of men, from Augusta, Baldwin, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Smith and Telfair State Prisons, among others, initiated this strike to press the Georgia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) to stop treating them like animals and slaves and institute programs that address their basic human rights.  They set forth the following demands:
  • · A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK
  • · EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
  • · DECENT HEALTH CARE
  • · AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS
  • · DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS
  • · NUTRITIONAL MEALS
  • · VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
  • · ACCESS TO FAMILIES
  • · JUST PAROLE DECISIONS
In Augusta State Prison, six or seven inmates were brutally ripped from their cells by CERT Team guards and beaten, resulting in broken ribs for several men, one man beaten beyond recognition.  This brutality continues there.  At Telfair, the Tactical Squad trashed all the property in inmate cells.  At Macon State, the Tactical Squad has menaced the men for two days, removing some to the “hole,” and the warden ordered the heat and hot water turned off.  Still, today, men at Macon, Smith, Augusta, Hays and Telfair State Prisons say they are committed to continuing the strike.  Inmate leaders, representing blacks, Hispanics, whites, Muslims, Rastafarians, Christians, have stated the men will stay down until their demands are addressed, one issuing this statement:    
This is bigger than any other prison protest in history and it is kept secret. Shows how prison oppression is deeply intertwined with the mainstream media in my opinion.

JB