Lost in time: Lift up our brother Sitawa and strike down indefinite incarceration

by Mutope DugumaPublished earlier on the SF Bayview and on Sitawa.org.

It’s always hard to stomach news that is disheartening. To hear that a brother and comrade has suffered a stroke after spending countless years in solitary confinement, as well as being held on an indefinite sentence for an alleged crime he did not commit, is even more disheartening.
I need not stress the sorrow that is felt amongst the whole prison

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa in July of 2018

population for our brother Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, who, along with countless fearless prisoners, pioneered our Prison Human Rights Movement (PHRM) to the world’s stage. We continue to see men and women incarcerated far too long – beyond anyone’s imagination – and continue to be held indefinitely.

Our beloved brother Sitawa is amongst this class of men and women. The inhumane treatment of prisoners must end.

Our brother Sitawa and many others have suffered enough and should not continue to do so based on being given a life sentence that equals a civil death. Prior to 1968, under original Penal Code Section 2600, California prisoners suffered complete civil death, which means prisoners were stripped of all civil rights.

The prison system is actually covertly executing all of its lifers. The United States is the only country in the whole world that incarcerates people indefinitely – forcing them to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Men and women have been incarcerated for 35 years or more.

Many of these people are lost in time. They came to prison as youth in their teens and early 20s in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Yes, many of them were immature, many had no real direction, but they all became adults in the Amerikan prison system.

At present these prisoners, Baby Boomers, most of whom have survived decades of incarceration, are now between the ages of 60 and 80. Many of these senior citizens are wheelchair-bound or use assistive devices such as walking canes.

Like most seniors, many are on special medications, require special medical therapy for seniors, and suffer from aging illnesses of various sorts. I hear some say that a few manage to get around good at 70 years young.

Many say, yes, they should be in prison, and that may be true in some cases. Given the things they did in society, the way they carried themselves in the youth of their lives was utterly wrong and disrespectful, but that was decades ago when they were young! Decades!

They are now older, mature, grown, senior adults, who have fulfilled all requirements from various parole boards around the U.S. Multiple prisoners have complied with all laws, rules and regulations of the prison and carried themselves as role model human beings and in many cases have done so for decades.

Still, many of them are forced to remain in prison when the maximum amount of time on their sentence has long since expired. This is terrible and extremely cruel to force rehabilitated human beings to remain in bondage and especially when statistics clearly show that 90 percent of them are not returning to prison once released.

Sadly, 89 percent of prisoners across the US are Black and Mexican. From 1619 through the 1800s, the chattel slavery plantation concept lurks in the shadows like the Wizard of Oz.

This “behind the scenes” type strategy involves money laundering exclusively into white rural areas under the Prison Industrial Slave Complex (PISC). (That’s where prisons were built during the height of mass incarceration, in small rural communities that had lost their economic base, where people were so desperate for jobs, they were willing to work in a prison. These were white communities with deep prejudice toward Blacks. – ed.)

Many of us may very well die in these man-made tombs. It should be stipulated that these deaths are in clear violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

The suffering is indefinite where there exists no end to the punishment. Many have died, and many will continue to die where there is no remedy to resolve the cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners.
We must resist to end this cruel and unusual treatment of human beings and encourage our brother Sitawa, who is fighting for his life. We will fight for his freedom and the freedom of the thousands of men and women lost in time.

One Love, One Struggle,

Mutope Duguma

Sitawa is recovering from a major stroke. Send him some love and light (Sitawa is currently housed near San Diego, mail will be forwarded):

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa with arms crossed, in 2017

Freedom Outreach
Attn: Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa
Fruitvale Station
P.O. Box 7359
Oakland CA 94601

BLACK AUGUST 2019: Homelessness

Is a result of a failed government. The people of the United States have already through countless protests, movements of all sorts, declared that housing is a human right, and every human should be afforded housing.

How is it in the 21st century ‘We The People’ see a homeless epidemic? Because of a failed government: local, state, and federal.

The politicians have always had a disconnect from their constituents…No politicians, regardless of the state, can justify or excuse the homelessness we the people are witnessing here in Amerika today.

How can you represent a district of people, as a city councilman or woman, mayor or governor and allow the people to reach such deterioration in astronomical numbers where the whole state begins to be affected by it?

The federal government has a responsibility to the many states it collects taxes, etc...from, to maintain the security of the country not just from the so-called bad guys...where the federal/state government has clearly misappropriated taxpayers funds by building what is known today as the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, PRISON INDUSTRIAL SLAVE COMPLEX, and MILITARIZED POLICE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX that is/has cost trillions of dollars for taxpayers annually.

Each of these industrial complexes has a common denominator, which is that they target humans for extermination; all one has to do is study their reason for existing.  You may be wondering what this has to do with homelessness? Well anytime you allocate funds heavily in one area opposed to balancing the funds out to truly meet the needs of the people then there will be a neglect of some kind, and what we see in the homeless crisis is deliberate neglect and a result of a failed government.

The people have always been at the mercy of the government no matter how rich or poor they are, which is why we the people have to have one voice when it comes to human rights. If a government is allowed to supersede the people it governs, then the people have failed themselves. Adequate housing, food, water, etc. etc that sustains one's life is a human right!!!

It is not negotiable under any circumstances if we are going to use the failure of a person's social life as a justification for such homelessness ( i.e. addicts drugs and alcohol usage, inadequate wages or unemployment, etc. etc.) it should also be stipulated that the people have been bombarded with an influx of drugs into their communities where they have basically succumbed to chemical warfare. These chemical weapons have been allowed to enter our communities by the tons!!! Yet, taxpayers are paying trillions of dollars for many agencies annually:FBI, DEA, CIA, ATF, etc. etc.to protect them from that which is a threat to them...domestic terrorism, FBI; drugs, DEA; International threat, CIA; guns and alcohol ATF, each of these entities are failures. We have seen countless mass shootings occur in this country, we have seen drugs decimate our communities, and an influx of assault weapons into our neighborhoods at alarming rates. These agencies are responsible for protecting the Amerikan people from these threats that claim countless lives.  Why is this government continuing to fund such agencies when it is obvious they are complete failures? So much money, energy and time wasted to these agencies when it is obvious that they are failures. To massively incarcerate people for drug use or possession of any sort is part of the problem that leads to homelessness. We see that drug users only hurt themselves for the most part. Housing is a human right that all humans should demand be given to everyone under the sun.

Love and Respect,

Mutope Duguma 

August 1, 2019

The Nigger in the ‘nigger’ Syndrome

The Nigger in the ‘nigger’ Syndrome

Mutope Duguma

October 2015 revised 01/01/2019

   The ‘Nigger’ in the ‘nigger’ syndrome is a disease that has been cultivated in the psyche of New Afrikans (i.e; Blacks) who for years have been morally compromised to the point of demoralization where they/we lose just about every sense of our morality. I believe that the only way to morally destroy a people is to take away their sense of understanding, of what is right and wrong. This deprives them of moral conduct which leads to being principled, righteous men and women.

   The ‘Nigger in the nigger syndrome’ is about understanding that this word‘nigger’ has a serious reason for its usage. Which is to demean, devalue, degrade and dehumanize Afrikan/ New Afrikan People, no matter where they exist in the world. It is a weapon used to manifest behavior in these targeted human beings.

 We now see the ‘Nigger in the nigger syndrome’ being carried out as a lifestyle in all groups to some degree. Proving that these are not mere derogatory terms, but instead, are a  malignant social and psychological orientation and indoctrination that conditions you inside the many subcultures, ghettos, barrios, trailer parks, and rural, impoverished communities, where people are subjugated, marginalized and exploited to be dysfunctional, mentally diseased, immoral.

 It’s important to reflect on how you, the individual use the term nigger or nigga,  even if it’s briefly, in association with your actual behavior. The‘Nigger in the nigger syndrome,’ is conditioning tied to a malignant social disorder where those who use the word “nigger” do so openly with pride.

We can go all the way back to the slave plantations where our ancestors were domestically colonized, and the word ‘nigger’ was used to dehumanize. Since that time, we have struggled with our identity as a people as we resisted numerous derogatory terms throughout our New Afrikan historical origins since 1619, where the following terms were used to identify us as a people: nigger, negro, colored, black, Afro-American and Afrikan Amerikan.

   We would have these terms linger throughout our struggles in the United States that would exacerbate our identity crisis as a people. Through our own social, political and ideological development we would identify ourselves based on our historical contradiction in racist Amerika. In 1968, the term New Afrikans was coined or formulated by political (nationalist) theoretician for the purpose of scientifically basing and defining

the actual national identity of our people, who comprise a subjugated nation (i.e., domestic colonized nation).

The term ‘nigger’ would be used in oppressed communities throughout Amerika, while at the same time, glamorized in the Blaxploitation movies, where most of the infamous celebrities would use this derogatory term, making it socially and culturally acceptable, by providing a functional application as to how a ‘nigger’ should act, think and look, which in my personal opinion was part of the conditioning of our people around a malignant social disorder, that led to the dysfunctional behavior and demoralization so prevalent among us today.

When you see or hear people who suffer from the ‘Nigger in the nigger syndrome, they have no moral compass for the most part. Case and point: In a discussion with some Brothers who are possessed with the ‘Nigger in the nigger’ syndrome,  I asked why we don’t look down on pimping when the pimp is the predator that preys on young teenage girls and women? Their responses demonstrated that they were very misogynistic toward women.   To accept the Pimp Culture means that we do not value the women in our family and extended community. Any time we embrace something as a lifestyle, it becomes part of our culture, and if it’s malignant, then it becomes a detriment to us as a people. The ‘Nigger in the nigger’ syndrome accepts just about anything immoral, foul, disgusting because they have been demoralized.

Therefore, the very word Nigger has manifested inside the user of the word Nigger that accepts a lifestyle that is immoral. Even in our contradictions as so called ‘gangstas’ we rejected the ‘pimp,’ because we knew, he or she was a predator on our women folks in particular. When did we start hating women? Is it that we have been dehumanized so badly that we cannot regain our humanity? The Nigger in the Nigger syndrome is a disease because it has demoralized many of us as a people and it has to be diagnosed in all of us who have been compromised by this disease. The first step to being diagnosed is to understand that your use of the word ‘nigger,’ casually, whether it’s an endearment from your perspective or not, represents everything we are not, as a people.

Most of our oppressed people in and out of prisons have no consciousness of the dehumanizing aspect of the word Nigger because most are unfortunately unaware of the ‘Nigger in the nigger,’syndrome!!! Take or make a moral assessment of yourself and reclassify yourself as New Afrikans which will be a reflection of our new morality.

One Love, One Struggle,    Mutope Duguma

End Prison Draconian Policies

End Prison Draconian Policies

By Mutope Duguma

October 2018

   It’s no secret that the government, whether local, state and federal have been complicit in the exploitation of prisoners, where the political, judicial and prison industrial slave complex have all signed up to exploit the poorest citizens of this nation. But, before I go into the essence of this story, let me speak to what motivated me to write it.

   I was recently placed back in solitary confinement for mistaken identity, where I was placed in cell with a youngster name of Jamico Wright, who was sentenced to 13 years, for an alleged robbery. Normally youngsters like Brutha Wright would ask me to help them with their 602 appeal, on their solitary confinement placement. Yet, Brutha Wright was seriously agonizing over how the state is charging him $23,113.39 restitution in association with his alleged crime. I would learn that Brutha Wright, is like most youngsters who came out of humble beginnings (i.e., impoverished communities), single parent homes, foster care at a young age, then to the streets, where they are forced into a world of their making.

   I wasn’t surprised in the least bit, of Brutha Wright’s story, because like most prisoners (men/women) held in prisons, they share similar stories. Brutha Wright came to prison at 19 years of age, on July 26, 2011, for his alleged offense, and, what’s different about Brutha Wright is that he gets it, and actually took steps to do something about it, where he became a certified plumber (May, 2014), earning himself a trade. More remarkable, he earned an AA Degree in Business Management, July 17, 2017, demonstrating that he has done just about everything consistent with rehabilitating himself. Sadly, Brutha Wright would learn that he will be unable to utilize his AA Degree while incarcerated. He was given 85% of that 13 year sentence, which is 11 years and 5 months.

   The new sentencing laws enacted in the 1980s and 1990s would make sure that young prisoners did 85% of their time, when the government conspired to massively incarcerate its poor citizens of this nation. Brutha Wright would still have six years to serve on his 13 years. He, like many of us held indefinitely in Amerikkka’s prisons will have to navigate through the inhumane conditions of prison life.

   This story isn’t about time, but instead, it’s about how you have a young man like Brutha Wright, who has gotten an AA Degree in Business, and owes the state $23,113.39, of which he has paid $1,768.39; money he received from working class citizens, who are working minimum wage jobs; family members, friends, etc. The state charges him 55% of each dollar he receives, meaning, if he gets any money for commissary, for example, if his (poor) Mother sent him $25.00 for hygiene when he gets the money it will be reduced to $11.25. If he had  a medical condition and sent in a CDCR-7362 medical form he would be charged a co-payment fee of $5.00 for every medical slip he submits – that would be immediately removed from his trust account statement, leaving him with $6.25 of that $25.00. If he had legal fees of any kind, they would be deducted from those fees, as well. If he submitted a dental form, he would be charged a $5.00 co-payment charge, leaving him with a $1.25, of that $25.00, which is why so many youngsters refuse their dental/mental care in prisons: because they choose hygiene and food over dental or medical care, when they actually have funds on their trust account!!!

We older prisoners didn’t get charged with astronomical debt. Our restitution was $100.00 to $200.00. The restitution that these youngsters are being asked to pay is ridiculous, and the 50% is supposed to be paid to all alleged victims, whereas, 89% of the cases never received one penny of the restitution fees collected. CDCr trust office adds 5% charging fees for removing the fund off your trust account. This adding if you file a civil complaint (i.e., lawsuit) about prison conditions, etc. You would pay a $450.00 filing fee. If you continue to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeal you will pay another filing fee of $505.00. They initially charge you 20% of each dollar you have in your account, so if you have $200.00 in your account. They’re taking 20% of that which is $40.00 and they will do this every month ‘til you have paid what you owe because incarcerating prisoners is big business, and the exploitation of California Tax Payers, where they pay $14 Billion dollars a year to maintain its 34 prisons. This is real money spent.

   I understand that we live in a capitalist country that exploits all forms of life from humans, to animals, etc., etc., for profit!!! But, what’s cruel in this form of exploitation in respects to prison, is that prisoners like Brutha Wright are restricted from creating businesses, or using their creative talent, whether it be their art work, rap songs, writings, movie scripts, etc., etc., from legally making a profit while they are incarcerated, per CCR Title 15. Yet, they have many taxes being imposed upon them. Prisoners should be encouraged to find creative ways to market their talents for a profit. Yet! they are charged for restitution and other fees, then told that you can’t involve yourself in any profit earning businesses. This is a perfect way to encourage hopelessness in men and women held in prisons… while you feed on them by exploiting them for the crumbs they receive. Brutha Wright and many more just like him, have to wait ‘til they parole before they can begin to pay on their monetary debt to society, that would for sure burden them in their attempt to be re-assimilated back into the so-called free world, where they for sure would be at a disadvantage simply because they are starting in debt, where their checks would be garnished for that 55% accordingly in keeping up with their restitution.

   We all know that prison working wages start at 3 cents to 15 cents an hour, which usually turns out to be $11. to $20. per month, and then 55 % of that is then taken for restitution. Slavery in the 21^st century is real, and I personally feel that the cruelty in this exploitation is in the hopelessness it produces in each and every prisoner. This practice has to be abolished because it would further influence recidivism. With these debts prisoners have to be able to earn a decent wage while incarcerated, so they can begin to pay off their restitution, now, or end their restitution all together. These types of policies are counterproductive and only hurt the prisoners and their families. Can you imagine doing a decade or two with a $30,000 dollar debt to pay when you get out??? If this is not ‘cruel and unusual then what is!!!?

One Love, One Struggle,

Mutope