Monday, 02 June 2003
Send letters to the editor to hastings@oregonpeaceworks.org by the 14th of the month, and kindly keep them to 200 words or less. Longer letters may be edited or not used.
Phil D'Onofrio Writes from Prison
Thank you for your support and letters. Mail time is the highlight of my days. It’s so exciting to receive mail. I try to get my mail when people are not paying attention because I don’t want to rub it in anyone’s face. So many people don’t receive any mail. It must be tough on them.
Our witness has been a powerful one for me, and it is continuing to prove how important it is for me to be here. Yesterday I was playing cards with some friends and they began to tease me about being a protester. One of them asked if next I would be protesting the prison system. I told them that the oppressive systems are all tied together and that part of why I am here is to experience and witness the prison industrial complex and tell people about my experiences. The table went quiet for about one minute while everyone reflected on my words. I believe it brought hope to them , even though nothing else was said, the energy shifted. To think that there are people in our society that don’t buy the propaganda and believe that many people in prison are just people. Many of these people, are ¾ yes ¾ “criminals,” but many are receiving unjust sentences for their “crimes.”
It’s now been 16 days since I have been outside or breathed truly fresh air. I would love to, but can’t complain, because so many inmates go years without these “privileges” so many of us take for granted. I know that soon I’ll be taking in the sun and the fresh air because I only have a 90-day sentence, but what about the others? I just finished Noam Chomsky’s Profit Over People and highly recommend it to all. It’s nothing new and it was all stuff I already knew, but he has the facts where as I only have an understanding. It’s a quick and easy read.
When I look out the small window in my cell I can see red and white rhododendrons, yellow and red tulips and blue ground cover, so I know spring is in the air. It’s refreshing to have a view of color even though I really have to search for it.
This prison is a lonely place for many, but it’s hard to find a place alone and there is never a quiet place, stories are plentiful and the characters are amusing. There is a lot of truly good people in prison. I listen to stories of what people are going to do when they get out and how great it will be, but there is always an underlying often unstated fear. Even though they are like most of society, they know that they will be viewed differently because of the propaganda about inmates. I know many are in for less than honorable offenses, but still prison is a harsh sentence. The true criminals are making the laws and the profits off of the people and the taxes.
Barbara Bush owns controlling stock in KEFI (spelling is wrong, I assume) which is a corporation that sells products to the prisons and inmates. When in doubt, follow the money. Latin America and the prison industrial complex have a lot in common. The U.S. corporations exploit their resources and the human resource is a very large and profitable one. Oh well, at least I’m gaining “marketable work experience.” Does anyone need a dishwasher with a Bureau of Prisons GED?
It sounds like you all are doing great stuff. I truly appreciate all of your hard work. Please don’t overlook the need for personal and quality time with your friends and family. Burnouts are for real. Let’s stay in this for the long haul and let’s have fun doing it. Your witness is appreciated and I feel honored to be associated with you all. [
¾ Phil D’Onofrio
[Ed. note: the authors of this and the next letter are serving prison terms for offering civil resistance to the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, GA.]
Excerpts: Ann Huntwork Writes from Dublin Prison (SOA Resistance)
Life here isn’t bad — my work assignment is light and I’m usually done in about an hour with check-backs later in the day. They call our crew orderlies and we basically keep the dorm clean — my usual is in the bathroom and laundry room.
The best part of the experience is, of course, the people. There are so many stories; I can see why Chani said she will miss some of these women. The first week I was addressed as “Chani’s friend.” Now they call me by my name. I’m beginning to get names and faces connected. There are 27 in our floor unit — about 12+ per pod (rooms without doors, just arches to divide). I finally got assigned to the first floor; it’s a lot easier on my knees. One day we had three fire drills in 12 hours. As far as age, ethnicity, class and circumstances, there is an amazingly wider range among the women. A lot of status-related stuff is, of course, wiped out by our common status as prisoners. We all have to stand at attention for “stand up” count and we all get the flashlight treatment three times after the evening count.
For all the extra curricular activities — sport, crafts, drama, hip hop aerobics — there’s still a feeling of “go to the corner you bad girl” on the part of a number of the guards. Some of the class assignment seemed more related to what they get paid than what the inmates need.
Mail call is the best time of day. [
¾ Ann Huntwork 91391-020
FPC Dublin
5675 8th St. Camp Parks
Dublin, CA 94568
Millions of Iraqis Against Peace Movement
To those who continue to insist the U.S. was wrong in destroying the Saddam Hussein regime, it should be very clear by now that millions of Iraqis disagree with your assessment. To the millions of victims of Saddam’s sadistic and murderous regime, George W. Bush is a hero. Although no weapons of mass destruction have been uncovered yet, the senseless murder, torture and maiming of a million Iraqis by Saddam Hussein is in any reasonable person’s perspective “mass destruction.”
It seems the only time the anti-war protestors emerge is when they perceive the U.S. is up to no good. The rest of the time, they sit in their coffee houses, college dorms and comfortable living rooms ignoring the cruelties, genocide and violence being perpetrated by tyrants like Saddam. Shame on you for self-righteously hiding behind the banner of peace.
War is never a good thing, but it is sometimes unavoidable. Gandhi said emphatically that he would abandon pacifism in a heartbeat if it meant condoning injustice through silence or acquiescence. It is an absolute crime not to stop the Saddams of the world when you have the power to do so — peaceably if possible, by force if necessary. [
¾ Stu Gordon
Bend, OR
Excerpts: Letter from Greenville IL Prison (SOA Resistance)
Do you see Chani much these days? If you do, give her my love.¼All is well. Someone sent me an SOAW Countdown Calendar (April-Nov). When asked my long term goals in team, I said, “Attend the protest in November,” which got a laugh. [
¾ Lisa Hughes 91340-020
Federal Prison Camp POB 6000
Greenville IL 62246
[Lisa used to be a Portlander and still visits when she can.]
Open Letter to Israeli Officials
Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, sar@moin.gov.il
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, sar@mofa.gov.il
cc: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, ecu@un.org
cc: UN Special Emissary Terje Larsen, unsco@palnet.com
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to protest the arrest and threatened deportation by Israel of ISM (International Solidarity Movement) and other human rights activists from the region. These nonviolent human rights activists are endeavoring to protect innocent Palestinian lives and property from the worst excesses of the Israeli army, which has killed three of them in the past couple of months. The arrest of three women and the confiscation of their communication gear will not shield you from world opinion.
This is to put you on notice that you are being watched, everywhere. Nothing escapes the Most High. Your actions make me ashamed to be Jewish.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his kindness endures forever.
- Psalm 118: 29 [
¾ Carol S. Wolman, MD
Portland, OR.
Open Letter to Portlanders:
I attended a moving and powerful memorial vigil for the young mother, unarmed and no danger to anyone, shot dead by Portland police a week ago. The memorial was one of great mourning and unified intent to see justice done. The eloquent pastors and others called for a systemic change in the Portland police practices. Panicking and making an attempt to drive away from a traffic violation is not a capital offense unless you are poor and black in Portland — at the very least, the officer ought to be tried for murder and Chief Kroeker should at last resign. He has proven incapable of reining in his cowboy squad and another person should try. Those ought to be the first and smallest legacies of this young woman’s tragically stolen life. Kendra James should be remembered as the martyr who precipitated great change in the Portland police department. The people of Portland should insist on that.
¾ Tom H. Hastings
Portland, OR. (printed in The Oregonian)
On Kendra James
Tom Hastings’ words bring peace to my heart in many trying times. As for this incident, we must also place blame on local hate-radio for fostering the belief that the police are in the punishment business. They are not. Their job is to get suspected criminals off the street and into the hands of the court system. When hate-mongers support the power of the police to punish citizens on site, we are all in danger. Please count on my support to fight this evil.
¾ Deb Hedding, Major, USAFR (ret)
Portland, OR.
“Irrelevant” is Word of the Day
“Irrelevant” is the word that has become the distillate of the age. The voters were nudged the last step into irrelevancy in 2000. After the passage of the PATRIOT Act, which made us all terrorist suspects, the Constitution became irrelevant. When it came time to go to war, the UN, NATO and “Old Europe” were irrelevant. Turkey couldn’t be bulled or bribed, so they became irrelevant. Somewhere along the way, the Democratic Party quietly committed self-irrelevancy. After the glorious Blitzkrieg victory over the sorry forces of Poland – I mean Iraq – the Pentagon used its elevated status to carry out a regime change here in the U.S. Now Rumsfeld and his “cabinet” of Wolfowitz, Perle, et al, have taken over and made Congress, State Department and the White House irrelevant. Daily we see Rummy holding forth on all aspects of American policy, foreign and domestic. The Pentagon seems to be the most relevant institution in DC.
Be that as it may, I just want to say “God bless our troops in Iraq. And Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Djibouti, Diego Garcia, Afghanistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Japan, Guam Philippines, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Guantanamo Bay, Colombia, and all our sailors in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Artic Ocean (And remember, they’re all volunteers. Of course, keeping the minimum wage low and college tuitions high may have had something to do with their decisions to join up. The draft is now irrelevant, thanks to economic factors.)
Stay relevant while I go check the definition of “imperialism” in the dictionary.
¾ Dale Giddings
Wolverine, MI. |
