Back From Hell: Black Power And Treason To Whiteness Inside Prison Walls

2009·0.05 MB·English

by  Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin

TheAnarchistLibrary
Anti-Copyright
Back From Hell: Black Power
And Treason To Whiteness
Inside Prison Walls
Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin
ThefederalpenitentiaryatTerreHaute,Indianahadtherep-
utationofbeingthemostracistandbrutalprisoninthefederal
prison system. The city of Terre haute itself had been known
inthe1920sasoneofthestrongestbaseareasfortheKuKlux
Klan in the Midwest. As I was to discover later, many prison
guards were Klan members or sympathizers. There were no
blackguardsatthetimeIenteredit,inthesummerof1970.
The most famous inmate to do time at the prison was the
1950srockandrollsinger,ChuckBerry,duringtheearly1960s,
andreportedlyhespokedisparaginglyaboutthestateofIndi-
LorenzoKom’boaErvin anaforyearsafterwardandsaidhewouldneverhaveaconcert
BackFromHell:BlackPowerAndTreasonToWhiteness inthecityofTerreHaute.Idonotknowifthisistrue.
InsidePrisonWalls Usually racism is the best tool of the prison officials to con-
trol volatile prison populations. The warden and his guards
RetrievedonMay8,2009fromanti-politics.net intentionally keep up racial hostilities through rumors and
provocation,andgiveafreehandwithintheprisontogroups
theanarchistlibrary.org liketheKKKandtheAryanBrotherhoodtomaimorkillBlack
prisoners. They use the racist white prisoners to confine both
themselvesandothers,inreturnforspecialprivelegesandthe
fleeting feeling that they are “helping” the “white race” main-
taincontrol.Thisishowthesystemimprisonswhitesanduses
them in their own oppression. The officials can usually count
on recruiting a steady supply of racist murderers and hench-
menfromthewhiteprisonpopulation.Butanimportantpart
oftheplanistobeatdownorsilenceanti-racistwhites,inor-
dertomakesureallwhitestoethefascistline.Infact,without
thisconformitythewholeplanwouldnotwork.
For years many black inmates had been beaten or killed at
TerreHautebybothwhiteprisoninmatesandguards.Iknew
from the stories I had been told by black prisoners in Atlanta
that this was true. In fact, the black prisoners at Terre Haute
hadlivedintotalfearofthewhites.Isaid“had”becausebythe
timeIgottherethingshadstartedtochange.
Agroupofyoungmilitantblackprisonershadformedanor-
ganizationcalledtheAfro-AmericanCulturalStudiesProgram
(AACSP), which met every week and discussed black history
andculture,aswellasworldcurrentevents.Theprisonofficials
hatedthegroupbuthadtogranttheircharterbecauseofalaw-
suitfiledagainsttheWardenandtheFederalBureauofPrisons.
But the Warden, John Tucker, said that if the started “acting
militant,” he would grant a Klan charter for the racist white
inmates — as if they secretly already didn’t have one! War-
den Tucker had a well-earned reputation for brutality against
blackinmates.Theolderblackstoldus“youngbloods”allkinds
of horror stories about Tucker, and about the Blacks killed or
mutilated over the years by white guards and inmates. Black
men were hanged, stabbed, thrown into a threshing machine,
beatenwithpipes,burnedaliveintheircellsandmurderedin
everyotherwayimaginable.tuckerevenhadagroupofwhite
inmateswhoactedashis“hitmen”againstwhiteswhorefused
toconformtotheracistline.Butthe“youngbloods,”andespe-
ciallytheblackinmatesfromAACSP,wouldnotbeintimidated
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andvowedthattheywouldfightbacktothedeath.Shortlyaf-
terIarrivedintheprison,Ithrewinmylotwiththem.
At one of their meetings held each Thursday, I asked what
I had to do to join. The gentleman who had been acting as
themoderator,ashort,dark,bald-headedbrotherfromDetroit,
whosenamewasNondu,toldmeallthatwasnecessarywasto
actively take part. I was introduced to all the brothers there
— fifty in all — but especially to Karenga, a huge but affable
brother from Cincinnati, along with his prison rap partener,
a relatively smallish brother named Desumba, and then Has-
san and Nondu from Detroit, all of whom were the principal
AACSPofficers.
Theyalongwiththegeneralmembers,allwelcomedmeinto
thegroupandtreatedmelikefamily.Karenga,thePresidentof
the group, actually became my best friend, and saved my life
onmorethanoneoccasion.
These brothers all wore shaved heads, and were influenced
by the 1960s cultural nationalist figure, Ron Karenga, along
withtheCleveland,OhioblacknationalistAhmedEvans(who,
withhissecondincommand,NonduLatham,wasservinglife
inOhiostateprisonforkillingseveralpolicemenin1968),but
theirgreatestinfluencewasMalcolmX.Iwasnotgreatlyenam-
oredofRonKarenga,whoheadedaLosAngeles-basedgroup
called “US” (United Slaves), which was implicated in the mur-
deroftwoBlackPantherPartymembersin1969andpurport-
edly engaged in other internecine violence against the BPP.
The Panthers believed that Karenga was a police agent, or
knowinglyallowedthecrimestotakeplacebecauseofsomepo-
litical sectarian reason. But my initial doubts did not stop me
from taking part in the AACSP. It became my all-consuming
passionwhileattheprison,andIwouldfightanddietodefend
it.Infact,Ialmostdidmakethesupremesacrifice.
Wehadtofightboththeracistauthoritiesandthewhitein-
matesonbehalfoftheblackprisonpopulation,manyofwhom
wereintimidatedintosilence.Wewereboldandaudacious,and
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carriedonavirtualguerrillawartostrikebackatthekillersof But even though I was being transferred by prison officials,
black men, whether they were guards or inmates. The whites whohopedtoendtheuprising,thisdidnothappen.Although
hatedandfearedusbecausewewereruthlessindefendingour- the prison officials ultimately took back administrative con-
selvesandpunishingracists.Therewasnomercy.Ourretalia- trol from the “rioters,” the prison was never the same place.
tionwasalwaysswiftandbloody. BecauseoftheunitedprisonerpopulationatTerreHaute,the
prisonhadstrikesandviolentprotestsforyearsafterward.The
Ourkindofrevolutionaryblackshadneverbeenseenbefore
unityoftheprisonersmademanythingspossible:thecreation
atTerreHaute,anditchangedthestatusquowhenwefought
of the Indiana prisoners’ labor union, which fought for better
back. Many of the prisoners were white radicals who were in
workingandlivingconditions,anendtotheraciallymotivated
prison for anti-war cases, and they in turn began to educate
killing and organizing by groups like the Klan, and of course
otherwhites.Theanti-racistorganizingbywhiteradicalswas
betteroveralltreatment.Someofthemostbrutalguardswere
important because it ensured that white prisoners would no
firedorprosecutedaftertheyhadbeatenortorturedprisoners,
longerbeindoctrinatedorintimidatedbytheKlanastheyhad
somethingwhichhadneverhappenedbefore.
been for the previous thirty-five years at that prison. This re-
Although I was to go through many years of torture at
educationwassomethingblackrevolutionariescouldnoteffec-
Springfield,Marion(Illinois),andotherprisons,Ilivedthrough
tively do alone, and prisoners began to check out books from
it all. I remember many things about those fifteen years in
theBlackCulturelibrary,toattendjointpoliticalstudygroups,
prison, but the struggle at Terre Haute, and how even whites
andtotrytounderstandintheoreticaltermshowracismwasa
whohad been followingthe Klan line for many yearsroseup
wayofenslavingusall—blacksandothernon-whitesasinferi-
withtheblacksagainsttheprisonofficialswasonethingIwill
ors,whitesasoppressors.TheyunderstoodnowhowtheKlan
neverforget.
hadbeendoingthebiddingoftheprisonofficialsforyears,just
likethewhiteworkersinsocietydothebiddingofthecapital-
ists.Fascistpoliticsbecamenotonlyunpopularbutunsafe.
Guards used to the old regime decided to suddenly “retire,”
and racist inmates begged to be transferred. The Warden and
hisstaffweregreatlyalarmed,butpowerlesstotakeanyaction
lest they precipitate a full-fledged riot, which would also get
guardsandstaffkilledinlargenumbers.Theprisonofficialsre-
alizedtheywerelosingcontrol,andbegantopanic.Allprison
officialsknowthatifracismissurmounted,revoltisinevitable.
TheninSeptemberof1971theAtticaprisonrevolteruptedin
upstateNewYork,andrivetedtheattentionoftheentireworld
on the U.S. prison system. Revolutionary prisoners — black,
Latino, and white — had taken guards hostage at Attica and
wererunningtheprison.Thisterrifiedprisonofficialsallover
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amopwringertocrushhisskull,buttheotherguardattacked the United States. It also pushed forward the prison struggle
mefrombehind.Iturnedtohithiminthechest,andthenwe andmadeitared-hotissue.
started to wrestle. Meanwhile the pig on the floor jumped up Even after the repression of Attica, sympathy rebellions
and sprayed my face with chemical MACE. I also had cut my brokeoutalloverthecountry,includingatTerreHaute,where
forehead on the mop wringer, and blood flowed into my eyes, forthefirsttimeblack,white,andHispanicprisonersroseup
blindingme.Ifoughtoninablindrage! tofighttheprisonofficials.Buildingsweretorchedorbombed,
peopletriedtoescape,strikesandindustrialsabotagewenton,
Bythistimetheotherguardsinthehallwayhadbeenalerted
anddesperatehand-to-handcombatbetweenguardsandpris-
andranintotheunitwithriotequipment.theystartedtobeat
onersinthehigh-securityL-unitwastakingplace,alongwith
me,buttheotherprisonersintheunitbroketheircellwindows
otheractsofresistancewhichseemedtobreakoutdaily.
out and started throwing coffee mugs, glass jars, and other
Warden Tucker and his staff panicked, and rushed to start
thingsattheriotsquadastheydraggedmeoutoftheunit,feet
buildinganewwingofhigh-securitycellsinL-unittoholdthe
first,likeIwassomelifelessanimal.Buttheyweremoreafraid
“malcontents” in his prison. He then tried to provoke a con-
than I was, to see this stuff flying in the air at them, so they
frontation, a “race riot” among inmates, but this didn’t work
refrainedfromhittingmeanymoreinfrontoftheinmates.
becausewehadchasedawaymostoftheracists,andhadmade
Iwasdraggeddownthehallwaybyaboutsixguardstothe
alliances with progressive white and Latino prisoners. These
hospital where I was thrown into a “mental observation” cell
prisoners,manyofwhomwereschooledinrevolutionarypol-
on the second floor. They were treating me as if I had gone
itics,wouldn’tfallfortheoldtricks.
“crazy.”Theyrippedallofmyclothesoffofme,andthenthrew
The Warden could not convince the white prisoners, who
menakedintothecell.
had now struggled and suffered next to us, to accept the old
There was no bed, linen, toilet, or even a sink to wash my
racist “hate bait.” They knew they were prisoners, and would
face — just a door, a window, a hole in the wall to “do your
not accept white skin privileges or resurrect the Klan to help
business,” and padding all over the floor and walls to either
theWardenruntheprison.Thesewhiteprisonerswerestand-
cushionthese“crazy”inmatesfrominjuringthemselveswhen
ing up against their masters, and they were a different peo-
theyruntheirheadsintothewalls,ortocushionthesoundof
pleentirely.Theynolongersawanythingincommonwiththe
blowsbyguardswhentheybeatprisoners.
Warden,noteven“whiteness.”Theblackprisonpopulationhad
FortheweekIremainedthere,theywouldneitherfeednor overcome its fear and insecurity to become the vanguard and
clotheme,andexceptforwhentheywouldopenthedoorsto thebackboneofaseriousthreattotheorganizedracialviolence
spraymewithahigh-pressuredwaterhose,andthenopenthe andrepressionwhichhadruledunchallengedforyears.
windowstofreezemyassoffwithablastofwintryair,Iwasleft Frustrated,Tuckerthenjusttoldhisofficerstobeginround-
alonenightandday.Icaughtpneumoniaasaresultandalmost ing up the AACSP leaders and throw them into the new se-
died.WhentheysawIwasrealsickandthatmydeathwould curityunit. Butwehad preparedfor thiseventuality,andhad
cause the other prisoners to revolt, they decided to see that I decided not to go down without a fight. So the first time they
got some kind of medical attention. They made arrangements came for our leaders, it precipitated a twelve-hour standoff
tosendmetotheprisonhospitalinSpringfield,Missouri. whenwetookoveroneoftheprisonunitswheremostofthem
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were,booby-trappedthedoorswithexplosivesandothertraps, guard spitting and blowing his nose into the prisoners’ food.
and held the unit guards hostage. The prisoners armed them- Weknewthiswasaset-up,sowedidnotviolentlyrespond.We
selves with spears, knives, home-made dynamite, and other demandedthattheharassmentcease,circulatedapetition,and
weapons. filed a lawsuit in the local court system. Even though we did
Realizinghowseriousthesituationhadbecome,atrucewas notattacktheguardsliketheywanted,theybegantoroundus
negotiated by Tucker for protection of our so-called constitu- up anyway, claiming that we were “planning” to create a dis-
tionalrightstohavedisciplinaryhearingsfortheleadershipin- turbance. The truth was the officials concocted this “conspir-
steadofjustsummarilythrowingthemintosolitary,andforno acy”totrytodestroytheorganizationandjustifytheseharsh
reprisalsovertheprotest.Butthisagreementforamnestyand securitymeasures.
standard disciplinary hearings with outside legal representa- We were all thrown into the special security cells in L-
tionwasswiftlybrokenassoonastheauthoritiesre-tookcon- unit and were only let out for showers and the law library.
troloftheinstitution.AlloftheknownleadersoftheAACSP, For twenty-three hours a day we were locked down in these
andtheirwhiteandLatinAllies,weresnatchedupandrammed cells,whichwereaboutthesizeofyourbathroom.Theguards
intohigh-securitycells. taunted us by calling us racist and offensive names, and spit-
The officials were thus satisfied that they had removed the ting and blowing their noses in our food. They would do this
threat, and that the absence of the first level of leadership right in front of you hoping you would object so they would
would cause the group to collapse. But on the contrary, the haveanexcusetocallyoua“smartassnigger”andbeatupon
organizationnevermissedabeat.WehadsetupAACSPasan you.Theywouldgangupandbeatprisonersbloody,especially
organizationwhichhadseverallevelsofleadership;therewas thosetheydidnotlike.
noprimaryleader.Soassoonastheoriginalfoundingleaders After a discussion among the comrades in the unit, we de-
wereremoved,thesecondaryleadershiptookover.Itookover cidedtorebelagainsttheseconditionsbeforethingsgotworse
as President, and the other slots were quickly filled by a new andsomebodygotkilled.Asitwas,Hassanwassobadlybeaten
waveofleaders.Wekeptupthestruggle,continuedourweekly herequiredstitchesandabackbrace.
meetings, and began sending out a monthly newsletter to tell Onedaywhentheyopenedthedoorstotakemetothelaw
ouroutsidesupportersandthepresswhatwasgoingon. library,Iknockedthehandcuffsaway,leapedoutofthecell,hit
Wehadalwayshadanumberofprogramstohelpprisoners: oneoftheguardsinthefacewithmyfistandstabbedtheother
alibraryofradicalandblackbooks,politicaleducationclasses, one in the hip with a knife. I tried to force them to open the
literacyclassesandjobtraining,andwekeptthesegoing.We secuirtydoortoletalltheprisonersout,buttheguardwhohad
even demanded that officials allow us to take books and ma- thekeysranandthrewthemoutthewindowintoahallway.So
terials to those leaders in the solitary confinement units. The Iwastrappedalongwiththem,anddecide,infrustrationtokill
officialshadtoagree,sincetheysawtheyhadfailedtodestroy ourkeeperswhohadbeentormentingusforweeks.
usinthepreviousincident. Ijumped ontheguardIhadpunched, andstabbedhimsev-
Finally,afterseveralmonthsofthisstandoff,officialscreated eraltimesuntiltheknifebrokeinhisside.Hescreamed,“Don’t
anotherprovocationbyattackingoneoftheleadersinsolitary, killme!Don’tkillme!I’vegotawifeandthreekids.”Ihithim
Brother Hassan. He was badly beaten when he objected to a again and agian until he fell to the ground. Then I picked up
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