Sitawa: Exiting solitary confinement – and the games CDCr plays

by Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa
Dec 29, 2016 in: SF Bayview

It is very important that you all clearly understand the depth of human torture to which I was subjected for 30-plus years by CDCr and CCPOA.* The torture was directed at me and similarly situated women and men prisoners held in Cali­fornia’s solitary confinement locations throughout CDCr, with the approval and sanc­tioning of California governors, CDCr secretaries and directors, attorneys general, along with the California Legislature for the past 40 years.

They have al­lowed for their own citizens – prisoners – to suffer horrible crimes with their systematic process of physically and mentally killing prisoners for de­cades, with no regard for human life.

I was placed in solitary confinement – the SHU – on May 15, 1985, on trumped-up, illegal and fabricated state documents by two leading CDCr lieutenants, Criminal Activity Coordinator (CAC) Lt. L.O. Thomas and Lt. Suzan Hubbard of North Block Housing (NBH) at San Quentin State Prison. Yes, these two leading lieutenants removed me from San Quentin general population, not for alleged criminal acts or rule violations, but for the politics of the revolutionary New Afrikan political organization and the beliefs and cultural views of the New Afrikan revolutionary leftist organization titled the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF).

I was targeted by CDCr prison officials at San Quentin during 1983 on up until I was removed from the gener­al population (GP) and housed in San Quentin’s Control Units within their solitary confinement housing building, North Housing Unit (NHU). The sole reason for my housing there was that I was educating all New Afrikan prisoners on San Quentin’s GP about our rich New Afrikan history behind California prison walls and across the United States.

I was teaching them that we as a people shall not be forced to deny ourselves the rights in the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution. Yes, I person­ally believe that every New Afrikan woman and man has the right to protest any CDCr Jim Crow or Black Code-type rules or laws which violate our human rights as a person or prisoner.

And so I was educating my people to our civil rights and human rights in the California prison system during the 1980s while I was within the GP. I continued to educate my people, the New Afrikan nation, when I was placed in solitary confinement from 1983 to Oct. 11, 2015. It was a tragedy for three decades – yes, 30-plus years I was forced to suffer all forms of torture and witness killings of human life at the hands of CDCr officials and staff for decades, aided and abetted by governors, stakeholders, the Legislature, CDCr directors and secretaries etc.

The New Afrikan Prisoner Government (NAPG) has suffered and endured the violent attacks upon our prisoner community for decades on all levels and functions at the hands of CDCr employees. We have a U.S. constitutional right to resist any form of tor­ture, repression and violations of both our human and civil rights.

I was placed in the SHU, not for alleged criminal acts or rule violations, but for the politics of the revolutionary New Afrikan political organization and the beliefs and cultural views of the New Afrikan revolutionary leftist organization titled the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF).

I shall not be found among the broken men and women! I shall live and die a warrior for our New Afrikan Nation and humanity!

After being transferred from CDCr’s solitary confinement at the Pelican Bay SHU to its Tehachipi SHU during the period of July 10-17, 2014, including a layover in the hellish Ad Seg (Administrative Segregation) unit at Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI), it would not take long before the CDCr officials at CCI (Tehachapi) would show their collective scheme to have me assassinated as the New Afrikan principal negotiator plaintiff in the Ashker v. Brown class action lawsuit.

During our peaceful protest by the solitary confinement prisoner class (SCPC) against Steps 3 and 4 of the CDCr-CCI Step Down Program (SDP), we collectively stopped participating in the dysfunctional SDP at CCI-Tehachipi Prison on May 11, 2015. This was because the SDP has been violating our SCPC liberty interest arising from the Due Process Clause itself, and CDCr had to stop its SDP from imposing stigmatizing classifications and concomitant behavior modification. I realize now that the SDP between 2012 and 2015 violated our constitutional rights, and it still does.

In an obviously sinister campaign to undermine the collective solidarity of our historic Agreement to End Hostilities, these officials tried to manipulate the other racial groups supporting the AEH to turn against me.

First, SHU Counselor Vanessa Ybarra went to one of our 16 Prisoner Human Rights Movement representatives, Gabriel Huerta, and tried to get him and other reps to turn against me, asking Huerta, “Why do you all let that Black inmate speak for you all during this boycott of the Step Down Program? My supervisors want to know.” Correctional Counselor II B. Snider, Capt. P. Matzen, Associate Warden J. Gutierrez, Chief Deputy Warden W. Sullivan, Chief Deputy Warden Grove and Warden Kim Holland are the supervisors she was referring to.

However, things did not go as planned because Brother Gabriel saw right through what this counselor and her supervisors were trying to do in creating a hostile, antagonistic atmosphere and consensus against me by my peers. First, Gabriel asked the counselor, “Who are you talking about?” Then the counselor replied, “Dewberry.” Dewberry is my given last name.

And Gabriel told that counselor, “Dewberry is one of the four principal negotiators who represent the Prisoner Human Rights Movement’s prisoner SHU class. And he is one of the main plaintiffs in the Ashker v. Brown class action lawsuit against CDCr, and he has been speaking on behalf of prisoners from 2010 to right now and he speaks for our best interests as our prin­cipal prisoner negotiator!” The counselor turned around and walked out of the sallyport area.

In an obviously sinister campaign to undermine the collective solidarity of our historic Agreement to End Hostilities, these officials tried to manipulate the other racial groups supporting the AEH to turn against me.

Next, the second attempt was by another SHU counselor from 4B building named Vaca, who approached the PHRM representative and other prisoners, then said, “You prisoners should go back to participating in the Step Down Program or all of you who are boycotting the SDP will not be released to the general population this year (2015) or next year (2016), all because you are listening to that Black prisoner.”

When Gabriel Huerta asked Vaca, “What Black prisoner are you referring to?” the counselor responded, “I’m talking about Dewberry. By the way, Huerta, since when do you Mexicans follow what this Black prisoner says?” The Rep refused to play into that old CDCr manipulation game and terminated the conversation by telling the counselor, “You can take me back to my cell,” and left.

So neither of the attempts worked, because Brother Gabriel recognized what time it was. He summed it up in these words: “CDCr had been manipulating and playing us against each other in the past. They can’t do that any longer.”

This life-threatening CDCr campaign leading up to my release out of SHU in October 2015 would be followed by the unprofessional, illegal attitudes and actions by CDCr employees awaiting me as I entered the general population. It was necessary to understand their motives in their dealings with and around me.

Upon my preparing to allegedly be released to general population, I was notified on Aug. 11, 2015, that I would be attending my first Institutional Classification Committee (ICC) hearing in over 30 years which had any meaning. Let’s put this “ICC” into perspective as to why these ICC hearings now have merit for the solitary confinement prisoner class (SCPC).

We the SCPC had to take our struggle to the streets of this world by participating in three non-violent peaceful protests. In the first, commencing July 1, 2011, a total of 6,600 woman and men participated. And when CDCr failed to honor the agreements made to end it, we the SCPC were compelled to enter our second non-violent peaceful protest on Sept. 26, 2011, in which a total of 12,600 men and women participated across this state.

CDCr begged for us to discontinue our protest and allow for them to make the necessary interdepartmental major changes which would release the longest held SCPC first. The four principal negotiators – Brutha Sitawa, Arturo Castellanos, Todd Ashker and George Franco – along with our 16 Pri­soner Human Rights Movement (PHRM) representatives decided to suspend our protest in mid-October 2011 and allow for CDCr to show their good faith efforts to reform their illegal solitary confinement policies, laws and rules and place all 10,000 SCPC women and men onto a fully functional general population by Feb. 1, 2013.

We vowed to resume our protest to death or until CDCr negotiates with us in a real way. Yes, on Feb. 1, 2013, the four principal negotiators announced to our tormentors – CDCr, the governor, the Legislature, the attorney general and stakeholders – that we would resume our protest on July 8, 2013, being that CDCr wants to wage their war of attrition against me and similarly situated SCPC.

We the SCPC had to take our struggle to the streets of this world by participating in three non-violent peaceful protests.

On July 8, 2013, we entered into the largest hunger strike in prison history. Some 30,000 prisoners participated and our just cause forced Gov. Brown, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, all CDCr secretar­ies between 2010 and 2016 and their stakeholders, who all had the current data, to recognize the torturous conditions we SCPC had to endure for decades. I was one of thousands held at Pelican Bay, and I don’t want another woman, man or child to be forced to suffer what I went through. We SCPC observed and suffered the cruel and devasta­ting harm caused by CDCr.

On Aug. 11, 2015, I was approached by Building 8 Correctional Counselor I Vaca at approximately 8:25 a.m. at my cell door for the sole purpose of preparing my central files for possible release to a general population. Vaca informed me that I am the first solitary confinement prisoner class member whose case files he is currently reviewing and that I am scheduled to appear before a full ICC on Aug. 19, 2015.

Now, within a two-hour time period, this same counselor, Vaca, appeared at my cell door with a sinister smirk on his face suggesting that I could now appear before this ICC hearing “tomorrow,” Aug. 12, 2015.

Counselor Vaca was too enthusiastic for me to attend the earlier hearing, so I told Vaca, “I’ll stick to the original schedule date of Aug. 19, 2015,” instead of his suggested new schedule. This counselor was upset at me for sticking with the original ICC hearing date, which was very strange to me and it warranted me to reflect upon his previous misconduct of trying to manipulate and influence other California racial groups – Southern Mexican, White and Northern Mexican – to breach our Agreement to End Hostilities (AEH).

I was one of thousands held at Pelican Bay, and I don’t want another woman, man or child to be forced to suffer what I went through. We SCPC observed and suffered the cruel and devasta­ting harm caused by CDCr.

Vaca had personally tried to have a leading prisoner of each racial group to silence – assassinate – my voice of prisoner activism directed at CDCr and CCI (Teha­chapi) officials. These veteran prisoners did not fall for Vaca’s tactics of divide and conquer; they stayed true to our Agreement to End Hostilities.

Now, on Aug. 12, 2015, Hugo Pinell was set up by CDCr officials at New Folsom Prison and killed [by white prisoners]. CDCr delayed my scheduled hearing for over a month and during said time period, three special agents came to interview me about the murder of Mr. Pinell. These three special agents pulled me out of my Tehachapi Prison cage for an interview on Aug. 14, 2016, two days after the murder of Mr. Pinell.

These agents were dispatched by CDCr Secretary Jeffrey Beard and then Undersecretary Scott Kernan [now Secretary Kernan] to come and interview me and two other New Afrikan prisoners and others. The concern that was expressed to me was, how do I feel about the death of Mr. Pinell and would there be an all-out war between the two racial groups?

These are my thoughts in relation to Mr. Pinell’s assassination and my release to a general population: I had expressed to these three special agents, first and foremost, “Why did you all travel from another part of California to speak with me about a death that I have no facts on other than listening to the radio?” I told said agents, “I shall be engaging myself in pushing the Agreement to End Hostilities (AEH). Mr. Pinell would not want for us to enter into a war conflict, especially after we signed the AEH back on Aug. 12, 2012.

“And we, the PHRM, must see that our historical document, the Agreement to End Hostilities, remains firm to our cause and objectives, which are to radically change CDCr’s behavior directed at the Solitary Confinement Prisoner Class, and those of us who have been released to the general population are responsible for enforcing our AEH here behind the walls of California prisons and jails and to curb all community violence across this state outside of prison.

“You agents wasted a trip to come and speak with me. So, when you go back to report on my pro-AEH comments concerning Mr. Pinell’s murder, let your superiors – that is, Gov. Brown, CDCr Secretary Beard, Undersecretary Kernan and the chief of the Office of Correctional Safety (OCS) – know I shall request that you, CDCr, allow for us to be re­leased to the general population forthwith. For we have been held illegally for the past one to 40 years.”

These three special agents never did answer my question as to why did they travel from the state capital to the mountain of Tehachapi Prison to speak with me prior to my being released to the general population. It became a concern to me, be­cause I know that CDCr did not condone our AEH historical collective solidarity document and its objectives. This raised some serious questions in my mind as to why these government officials would direct these agents to interview me. A question they refused to answer.

As you all can imagine, I was suspicious at best about whether I could expect any good faith from CDCr supervisors, officials or staffers upon my release from Tehachapi Prison solitary confinement housing, head­ing toward Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP).

On Oct. 13, 2015, I arrived at SVSP receiving and release (R&R), and upon my exiting the CDCr transportation bus and entering the R&R, I was met by three Institution Gang Investigators (IGI), the welcoming crew awaiting me. I was then es­corted into a property storage room where it was only the four of us.

Now, these three IGI officers wanted to know my state of mind as it related to the assassi­nation of Mr. Hugo “Yogi” Pinell. I simply informed them that I will be pushing the AEH when I’m allowed to be released to the yard with all racial groups and especially with all of my New Afrikan Prisoner Government (NAPG) and ex­plain to all people the importance of the AEH and that I personally signed off on that historical document. Yes, the IGI made their usual threats.

Now, within the next 10 days, I was allowed to attend the exercising yard, where all of the Afrikan tribes embraced me as their own Big Brutha! As in all situations, I went into my political prisoner activism mode in changing this modified general population prison into an actual functional general population.

There is minimal change. The CCPOA (prison guards) have been doing everything in their power to stop, delay or hinder and obstruct prisoners from being afforded work assignments and real educational opportunity. We are denied full exercising yard hours, vocational trades, the same dayroom time as other 180-design prisoners.

Correctional officers and sergeants continue verbal harassment with their Green Wall attitudes. It is clear that the above-mentioned CDCr employees have an ingrained dislike for all prisoners who are being released from California solitary confinement (SHU) chambers to CDCr modified general populations.

There is minimal change. The CCPOA (prison guards) have been doing everything in their power to stop, delay or hinder and obstruct prisoners from being afforded work assignments and real educational opportunity.

Now, just consider having to be faced with the above matters being denied to me and similarly situated prisoners, while preparing to have my first contact visit with my family in 30 years. Yes, I was compelled to close the lid on the jar and withhold all of this corruption and wrongdoing from my family.

Upon my first visit to see my Queen, my sister, Marie A. Levin, and her husband, Randy Levin, my sister Marie left home in such a rush to come see me that she left her California ID at home, and I was unable to see her that Saturday, but I did have the opportunity to have a conversation with my brother-in-law. It was a great time for the two of us. Now, the following day, Sunday, I was able to see Marie and Randy together, without that thick shield of plexiglas between us.

Sitawa and his sister Marie during their first contact visit since 31+ years (Nov 2nd, 2015)

Now, for the first time in my imprisonment, I was somewhat shaken to the inner core of this New Afrikan revolutionary nationalist man by a simple hug from my young­er sister, Queen Marie, during our October 2015 visit. A hug should be a natural form of affection between a brother and sister. However, while my sister was squeezing me so tightly, all I could think about during those moments was of the family members who died, and I will never be able to hug or speak with them again.

They include 1) Stella, my cousin, who died in 1989; 2) Leon, my big brother, who died in 1991; 3) Steven, my nephew, 1994; 4) Morris, my uncle, 1994; 5) Tanner Birk, my uncle, 1995; 6) Tutter, my aunt, 1995; 7) Lonnie, my uncle, 1995; 8) Hillard Jr., my uncle, 1997; 9) Ardis, my cousin, 1997; 10) Ardis Sr., my uncle, 2002; 11) Bobbie Dean, my cousin, 2004; 12) Clifton, my uncle, 2009; 13) James “Ba-ba,” my cousin, 2009; 14) Carol, my big sister, 2010; 15) Nathan, my cousin, 2010; and 16) Queen Mama, lost April 28, 2014.

Each one of them was denied the right and opportunity to physically touch me for over 30 years illegally, due to my political and cultural beliefs – three decades for a “thought crime,” which did not exist. Yet, my family members who have died never having had the opportunity to sit and touch me for decades, because CDC and CDCr chose to make attempts at destroying me physically and psychologically for no other purpose than to break my mind and spirit and those of similarly situated prisoners held within CDCr’s solitary confinement – Ad Seg, SHU etc.!

This is just a window into what we prisoners had to suffer for decades by order of our tormentors – CDCr – and it continues to this day within the realm of CDCr modified general population. Our struggle for justice, equality and human rights continues.

We need the support of all people in California and the world to stop the in­justice we suffer at the hands of CDCr officials and especially by the CCPOA and their ilk.

I would be extremely irresponsible if I didn’t seek the support of my New Afrikan people – for example, Marie “FREE” Wright, Erykah Badu, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Kerry Washington, Taraji P. Hansen, John Legend, Beyonce Knowles Carter, Dominique DiPrima, Shauntae “DaBrat” Harris, Azadeh Zohrabi, Common, Gabrielle Union, Chrissy Teigen, Alicia Keyes, Lupita Nyong’o, Sanaa Hamri, Kellita Smith, Snoop Dogg, Serena Williams, Jamie Foxx, Janelle Nonee’, Sanaa Lathan, Dana “Queen Latifa” Owens, Keisha Cole, Danny Glover, Yolanda “YoYo” Whitaker, Maya Harrison, Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Belafonte, Tatyana Ali, Tyress Gibson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett, Bryan “Baby” Williams, Shaun “Jay Z” Carter, and all sista and brutha entertainers across Oakland, the Bay Area and the country.

Yes, our New Afrikan Lives Matter here behind the enemy lines of California’s unjust prison system. On behalf of our New Afrikan prisoner community, I pray that you will show your support for our freedom campaigns and whatever you all can donate shall be greatly appreciated. Please send your donations to FREEDOM OUTREACH, P.O. Box 7359, Oakland, CA 94601-3023 or contact Maria Levin at levin1marie@gmail.com.

Send our brother some love and light: Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, s/n R.N. Dewberry, C-35671, Salinas Valley State Prison C1-118, P.O. Box 1050, Soledad, CA 93960-1050, www.Sitawa.org.

*CDCr stands for the California Department of Corrections and rehabilitation – the last word uncapitalized by many prisoners to signify how little rehab exists. CCPOA – California Correctional Peace Officers Association – is the guards’ union, which exerts great influence within CDCr and on state policy and legislation.

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OUR UPHILL BATTLE

“When doubt becomes an anchor towards you meeting the task of fulfilling your objective. Just remember youmade it this far because you were strong enough to get there. So there’s no reason to doubt your potential when your potential is capable of overcoming any given circumstances.”
– Quoted by: Dr. Ladaro J. Pennix,II and Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa (s/n R. Dewberry)

July 10, 2016
The uphill battle for progressive change is an ongoing relevance that should never be forsaken by the menial-perks that our overseers oblige us with as a way to pacify us “Captive Warriors” who have endured the onset of being Prisoners of War of Solitary Confinement (POW-SC), and who were abused by the very overseers sworn to uphold the liberties of our safety and security.

Though great strides have occured from the grit of our sacrifice, this struggle is not over and should never be dependent on the complacency of what we already have coming. Here at Salinas Valley State Prison, we as a community (Black, Brown, and the other Captive Warriors), have committed ourselves to restoring progressive and effective program to C-yard facility.

Because C-yard facility still possesses the remnant of GreenWall’s foul (old-school) overseer’s, we continue to find ourselves subjected to the problematic aggression of our overseers who continue to create a hostile environment as a means to impede our progression.

But we cannot submit to the nefarious tactics designed to cripple the motivation of our self-determination. We are Captive Warriors who have endured the unthinkable and have come out of it ever stronger and more driven than ever!… The machine that drives us is a tenacity to refuse to submit to an unjust system. This is the commonality that weaves the tapestry of our initiatives and consolidates our agendas to stand firm in our progressive push for the development of program reform that allows no CAPTIVE WARRIOR to be left behind. Change is here!! And our overseers have no choice but to get on board or submit to a progressive change of justice, and reform, the likes they could’ve never anticipated.

As Executive Body members of the Inmate Advisory Council (I.A.C.), Brother Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa (s/n R. Dewberry) and I have become fierce advocates at not just maintaining the presence of peace of all Captive Warriors, but also in concert with all tribes we have forced our overseers to hold themselvse accountable when particular chaos-agents (officials) attempt to insert flagrant schemes to disrupt the momentum of advancement that we have been able to maintain amid the ambience of our captive milieu.

Because of this fact, we will always be targets of our overseers, simply because they are not ready for change, and such change threatens the status quo in which they have become accustomed to. But this will not sway us from standing firm to the cause! This is bigger than us! We are here for the people. We are here to protect every “Captive Warrior’s” equal liberties and allow them a chance to have reform through progressive programs so that like the “R” in CDCR, Rehabilitation can become a tangible fact and no longer a vague notion to a possibility.

“The people come first – always. We are the people and today the people speak.”

In Solidarity,
Dr. Ladaro J. Pennix,II and Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa (s/n R. Dewberry)

Class Action Settlement on Indefinite Solitary Confinement

The Settlement Agreement on the Class Action Lawsuit of Ashker v. Brown concerning indefinite solitary confinement, and being sent to solitary on the basis of status, not behavior, was published on Sept. 1st, 2015.

Statement of plaintiffs on settlement of Ashker v. Governor of California

Summary of Settlement Agreement

Settlement Agreement text

Here is a video in which Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, who was one of the plaintiffs, is being interviewed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) about his confinement in Pelican Bay State Prison SHU since decades.

Here is a transcript of the parts of this interview shown.

I Know My Destiny

I KNOW MY DESTINY

My name is Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, s/n R. N. Dewberry. I am a fifth generation of New Afrikan people whom were kidnapped from the continent of Mother Afrika and delivered to the shores of Babylon—North Amerika, by force, in chains and against our will. And, yes, we have never ever stopped fighting for our liberation to regain a true sense of freedom, justice and new Afrikan nationhood. But, “I know my destiny,” to fulfill the many responsibilities as a manchild in brotherhood, in manhood and in fatherhood which many of my righteous elders were attempting to pass on to me.

I was compelled to learn many important lessons in life, based upon harsh, personal experienced. As a very young child, I was told many stories about my grandmothers, father, aunts, uncles and past/present extended family. The members of my family tree were born during the mid-1600s on up to the present.

The Black Reconstruction Movement, Harlem Black Renaissance, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the Afrikan Blood Brotherhood, and a number of similar self-help organizations, were actively coming together to ‘take a stand’. The purpose of these organizations was to try to resist the many life-destroying conditions of white racism, terrorism and domestic colonial domination, and fight to keep alive our true sense of ancestral identity—as a new Afrikan community struggling to rebuild a collective sense of nationhood.

Several members of our family grew up in association, embracing the doctrines of Marcus Garvey’s (U.N.I.A.). These doctrines were based upon/around Garvey’s 54-point platform and the Baptist Christian faith that sought to teach our people that we must seek to regain a strong sense of ethnic (Black/Afrikan) pride, self-worth, moral values, self-help programs, culture, self-protection, collective unity and self-determination.

Still, as a young child, I didn’t know my destiny, nor did I understand the historical wisdom that was being shared with me. I continued to follow many of the same incorrect fads/ways, as most other Black children of my generation.

When I was a youth, during the mid-60’s and mid-70’s, I continued to hear more stories about our family tree. During this period of my life, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X (N.O.I.) and the Black Panther Party had established a strong base of influence in the Oakland, California community which was my ‘stomping grounds’ as a teenager. The Black Muslim community embraced a 20-point platform which sought to teach Black people that we already possessed both the power and a duty to take control of our lives and future. And, we must learn how to organize and do for  ourselves. We can never ever expect or depend upon the white racist, the government and related white settler communities to do what is necessary to heal and uplift our Black race.

These family elders/community elders sought to aid my transformation into a young follower of the Christian faith, of the Nation of Islam, of the Black Nationalist[s], in an effort to help me learn a stronger sense of self-knowledge, self-discipline and a Black community value system to which my parents were the primary educators. But, also, as a young Black child, who had endured the devastating personal tragedy of losing my father at an early age in my life!

Once again, I was not always ready to make the correct choices in life. I continued to follow a road that would lead me through many precarious trials and tribulations.

By the time I reached age 22 (the time of arrest on my original 1980 case), I found that I was wholly trapped by an ongoing tug-a-war between the many, many, many positive forces that were in my family life, extended family life and the multitude of negative forces which plague every level of modern day Babylon. These wars were waging a life and death battle to determine what would be my future destiny. Unfortunately, a number of wicked forces prevailed after a brief trip down the ‘fast lane’ of illegal drugs, easy women, quick money and destructive Black-on-Black crime.

I became the target of a combined government-organized crime/anti-drug task force and as a part of a calculated ‘divide-and-conquer’ strategy. I was arrested for the charge of first-degree murder of which I was not guilty. I was specifically threatened by government police agents if I did not agree to become a State witness for the prosecution and afford court testimony against a list of alleged Black drug kingpins and their network of operations, it would be very easy to take steps to ensure that I would be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to the California prison system for the remainder of my natural life. Fortunately, I have always been taught by my family, extended family and our Black community, that it is wholeheartedly unacceptable for any person to act as a ‘snitch’ for the white police agencies. So, I steadfastly refused to agree to become a State informant.

Unfortunately, the white police agents were also true to their word. As punishment for my refusal to cooperate in major felony criminal investigations, I was ‘railroaded’ by a white racist and corrupt injustice system. I was falsely convicted of a murder I did not commit. I was sentenced to serve life in prison for first-degree murder. And, even though I was not always ready to face the many difficult twists and turns of my life, I knew that I was facing an ordeal that would change my entire life and future.

I respectfully ask for your assistance in helping me correct this miscarriage of justice that I am suffering. My case is another perfect example of the judicial system gone bad. The evidence in my case clearly demonstrates my innocence. In fact, the person guilty has provided sworn testimony in Open Court that he committed the offense and that I had no involvement in the incident. I have been confined since 1980 for the case and I feel if I am given some help from your office/organization, the judicial misconduct will not go unchecked. I have all the legal documents to show the merits of my innocence, yet, I am still being held because of financial constraints won’t permit me to get the attention needed to get a fair review on the State and Federal levels. I am sure your office is swamped  with many different responsibilities and assignments, yet I plead with you to help me correct this wrong. You must know, as I do, that the law is applied unequally when it comes to poor Black/Afrikan men in this country (U.S.)!

When I first arrived in San Quentin State Prison (S.Q.) in September 1981, I was confronted by a deep rooted test of faith. On the one hand, I had sought to re-establish my prior relationship and training of being the protector of my people (Afrikans) which was taught at an early age to me by my parents,  being that I was a prison activist and a follower of the N.O.I. – an effort to restore my life to a more proper balance. But, the Muslim community within the California prison system had had been ordered by Walace Deen Muhammad, years prior to my entering S.Q., which had caused a split in the Black Muslim community (inside/outside) of prison that we must embrace a position of non-violence unless a member of our Muslim community was confronted by violence only. On the other hand, I had been born and raised within a Black community in which all Black lives were deeply valued. An act of disrespect, racial violence or bloodshed of any Black human being must be strictly enforced by a correct military response.

A series of violent racial wars broke out within the California prison system and numerous of my fellow Black Prisoners were being stabbed, shot and killed on a regular basis. On June 19, 1982, I was faced with a life or death situation to become a casualty of war during a racial riot (war) or become a beacon to my fellow (Afrikaan Brothers) prisoners and defend myself and my people. History can tell us now, that on June 19, 1982, I was shot five (5) times on my left side of my body from head to feet by one (1) prison gun rail guard carrying a shotgun. But, this guard had reached for his 38 revolver and if it wasn’t for his supervisor yelling at him, it is reasonable to say, this correctional officer would have killed me on June 19, 1982 on San Quentin’s upper yard. I was compelled to make the correct choice to embrace a position of Active Resistance (Activist).

During this time, there were numerous killings, stabbings on a regular basis, in Kalifornia prison system, to which the New Afrikan Klass dealt with all opposition effectively!

During 1981 to 1986, as a direct result of various events, the N.O.I/Black Muslim community within the California prison system, we became isolated and gradually reducing in size. We were no longer able to effectively fulfil our chosen mission. Therefore, my Afrikan spirit was moved to end my active membership, specifically with the Black Muslim community. I began to undergo a revolutionary transformation, which would afford me to complete my self-development as a New Afrikan man who is willing to commit my life to the liberation of our Afrikan people: to protect, serve and continue our protracted liberation struggle to rebuild our Afrikan family and entire New Afrikan nation.

I know my destiny! To uphold our traditional responsibilities as a New Afrikan manhood, brotherhood and fatherhood. With the passage of time, I have come to appreciate the fact that in spite of the very wicked events by the Kalifornia Department of Korrection (KDK) against Black Afrikan prisoners, which resulted in my protracted 33 years of captivity, I am the living seed of my New Afrikan foremothers, forefathers, perseverant family tree.

On July 9, 1987, Kalifornia Department of Korrection (KDK) and its prison Kalifornia Korrectional Institution, IV-A made their attempt to destroy this freedom fighter—physically, and mentally by shooting eight (8) 38MM stun guns, three (3) Taser darts. It was clear to me that the KDK wanted this freedom fighter to be featured in the local newspaper as another subjected to electronic torture by a Taser or murdered by the improper and unauthorized use of mechanical weapons. If it was not for the ancestral spirits of the freedom fighters proceeding my time, such as M. Garvey, Nina, W.L. Nolen, W. Christmas, G.L. Jackson, J. “Khatari” Gaulden, A. Powell, Arthur “Fly” Harris, C. Causey and Malcolm X, I would have been added to the long list of freedom fighters. Review the California Eastern District Court No. CIVF-90-0494 0WW-GGH-P, and you can also review the second Civil case this freedom fighter (FF) had to file against the KDK for their attempts to maim for life or murder me (#CIVF-96-5962-0WW-SMS-P) both out of the District same court. Based upon the fact of being outspoken against KDK and educating all Afrikan prisoners of how the U.S. Government is without justice when the laws are applied toward my people (Afrikans).

I am a liberator of my people’s minds, bodies and souls! Therefore, KDK has held me in solitary confinement for the past 28 [35] years for my political beliefs and spiritual morality as a “New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalist” (NARN). I shall never be found among the broken men of my era! I now know my destiny. In a very bold technique and political campaign directed to enlighten the people (prisoners) about the police brutality, inadequate health care, inadequate housing, mis-education, Afrikan-on-Afrikan crimes, etc., it is through action that an organizer or revolutionary can uplift and enhance the consciousness of the Afrikan masses at large are said conspicuous injustices and oppressed conditions and try to be that exemplified and influential to encourage the people to fully contribute their … of expediency to serve within the framework of our political, economical, social, cultural and military sacrifices to our people.

KDK has labeled me as a member of the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) and used that as a means to lock me up in SHU/Control Unit for the past 30+ years [since May 15, 1985]. In order to silence me from educating other Afrikan prisoners, but during my 30+ years of solitary confinement, I have continued to educate my people! Thirty years ago, KDK offered me a way out of the Control Unit to which I proudly rejected their wicked offer to return back to the general population.

If I undergo their “debriefing,” to which I have refused to do for the past 30+ years, and shall not change my mind!!! I ask myself, “What weight does customs hold under the law?” For though it may be termed “debriefing,” using a euphemism does not change what it is: betraying a confidence, committing an act of treachery for personal gain. Considering how our community in the U.S. was brought into being and considering the command and control needs which existed from the ‘get-go,’ if any community has a historical aversion to stoolies, tattlers, rats and the like, isn’t it ours?

As stated in Brother L.Bennett Jr.’s book, page 97: “Before the Mayflower recounts an incident from the mid-eighteen hundreds, where a slave named Jim, who killed a slave named Isaac for ‘betraying him after his escape in Tennessee. The judge at the trial noted that one of their own color, subject to a life of servitude, should abandon the interests of his caste, and betray black folks to the white people, rendered him an object of general aversion.”

Therefore, I shall die before my tormentors (KDK/U.S. government) turn this freedom fighter into a debriefer.

It is my ancestral deity and personal responsibility to act as a proud beacon of new Afrikan manhood, brotherhood and fatherhood. And, from this day, until the day I die, I shall always be ready to keep fighting/struggling and liberating the mental chains from our people’s minds, to fulfill my chosen purpose in life. I now know my destiny!

Comrad Sitawa

Pelikan Bay New Afrikan Kollektive
Pelican Bay / Prisoner Human Rights Movement
N.C.T.T. Chairman

Contact this liberation:

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa
s/n R. N. Dewberry, C-35671
CCI-4B-7C-209
P.O. Box 1906
Tehachapi, CA 93581

CCI Step Down Program is Bogus: we shall stop participating Monday, May 11, 2015

CCI Step Down Program is Bogus

May 7, 2015 [received June 18th]

by Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa

I have taken the position to shut down this fake SDP crap. So, all of Step 4, who have the most to lose, meaning, some of them are a couple of weeks away from completing their Step 4, and for some they are one, two, three, four months away from being on a mainline and for some of them it’s been 13, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 39 years since they last been in general population, and for Step 3 it ranges from 4 to 31 years.

We all agree that these latest types of 115s/RVR’s is just another way to keep us held in SHU or a means of bringing us back, once we make it out to the GP mainline and we’d rather take our stance now!!  So, you can start spreading this good news to Corcoran, New Folsom and Pelican Bay by radio, news articles and when family members travel to PBSP and the other two SHUs.

We shall stop participating Monday, May 11, 2015, indefinitely. We won’t be attending any CC hearings, directly dealing with Steps 3 and 4, nor shall we go to those group meetings, or do any more of those journals. Now, there are two groups for each Step 3 and 4, and that’s a total of 40 prisoners who would have been attending those group meetings weekly. This SDP cannot function without prisoners participating.

I need for you to share that Steps 3 and 4 prisoners will not continue to participate in the SDP that is corrupt and discriminatory against all SDP prisoners, and has been trying to provoke all of us to rebel, get angry and act out.

Our problems come from the Warden, Kim Holland; Chief Deputy Warden, J. Gutierrez; Chief Deputy Warden W. Sullivan; Capt. P. Metzers; IGI Lt. J. Tyree; R. Diaz; Deputy Director of Division of Adult Institutions, Sacramento office, M. Tann; former SDP Facilitator, B. Snider; CC-II at CCI, Ybarra; and all of these Tehachapi officials and the one Sacramento official who have knowledge that we as SHU/SDP prisoners have been denied our fundamental SHU rights; and as of two weeks ago we are being denied the use of a razor, or should I say, we have a choice to take a five (5) minute shower or take a (5) minute shave, but not both.

Now, 90% of all SDP privileges have been denied us from Jan. 2014 to May 2015. This is a failed program and all of the Heads of CDCr know what is going on here at Tehachapi, CCI.

Our Perspective on Understanding Subliminal Perception

OUR PERSPECTIVE ON UNDERSTANDING SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION

“The struggle begins with each of us… Our mental freedom begins now! I shall exemplify my love for our people’s liberation / mental struggle!!!”

By Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa

Understanding Subliminal Perception

Mind control in the United States has a historical practice in that its production of subliminal perception – communication outlines the principles of mental programming, i.e., that an initial distraction must be followed by repetitive commands, and it tells you how these ideas are implemented.

Subliminal perception is a process, a deliberate process created by communications technicians, by which you receive and respond to information and instructions without being consciously aware of the instructions. The United States government continues the psychological manipulation of subliminal perception and communication (s.p.c.), within the civilian population and specifically within the armed forces (boot camp) to which it is a repetitive command to its subject’s sub-consciousness and conscious mind.

We have studied the effectiveness of how to confuse the human mind. The United States government clearly understands how to control the mind, body in order to defer most people from paying conscious attention to the things that affect the general public subconsciously. People don’t usually know what to look for. However, when pointed to, those things can be recognized and understood.

The principles of mind control, hypnotic suggestion and mental programming are intrusive subliminal techniques that are used through radio, television and movies. According to now declassified documents, the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) tested subliminal manipulation in movie theatres during the late 1950s. The term used does not matter, the principles remain the same.

The goal is to suspend the thought process of the conscious mind to cause a state of mind that is just like ‘day dreaming.” Stop conscious thought and the mind is in its most suggestible state and is more receptive to programming than at any other. Therefore, local police, District Attorney offices, Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.), State Attorney Generals offices and the CIA [know] the first principle of mind control is distraction. Distraction focuses the attention of the conscious mind on one or more of the five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell and taste) in order to program the subconscious mind. All humans do not think the same thoughts, but all humans think with the same mechanism – the brain. The brain works thoughts out one step at a time, just like a computer. The tools of the conscious mind are words (spoken, written and thought) and pictures and sound.

“I didn’t arrive at my understanding of the Fundamental laws of the Universe through my rational mind.” – Albert Einstein

The powers of intuition are the powers of the subconscious mind. The right side of the brain is the center of intuition, creativity and emotion. The purpose of propaganda is to direct public attention to certain facts. The whole art consists in doing this so skillfully that everyone will be convinced that the fact is real.

By clever manipulation, people can be led to believe something that is not true when such information is carefully timed and presented by an accepted and respected means (authority). Information is processed by the brain in a very specific way. At the base of the brain, there is a check “valve” called the Reticular Activating system that screens information. What seems to happen is this: when new information is introduced, it is compared with previously acquired information and then catalogued. When the information is required, it is retrieved and brought into conscious awareness according to need. Now, if there is no “file” for this piece of information, a file is begun and added to when related information is acquired. If you accept the information as true, it is catalogued that way. And if you reject the information as false, it is catalogued that way. However, if you don’t know if the information is true or not, your trust in the source of the information determines whether or not you accept it, even if you are not sure or don’t understand it.

It is not necessary to entrust yourself to another person to produce the hypnotic state of mind. Dr James braid demonstrated that the hypnotic state of mind could be produced by fixing your gaze upon a bright object. In fact, any repeating light or sound pattern can lead you into that state of mind that is just like “day dreaming.” There is selective attention and heightened suggestibility. There is acceptance of distortion only when distorted information is give and you don’t know that it is distorted information. The word “symptoms” is usually used when referring to an illness or disorder. The hypnotic state of mind is a natural state of mind; it is neither an illness nor a disorder.

Propaganda cannot effectively work without education. The mind is conditioned with vast amounts of information posing as “facts” and “knowledge” dispensed for ulterior motives. The educated and intellectuals are the most vulnerable to propaganda because they absorb large amounts of second hand information and consider themselves to be above the effects of propaganda. Remember that propaganda draws attention away from information that is true, and directs attention to information that is false.

Common sense tells us that one must first gain the confidence and respect of people in order to deceive them. We frequently have the illusion that we are in complete control of ourselves and the contents of our minds and psyches; and it is this illusion that makes it possible to be manipulated, all the more successfully. Most people do not exercise their intelligence and critical faculties in evaluating the vast amounts of information they are assaulted with. As a result, they abdicate their responsibility for what happens to them.

Think for a moment about the way newscasters speak, and you will realize that they all talk the same way regardless of their ethnic background. Whether they be black, white. Latino, Hispanic or oriental, they all sound alike.

“Newspeak has become a language pattern associated with the dissemination of true, factual information. Consider the laugh tracks that have become an integral part of tv-comedies. They “educate” the audience to “respond” to what is funny.” The audience has been programmed to associate a resonating low monotone voice with evil, because of the evil behavior of movie- and television characters with that vocal quality. Emotions can be stirred, attitudes and states of mind revealed by nuances of tone and variation in vocal quality. The camera can reveal the smallest movement and the most subtle change of expression and give them significance and definition. Popular performers, past and present are “role models” for the audience to admire and emulate, thus promoting a standard for behavior. The public has been programmed to accept stereotypes that categorize people and professions. All verbal and non-verbal communication has been identified, defined and reduced to a code that can be manipulated.

Education of the young is used to condition them to what comes later, thereby eliminating the differences [between] propaganda and education. Propaganda cannot work effectively without education. The mind is conditioned with vast amounts of information posing as “facts” and “knowledge” dispensed for ulterior motives.

Remember the first principle behind mental programming: distraction. With propaganda, distraction focuses attention on information that is false. Repetition of the false information imbeds it in your subconscious mind so that your acceptance of its truth and accuracy becomes a conditioned response, circumventing analysis. Therefore, you accept this information as true without thinking about it. What people think, can be controlled by controlling information. People can be led to believe something that is not true when that information is presented by an accepted authority.

Your subconscious mind accepts as true what your conscious mind believes to be true. What the conscious mind believes, the subconscious acts on. It works like programming a computer, and the computer acts on it. However, if the information you feed into the computer is wrong, it still acts on it! If you give yourself incorrect information or if others give you incorrect information, the memory banks if your subconscious mind does not correct the error, but acts on it! The conscious mind cannot be controlled by the suggestions of someone else when those suggestions are contrary to what you know from your own experience. But the subconscious mind is amendable to control by suggestion, by you and others. The subconscious mind can be manipulated without conscious awareness as evidenced by the phenomenon of subliminal perception.

In the book 1984, George Orwell warns “that people are in danger of losing their human qualities and freedom of mind without being aware of it while it is happening because of psychological engineering.” Now remember your subconscious mind hears all. Repetition of a message is mental programming. Research indicates that repeated hearings whether sought out or not, yield acceptance and even liking. When you do not hear the message clearly, you cannot make the conscious choice or to accept or reject it. When you cannot make that choice, or when that choice is taken away from you, the message is programmed directly to your subconscious mind without your knowing it, thus circumventing analysis and choice in accepting the content of the message. These effects can be physical, psychological and emotional. Most people don’t pay conscious attention to the things that affect them subconsciously because they don’t know what to look for. However, when pointed to, these things are recognized and understood.

Watching television often creates an altered state of consciousness, because the television screen, while appearing static, actually flickers, what causes you to go into an altered state? In hypnosis, it is actually body relaxation and a carefully patterned voice roll. The hypnotist speaks with a regular beat, as if matching his words to a metronome (an instrument that makes repeated clicks at an adjustable pace for making rhythm).

In fact, any repeating light or sound pattern can lead you into the hypnotic state of mind, a state of mind that is exactly like daydreaming. This is an altered state of consciousness. Think of the times you have caught yourself staring blankly at the television screen losing all sense of time and place. When you stop conscious thinking and your mind goes blank, then your mind is in its most suggestible state. It is in this state of mind where you are the most receptive to mental programming. Think of the many times you have seen flashing words in both local and national tv-commercials. The flashing words are the conscious distraction for the eyes, while the eyes are being occupied, the message being spoken is programmed directly to your subconscious mind. Anything consciously perceived can be evaluated, criticized, discussed, argued, and possibly rejected. Any information programmed subliminally to your subconscious mind meets no resistance. This subliminal information is stored in your brain with an identification that will trigger a delayed alarm-clock-reaction capable of influencing your behavior.

In summation: it is interesting to note that [with] the subliminal seductions that batter our resistance daily, we can’t get enough help in our fight to raise the threshold of suggestibility high enough to fend off these relentless assaults on our individual autonomies.

In Struggle –

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa

Consultant: Hadari S. Kambon

S.N.J. © May 2004  –  Sitawa.org

Download as PDF: OUR PERSPECTIVE ON UNDERSTANDING SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION

Our New Afrikan Origins

This was written by Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa in 1999.

Our New Afrikan Origins, by Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, cop. 1999

You can write Sitawa directly via:

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, s/n R.N. Dewberry, C-35671
CCI SHU 4B-7C-209
P.O. Box 1906,
Tehachapi CA 93581
U.S.A.

Or send an Email which we will print and forward: Prisonerhumanrightsmovement [at] gmail.com