Second Anniversary of the Lucasville Riot

[Admin]

Second Anniversary of the Lucasville Prison Rebellion
Special Edition

Vol. 22 No. 17 / April 24, 1995

P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
Email: [e-mail]

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INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition)
Vol. 22 No. 17 / April 24, 1995
Lucasville Prison Rebellion Special Edition

Page One
1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LUCASVILLE PRISON REBELLION
2. THE LUCASVILLE REBELLION: WHAT HAPPENED
3. 'YOUR ACTIONS ARE FORCING A NEW BREED OF PRISONER'
4. REMEMBER LUCASVILLE!
5. 'I HAD AWAKENED THE DEAD AND THE ADMINISTRATION DID NOT LIKE
IT': AN INVISIBLE SCALPEL
6. A CALL TO DEFEND BIG GEORGE
7. ATTORNEY CALLS LUCASVILLE 'A TESTING GROUND'
8. OHIO INMATE COMPARES 'INSIDE' AND 'OUT':S AMERICA'S POOR: 'IN
THE PRISON OF THE FREE WORLD'
9. LUCASVILLE: COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN? WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN?
10. A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO PRISONER CORRESPONDENTS:

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1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LUCASVILLE PRISON REBELLION

By The Editors

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Fifteen years ago, as the industrial north of
Ohio began to buckle under massive layoffs and the streets of
Youngstown, Canton, Cleveland and Akron filled with thousands of
hungry, unemployed and increasingly desperate men and women, a new
industry began to take the place of the rubber plants and steel
mills: the warehousing of human beings.

As the state's prisons filled more rapidly than at any other time
in its history, the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility -- already
the most notorious penitentiary in the state -- became the first
prison, by a far-reaching 1981 Supreme Court decision, to permit
the legal housing of two inmates in a cell designed for one. From
there, the destruction of the last vestiges of human rights was
the order of the day. The die was cast for the bloody siege that
began Easter Sunday, April 11, 1993, and became known as the
Lucasville Rebellion.

Today, two years later, the human suffering and injustice that
bred the Lucasville Rebellion has spread well beyond the prison
walls into the out-of-work, impoverished streets of America.

In 1995, the distinction between the 1.2 million people behind
bars and the 75 million people below the poverty line is fast
disappearing. The brutality of the prison guards parallels that of
the cops in our neighborhoods. The withholding of adequate meals
and medical care to inmates mirrors the proposed destruction of
child-nutrition and Medicaid programs affecting millions of
Americans in the "free world." And when the people protest such
outrages, they are met with billy clubs and arrests as readily as
the rebellious inmate faces the "cell extraction" and the
sharpshooter.

This country is moving to a police state to control those on the
bottom. Lucasville was a concentrated expression of that process.
As Ohio prison activist Jacob Feurerwerker puts it, "Whatever they
can pull off in their prisons, with regards to draconianism and
takebacks, they'll do the same, in proportion, to the rest of
society."

We now have the technological capacity to feed, clothe and house
everyone in this country, to permanently eliminate the economic
and social conditions that are swelling the inmate population. But
a clique of wealthy capitalists, still clinging to an archaic,
outdated social order, is preventing the people from benefiting
from that very same productive potential.

It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to tolerate the
state of affairs wherein a prison cell can be built in a
computerized factory while on the street a homeless human being
lives in a cardboard box. Just as the men of the Southern Ohio
Correctional Facility fought, resisting every effort of their
enemies to divide them along the lines of color or creed, so must
the rest of America's "prisoners" stand as one today, envisioning
and fighting for the kind of just society we could and should
have.

On the anniversary of Lucasville, we can say history will always
absolve those who rise up against injustice. From the "outlaws"
who risked their lives in the Ohio Underground Railroad before the
Civil War, to the 24,500 Ohioans who paid the final price in that
great struggle; from the workers of Akron who battled the rubber
capitalists with the sit-down strikes of the '30s to the men who
seized "L" wing on Easter Sunday 1993, the history of Ohio, the
history of America, bears witness to those who take a principled
stand.

That is the lesson of the men of Lucasville.

Inside this special feature, the story is theirs to tell.



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2. THE LUCASVILLE REBELLION: WHAT HAPPENED

On April 11, 1993, some 400 prisoners in the infamous Southern
Ohio Correctional Facility seized control of "L" wing and began
what was to become a dramatic and bloody struggle for human rights
lasting 11 days.

From the beginning, the unity of white and African American
prisoners became evident as desperate inmates took hostages and
enumerated a list of 21 demands. Conditions at the overcrowded,
sprawling 69-acre maximum security prison -- population 1,819 --
had gone from bad to worse with the installation of Warden Arthur
Tate and the denial of fundamental religious, human and civil
rights.

Under the guise of a federal court order to "integrate" prisoners,
officials attempted to force known white supremacists to share
cells with minority inmates, with predictable violent results. As
far back as 1984, an emotionally disturbed, African American
inmate named Jimmy Haynes had died after a "fight" with a dozen
white guards. No criminal charges were filed in that case, or in
the many subsequent acts of brutality against inmates of all
nationalities.

As the Easter rebellion unfolded, the lives of reputed prisoner
informers were taken and a prison guard was killed, reportedly
after a corrections department spokeswoman publicly denigrated
inmates' demands and discounted their threats.

As the world watched, the insurgents were granted access to radio
and television to broadcast longstanding, unresolved grievances.
Meanwhile, the state legislature's own Corrections Institution
Inspection Committee admitted receiving hundreds of letters from
inmates going back years regarding the subhuman conditions in the
prison.

Finally, after 11 days, a "peaceful" end to the uprising that cost
10 lives was negotiated between the state and prisoner
representative Niki Z. Schwartz, a Cleveland attorney. But two
years later, according to Lucasville inmates, very little of the
21-point agreement has been honored by prison officials. Says
inmate leader John W. Perotti: "Many of the same conditions,
policies and practices that led to the rebellion are still in
place."


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3. 'YOUR ACTIONS ARE FORCING A NEW BREED OF PRISONER'

[The following is excerpted from a statement in court by Michael
Lee Wood, who is incarcerated in the Southern Ohio Correctional
Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.]

Here before you is a man who as a young kid was bound over as an
adult and placed in adult institutions to fend for himself. I was
one of the lucky ones. I learned quickly how to be vicious. I
learned how to survive. I learned how to set my fears aside and
meet the violence in the environment with violence of my own.

We watch and the hate builds up like a festering sore. You give us
laws you don't apply to yourselves. You discipline prisoners for
the same crimes you commit against us. The wardens are an elite
group, answerable only to the director, who is nothing but a
political puppet. They do not discipline one another. That would
look bad to the public eye and draw attention to the fact that,
indeed, there are corrupt, cruel and inhumane wardens in charge of
42,000 Ohio prisoners.

My methods may not be in accordance to the norms of society, but
after 17 years of prison, I don't feel very normal. Don't
misunderstand, I'm not here to cry about being in prison. I'm
justifiably incarcerated, and I accept full responsibility for my
actions. If I must live the rest of my life in prison, I can
accept that. What I refuse to accept is the continual
psychological tortures, the continual isolation, the treatment as
if I am a mongrel dog, and the physical confrontations.

Let me tell you about Lebanon, where I was shipped from [the
Southern Ohio Correctional Facility] and placed in a block by
myself for six months, strip-searched and moved from cell to cell
every day, shook down twice a day. The only thing I had in the
cell was half a roll of toilet paper, a pair of coveralls and a
blanket. When they brought my food, they laughed about it. Put it
on styrofoam, slide it under the door. Don't eat it all at one
time. There might be three or four peas on the tray. What kind of
man walks away from that? What type of psychological effect do you
think it has on a man?

No man wishes to live his life in constant turmoil wondering what
tomorrow may bring, and knowing that whatever it is, it's not
going to be productive. Your actions are forcing a new breed of
prisoners, men who hate society and rebel against authority. Men
who have so much time on their hands, they care about nothing and
look for ways to fight the system.

I've seen the system work, and it's pathetic. I no longer have any
respect for the laws of Ohio. I've realized long ago those laws
are only for the privileged. So [don't] speak to me about laws and
justice. There's a reason the woman's wearing a blindfold. In
good conscience, I cannot sit still and accept the tyranny of
hypocrites. I may be a prisoner, but I am an American, in the
strongest nation in the world; I believe I warrant more
understanding than continual physical and mental abuse.

I'm here to make it known to society, the courts, we are a million
strong, and your actions dictate a million reactions. We're not
going to just go away and, at the same time, we aren't going to
keep accepting more and more stifling isolation and abuse.

I'm not a man who recognizes holidays. But for 1995, I've made a
resolution. My resolution is this: I will leave behind my more
radical ways and do things in [an] attempt to resolve differences
in a more civilized manner that I hope our administration will
respect. Given the choice, I would much prefer to do my bit
without unnecessary hassles.

But I refuse to live in conditions that see men beaten, abused,
disrespected and thrown arbitrarily into isolation for
indeterminate amounts of time. As a convict, I cannot and will not
stand by and watch. I won't stand by and watch this happen without
fighting a corrupt system. To stand idly by is to condone the
injustices. My beliefs are far too strong for that.


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4. REMEMBER LUCASVILLE!

By John W. Perotti

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- It has been two years since the Easter Sunday
1993 uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) at
Lucasville, Ohio. Prisoners held control of " L" side for 11 days,
protesting gross human rights abuses and the total tyranny of
then-Warden Arthur Tate. My brother Little Rock Reed and myself
have uncovered SOCF documents illustrating that Warden Tate
orchestrated the uprising so as to justify construction of a Super
Max block at SOCF. He also instigated the uprising by interpreting
a court order to de-segregate cells to mean instituting a policy
of putting known racists in cells together and ordering that the
only way a prisoner could refuse integration was to use force on
his cell mate, i.e., one had to attack his cellmate before being
moved to another cell.

This has been a tactic of prisoncrats over the years -- putting
known enemies in cells, hoping that one will kill the other for
the prisoncrats' sick, perverted pleasure. Many of the 21 points
agreed upon by all parties to be rectified have not been done.

Many of the same conditions, policies and practices that led to
the rebellion are still in effect.

Unit management still utilizes a snitch system; rules are made up
daily and enforced arbitrarily; and those prisoners that litigate
or are activists are passed over on security level reviews,
targeted for repression. Racism amongst the staff is still
prevalent, and wages have not been increased, yet commissary
prices have. Beatings, called "attitude adjustments," by guards in
the lockdown blocks are still occurring.

Ohio still refuses to use the Interstate Compact to transfer
prisoners to other states. The only changes are that the cells are
now single cells and they've hired more guards and have stricter
security. Paroles are being denied to most SOCF prisoners.

In short, due to the public attitude against crime, the uprising
doesn't seem to have resulted in a social or political awakening
to the public. More prosecutions and convictions have resulted
from this uprising than any previous one in history. The prisoners
not involved in the uprising are bitter because of the increased
repression at the SOCF.

Ohio legislators have introduced "get tough on crime" bills
harsher than ever before in history. This is in step with the
national trend of get tough on crime -- refusing to treat the root
of the problem. In times of peace, prisons are the U.S.'s major
industries.

The brothers who put their lives on the line to try to better
conditions at Luke deserve our respect and our support. Trials are
in process right now for the death of SOCF guard Robert
Vallandingham. Three prisoners have been indicted for murder with
death penalty specifications, while the fourth prisoner who
admitted to killing the guard is testifying against the three, in
exchange for leniency. Yet where are our people to support these
brothers at trial? They are not in the courtroom giving moral
support for the brothers, a sign of the times.

As long as the politicians continue to misrepresent the people, as
long as the trend toward crime and punishment continues, it is
axiomatic that there will be more uprisings in the United States
whose prisons are filled to bursting, breeding anger, hatred and
discontent, warehouses for the poor. Building more prisons,
stiffer sentences and hiring more police is not the solution.
Statistics show that crime is not decreasing, and the death
penalty is not a deterrent. We must make the politicians represent
the people, to treat the underlying social aspects that lead to
crime. Until this happens, our prisons are ripe for revolt.

[John W. Perotti, a Lucasville inmate and jailhouse lawyer, has
long been a target of the authorities for his continued
leadership.]

[Admin]

'I HAD AWAKENED THE DEAD AND THE ADMINISTRATION DID NOT LIKE
IT': AN INVISIBLE SCALPEL

By Roosevelt G. Bellamy, #158-673

[Editor's note: The following is excerpted from a letter we
received.]

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Now, while being incarcerated at Lorain
Correctional, waiting on a revocation hearing with the parole
authorities ... I had a group of inmates gather every day in the
pod's library in a group therapy program that I had put together
for these so-called gang-bangers whom the judges had thrown the
book at and given unheard-of time.

However, after I cut into them with an invisible scalpel and
showed them the contaminated disease which had caused them to lose
sight of the world, for not only what they were doing to others
but also to themselves as well, these same individuals who could
not read nor write, were reading and writing and speaking as
intelligent individuals within a 60-day time period.

And they loved their new selves so much, they would openly express
their testimony to others, and my reward to them would be to get
them back into court and get their time cut or a completely new
trial, all because they had been totally unconscious.

I had awakened the dead and the administration did not like it.

I was called to the deputy warden's office and questioned about
what I called myself doing out in the population? I stated,
"Helping my fellow young comrades learn the truth about themselves
and today's society."

I was then grabbed up in my shirt collar and told by the deputy
warden, while his four storm troopers stood on guard, "You will
stop these so-called classes in your pod. If not, I will place you
where you will stop, because, point blank, let those young black persons
stay asleep, for if you wake them up too much, we will not have a
job."

However, I didn't stop, because young (as well as older) brothers
were still coming to me for a conscious awareness and even though
I told them of the threat that was forcefully expressed against
me, I gave them the wisdom which they were seeking.

For this, I was harassed persistently by the administration, from
strip searches and illegal shakedowns of my cell two to three
times a day, where they would leave my personal pictures of my
family members floating in the toilet with urine upon them, which
was all I could take. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was
to told to shut my f------g mouth. I spoke up again to state this
was not right and was forced up against a wall, handcuffed and
taken to the Hole. Once there, after a week, I was found guilty of
threats, which was a trumped-up charge just to remove me from the
population. I was given six months in the Hole.

I now sit in A.C. (Administrative Control) in the torn, ridden
aftermath of the riot at Lucasville Correctional, in a cell 24
hours a day.

I am truly in the belly of the beast ... .


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6. A CALL TO DEFEND BIG GEORGE

By a Field Marshall

On Easter Day, 1993, the brothers confined to the Lucasville
prison rose together and took control of the prison due to the
repressive conditions created by Warden Tate and his regime.
During the 11-day siege, broadcast on all stations, a brother then
identified as "Inmate George" put his life on the line by walking
into the muzzles of thousands of National Guard, State Highway
Patrol, sheriff and FBI weapons to relay a message to the media
from the brothers inside that the uprising was not a racial
incident (contrary to what the prisoncrats propagandized to the
media). Black, white and Chicano all stood united against the
oppressors due to the oppressive conditions and policies set down
by Warden Tate, and all wished for a peaceable end of the siege
via negotiations, which the Department of Corrections was not
doing.

"Inmate George" was soon identified as Big George Skatzes, doing a
life sentence for a murder that a private investigator announced
on nationwide television she didn't feel he had committed. After
the siege, the guards who had been taken hostage publicly declared
that it was Big George who had done the most to ensure their
safety while being held hostage. He was identified by the
Department of Corrections as being a member of the Aryan
Brotherhood. I don't know about that, but I do know that Big
George was a convict with honor and principles, and his
involvement was to try to calm mass hysteria, due to his being an
older convict who was well-respected.

Even though the guard hostages praised Big George for keeping them
safe and trying to restore order from disorder, the Special
Prosecution has kept him and the other spokesmen of the uprising
in complete isolation since the siege, fabricated false rumors
that he was going to inform on his fellow prisoners, and allowed
Chillicothe Prison officials and guards to steal his regular and
privileged legal mail, harass his wife both verbally and
physically when she came to visit, and used every form of torture
and behavior-modification tactic known to break him and his wife
and supporters. George and the other negotiators have been
indicted for murder with death penalty specifications for the
death of guard Robert Vallandingham because all but one refused to
testify against the brothers inside.

This is an urgent call for action asking all of you to flood the
governor's office and the office of DRC Director Reginald
Wilkenson with calls, faxes and letters demanding that George be
transferred out of the north hole at Chillicothe Prison, his wife
not be harassed, his regular and legal mail not be withheld,
censored or destroyed, and that he be treated like the honorable
man that he is, so he may prepare his defense. DRC officials had
admitted to the media that they had been censoring his privileged
attorney-client mail and they were reprimanded for it and a civil
suit is pending on this.

The brother put his life on the line against oppression and is
paying dearly for it. Your immediate help is vital. Call, fax and
write:

Gov. George Voinovich
Vern Riffe Center
77 S. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43266-0603
614-466-3555

Director Reginald Wilkenson
1050 Freeway Dr. N. #403
Columbus, Ohio 43229
614-431-2771


Write letters of encouragement to George, urging him to stay
strong and letting him know we care:

George Skatzes
CCI #173-501
P.O. Box 5500
Chillicothe, Ohio 45601

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7. ATTORNEY CALLS LUCASVILLE 'A TESTING GROUND'

By Anthony D. Prince

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- R. Tracy Hoover reminds me a little of
Clarence Darrow, the famous Chicago lawyer who once told inmates
in the Cook County Jail that society's real criminals were the
utility companies and wealthy property owners.

I'm sure he would shake off that comparison/compliment, but just
as Darrow was the "attorney for the d**ned," R. Tracy Hoover
represents some of the locked-down men of Lucasville, and he's not
ashamed to admit it.

"I've been going in and out of these prisons for six years," says
the attorney who now represents, among others, Lucasville inmate
Michael Lee Wood, once charged with a threat to kill former warden
Arthur Tate and still regarded as "the most dangerous man in
Ohio."

In January, Hoover talked about Wood in a Scioto County courtroom.
"He's known ... as being the most dangerous because he has the
ability to think, to rationalize. And he has a willingness to work
and sacrifice on behalf of not just himself and others, but for
his beliefs."

Clearly, Hoover (who also teaches school) sees something of
historical significance as he watches defendants dragged before
the Ohio bar. "In the days of the Romans, the Jews were treated
differently, as a class," he says. "In the 1800s, it was the black
man in America. In the 1950s, they targeted the communists,
people's political affiliations, and today, it's the 'criminal.' "

To Hoover, it's no accident that the government is scapegoating
and targeting the prisoner while really aiming at millions of
Americans. Outside his office window near the Kentucky border, the
lush landscape of Appalachia hides the shuttered mines and
deserted coal camps in this region of grinding poverty and
official neglect.

"I had an inmate named 'Noodles' Workman," says Hoover. "He called
Lucasville a 'concentrated reality': a testing ground for rules of
society used by the government against the people."

Now, as he continues to represent inmates on various pre- and
post-riot related charges, R. Tracy Hoover is aware that what he
does is not winning him any popularity contests, but he doesn't
care. He sees much further than the courtroom; he recognizes that
America is at an historic crossroad. Says Hoover:

"What's popular is not always right and what is right is not
always popular."


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8. OHIO INMATE COMPARES 'INSIDE' AND 'OUT'

AMERICA'S POOR: 'IN THE PRISON OF THE FREE WORLD'


By Ronald R. Hines, #194-189

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- I've been in the hole basically for standing up
for my constitutional rights, by exercising my right to litigate
and file a grievance. The address of the People's Tribune found me
in a section of prison where conditions are far worse than the
human imagination of hell could be. I strongly feel that I must
step up, make my presence known, take my place in our struggle,
because what the People's Tribune stands for is not esoteric, it's
for every man, woman and child in this country!

I'm a revolutionary and I would like to voice what's really
happening in these man-made hellholes called prisons. What's
happening is slow death, mentally and physically, to those who lay
down and accept the systematic genocide of the poor and
disadvantaged.

I've been in the system a long time, and I've got a long time to
go. In my case, there are no dead bodies, no one hurt, only money
stolen in a robbery. Men in prison of the poor and disadvantaged
class are political prisoners. We, as the poor and disadvantaged,
need to come together as one.

The word "homeless" sounds out of place in this United States of
America, the richest country in the world. They [the homeless] are
in "the prison of the free world." They must live like dogs and
rats anywhere they can and are denied medical care.

I wonder what would happen, and what excuse this country could
give, if all the homeless went into food and clothing stores, and
stole what they needed? Then, once they went to court and got
sentenced to prison, then they would have three meals a day, clean
clothes, medical treatment, educational and vocational
opportunities and conversing with real revolutionary and political
prisoners that are ready to make a change by any means necessary?
Then the sole assignment of error in their appeals would read "I
was homeless and this was the only opportunity left."

Now in the 1990s, if we don't wake up, the powers that be in
Washington, D.C., and the state capitals of this country are
drawing up a blueprint that will move back the hands of time 500
years. I remember the "unity" we had in the 1960s ... and the
positive results we accomplished. I know what fortitude, unity and
fighting for what is right will do. I also challenge all those
that "say" they're down for the struggle to support the People's
Tribune morally and financially, and to attempt to make friends
with a political prisoner in the system, to make that positive
change.

Can you walk that walk or do you just talk that talk?

We can make a change, and we must wake up and see with both eyes
open. Then we will know what direction we must go. In the land of
the blind, the one-eyed man is king. I'm ready, what about you?


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9. LUCASVILLE: COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN? WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN?

By Rabbi Jacob Feuerwerker

MARION, Ohio -- Nearly two years ago, a very tragic "prisoners'
riot" took place at Ohio's Southern Ohio Correctional Facility
(SOCF), also known as Lucasville for the small town near which it
is located. Why did the riot happen, and could it happen again?

The reason why the riot happened is simple. There are not a whole
lot of complex issues as the so-called experts will have us
believe. Since 1983, prisons have been Ohio's only true growth
industry in "well-paying jobs." Prisons are also the politicians'
and bureaucrats' last great bastion of graft and nepotism.

Simply put, prisons are very profitable to them. Irrespective of
the fact that at $12,000 per year per prisoner, Ohio spends well
under the national average of $20,000 per prisoner per year,
Ohio's politicians and bureaucrats are still garnering a lot of
graft and corruption from their prisons.

This is accomplished mostly through kickbacks from purchases that
are way overpriced, or kickbacks from items invoiced but never
delivered. Sometimes it is accomplished through outright stealing
by state prisoncrats of state prison property or food.

Naturally, when there are two or three prisoners filling up each
space intended for one prisoner, they'll pull off more graft and
corruption out of a given prison space. I have witnessed it all
over the years of my own unjust incarceration. Were I to start
listing it, I would be writing a small book.

Naturally, with their overcrowded prisons being so "profitable"
for them, Ohio's politicians and bureaucrats don't want to do a
thing that would reduce their take of taxpayers' hard-earned money
which they extort through taxation. This includes not following
the laws on the books that are intended to reduce prisoner
overcrowding. Naturally, they will then try everything possible
not to follow the orders of federal courts to reduce prison
overcrowding.

This is why the Lucasville riot happened. Back in the mid-1980s, I
was incarcerated in that gulag for nearly 22 months (on my current
term of incarceration). Though conditions were dire, Warden Tate
made it much worse! For over 10 years, Ohio's gulagcrats have been
coping with prison overcrowding by reducing the prisoners'
property rights (privileges). Warden Tate made it worse by
purposely celling two incompatible prisoners in a 58-square-foot
cell intended for one prisoner. The gulagcrats claim the cells
there are 63 square feet, but this is only true of the slightly
wider corner cells. But keep in mind that the minimum personal
space per prisoner is 50 square feet. Here, we are in cubes of 43
square feet for two prisoners.

When I was first transferred to the Trumbull Correctional
Institution, I asked the educational director and two other
officials if the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
will follow the latest court-ordered population reduction, which
was supposed to have gone into effect July 1, 1993. He said "no,"
but he promised me that there would also be a major riot in one of
Ohio's prisons to forestall this order for at least two years, and
afterwards, expect another riot, if the courts insist on reducing
the prison population to anything resembling capacity.

Ohio's prison officials, courts, prosecutors and current
politicians are a murderous lot. They don't care if they punish
the guilty along with the innocent. In fact, they prefer more
innocent people to be incarcerated, because we are easier for them
to manage and control, and we are less of a physical threat to
them.

It is the combination of all these factors that caused the riot.
The most important one being that the officials wanted it. From
eyewitness accounts, I read that a white officer attacked a black
prisoner for no reason at all as this prisoner was returning from
the yard. But the most important issue to keep in mind is that
prisons are a big experimental ground for the politicians.
Whatever they can pull off in their prisons with regards to
draconianism and takebacks, they'll do the same, in proportion, to
the rest of society.

In conclusion, all good Americans must be on guard to the games of
the politicians and their prisoncrats, because we, the poor and
middle class, are their true targets. Yes, it could happen again,
and I feel that the officials are planning for it to happen again.


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10. A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO PRISONER CORRESPONDENTS:

In response to our request for articles, reminiscences, and
updates on the Lucasville Uprising, we received far more material
than we are able to publish at this time. We want to thank you for
your contributions and assure you that we will publish the
submissions we received in future issues as space permits.

We want to remind you that unless our inmate correspondents
specifically indicate otherwise, the People's Tribune reserves the
right to print, edit and include the name of the author of any
correspondence we receive.

Once again, to those who sent in stories and who continue to
contribute financial support, thanks!

-- The Editors


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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition),
Vol. 22 No. 17 / April 24, 1995/Lucasville Prison Rebellion
Special Edition; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[e-mail]. Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as
copyrighted. Please include this message with reproductions of
this article. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE depends on donations from its
readers -- your generosity is appreciated.
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