Three men crammed into a 6x12 cell

by Rashad Price
We say that the spirit of George Jackson lives on through each and every one of the oppressed who speak out.

The struggle in Georgia against capitalist motivated “cramming” is a protracted battle. Here at Dooly State Prison and many other camps like it are modern day plantations forcing prisoners into 6-by-12 cells, three men to a cell.

Most Georgia prisons do not have amenities such as air conditioning, so temperatures may reach outrageous levels on a regular basis. This intense heat and closed in cramped space is too much for three men to have to endure for a single day, let alone five, 10 or even 20 years. The threat of constant violence has increased. Yet this is only one of the sickening effects of “cramming.”

The traditional good ol’ boy Georgia penal/slave system – always in search of the dollar – will cluster bodies into tiny spaces without care for any health or safety concerns just like ourstory has revealed with the Afrikan Hellacaust, or Maafa. We suffered in slave dungeons and slave vessels without proper ventilation or sanitary conditions.

These concentration camps have another tradition – of being filthy disease breeding hell holes. Sanitation chemicals are almost never accessible and surely not enough to satisfactorily clean such overcrowded prisons.

Since my last assessment of the situation, I was bitten in the face by an insect of some sort while sleeping. When I awoke, my eye was swollen so bad ‘til I was blinded. Luckily, I was able to obtain proper penicillin tablets to disinfect the bite and reduce the swelling.

However, my point remains that with more congested bodies in 6-by-12 cells and deadly heat, more sicknesses and diseases will inevitably be spread. If something breaks out such as a virus or flu it is virtually impossible to keep from catching it in these poorly ventilated boxes.

Spider bites are common here. Mice that are full of diseases are constantly breeding in places like the hole where leftover food trays are placed on the floor for orderlies to collect.

Dooly State Prison Warden Belinda Davis, Commissioner James Donald and Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue are brazen and obviously not concerned with these issues. They only desire a salary. The system is cramming us in so that they can receive more funding for “housing” as well as making more money off of extra bodies who will be forced to perform slave labor.

However, even with their low moral standards, some who run the system have begun to show their distaste for cramming.

During a brief telephone conversation, Warden Hilton Hall, currently at Georgia’s Jackson State Prison, said, “Neither Warden Davis nor anyone else has the right to house inmates in that way inside cell houses. That is a violation of fire code and unsafe.”

The strangest thing about this crusade of cramming prisoners on top of each other is that no documentation as of yet can be found by any official, whether it be authorizing or simply addressing the issue. The staff of Jackson State Prison says that Dooly is being a renegade and doing as it pleases in terms of housing.

Furthermore, the repression behind this situation is serious. Any inmates found protesting these issues are immediately being placed in the hole and charged with inciting a riot. Many inmates are not standing up out of fear of not being able to secure parole. They also fear being assaulted by the notorious correctional emergency response teams [c.e.r.t.], Georgia’s death squads.

We, however, in the Afrikan National Vanguards are protesting nevertheless. We say that the spirit of George Jackson lives on through each and every one of the oppressed who speak out.

In our fight against cramming we want to mobilize all those we can outside these walls, especially activists and brothers and sisters of the hip hop community, because we as young Afrikan men and women are being hunted and captured for slave labor throughout this continent of North Amerika.

As well, all of our brothers and sisters in the hip hop nation have the ability to speak out at shows, functions or just while in the hood.

So whenever possible, please e-mail the Georgia Department of Corrections Complaint Department at ombudsman@dcor.statega.us. And you can file a B-4 Title 7 complaint with Middle District Court of Georgia.

We need as many complaints as possible filed against Dooly State Prison for its criminal housing procedure. Please don’t take this situation lightly because it could happen to either you or one of your loved ones if this procedure is not stopped.

Write to Rashad Price, aka Mabu, 1081581, P.O. Box 750, Unadilla GA 31091.
We say that the spirit of George Jackson lives on through each and every one of the oppressed who speak out.