Prison Radio
Keith Malik Washington

Greetings comrades. This piece is entitled “We Buckin’ Amerikkka” by Comrade Malik.

Mental prisons have proliferated alongside the literal ones. Who among us today can claim to be beyond the psychological reach of the myriad fantasies constructed by capital? Though we aspire to the mantle of anti-capitalism.

Now this is a question posed by scholar and activist Joseph G Ramsay, in an essay he wrote entitled “Revolutionary Relatability: Assata: An Autobiography of a Site of Radical Teaching and Learning.” Disappeared in a special edition of “Socialism and Democracy,” edited by Mumia Abu-Jamal and professor Johanna Hernan- Hernandez.

Comrades, I’d like you to take the time to really listen and hear me right now. There are those among the ranks of the oppressors who thought that releasing me from the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice would transform me into a docile, compliant, happy slave. But how could that be? How could the oppressors subject me to nearly 12 years of degradation, dehumanization, and abuse, and then expect me to automatically forget?

What about the thousands upon thousands of comrades I’ve left behind? I’ll never forget about them. But maybe the oppressors are relying on a historical model. I would like you to consider something. Black people in America have ancestors who were subjected to some of the most horrific conditions imaginable during the [inaudible.] That’s right. I’m talking about the [inaudible], the great disaster in America known as the slave error. Remember that comrades? It seems that many of us in the Black community have been stricken by a case of mass amnesia. We have forgotten the origins of the slave trade. I’m talking about the direct connection with the fat cats of Wall Street.

So, if capitalism helped bring us out the institution of slavery, why abolish slavery yet ignore capitalism? That doesn’t make any sense. I have more food for thought. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says that racism is institutionalized here in America. Okay, I agree with that. However, we keep hearing judges, the police, prosecutors, and jailers, aggressively deny allegations of racism and bias which exists inside the criminal justice system. What makes them immune from the scourge of implicit bias and racial applications of the law? I’m asking all of you to ponder this.

Comrades, on September 12th, 2019, the presidential debate is scheduled to be held right here in my own backyard of Houston, Texas. I will say this, and I hope you understand my point, when I say. All of the 10 democratic candidates coming to Houston have an ideal that they can present a more gentler and more palatable form of the capitalist system. But is there such a thing? Absolutely not. There is no such thing.

This is part of the Jedi mind tricks neoliberals play. Many of my comrades, both inside and outside the beef slave camps are buckin’ America, because this fantasy and dream of freedom, justice and equality is not available to us. We have no stake in this capitalist society, which is currently led by an unrepentant, misogynous and white supremacist. I know that racism exists in America. And I have a solution to fight it. My strategy involves cooperation and solidarity among all races and genders. I propose a multiracial and multigender radical response to the haters.

Stay woke comrades. I’m just getting started. In 2020, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee and our allies at Jailhouse Lawyers Speak may have our own special October surprise. Stay tuned. Solidarity forever.

(Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.