Maroon The Implacable

Description

Russell Maroon Shoatz is a political prisoner who has been in solitary confinement for 30 years. This is the first collection of his accumulated written works. Despite the having spent decades in prison, Shoatz has remained on the cutting edge of history, writing wide-range of essays covering past and current issues. He gives a fresh retelling of the Black Liberation Movement, as well as an analysis of the prison system. His sharp understanding of current historical movements includes proposals on how to move forward to embrace new political practices.

Sujets

• Activism

Informations

• Publié par: PM Press
• Date de parution: 25 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781604868555
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Maroon the Implacable

“his book,Maroon te Implacable, is tat very funky instruction manual on ow to make revolution against Imperialist America.” —Amiri Baraka, poet, essayist, and activist; former poet laureate of New Jersey

“he occult istory of America concerns a space were Black, Red, and wite togeter produce te culture of resistance—and te permanent uprising against egemonic power and alienation. his space could be called te ideout of te Maroons, tose few wo ave made te revolutionary exodus from te world of slavery to te ‘inaccessible’ wilderness of an alternate universe. If te Great Dismal Swamp is no longer a refuge, neverteless te message of te Maroons lives on, and Russell Maroon Soatz is today its untamed voice. Free Maroon te Implacable!” —Hakim Bey, autor ofTAZ: he Temporary Autonomous Zone

“Russell Maroon Soatz wrote te essays in tis book during tirty cumulative years of solitary confinement under conditions tat international law would consider ‘cruel and inuman.’ he essays trace a remarkable political trajectory, starting wit involvement wit te gang world of Piladelpia, leading to membersip in te Black Panter Party, and ending wit full-earted support for ecofeminism and a repudiation of te patriarcal violence e once embraced. At te core of te book is te teme ofmarronage—te will to escape from conditions of enslavement at any cost. his is wat Russell Maroon Soatz as done, not only pysically, but in te world of ideas by escaping from te rigid patriarcal framework e inerited and revaluing and promoting te role of women in te istory of liberation. his book is a document of tis transformation carried out against tremendous odds and told wit searing onesty.” —Silvia Federici, autor ofRevolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist StruggleandCaliban and te Witc: Women, te Body and Primitive Accumulation

“Russell Maroon Soatz’s life reads like fiction composed by Victor Hugo. But tis Jean Valjean for our time is te living trut, and is writings are a beacon for a new, revolutionary age. Wat a treasure as ere been uncovered!” —Joel Kovel, autor ofWite Racism: A Psycoistoryandhe Enemy of Nature: he End of Capitalism or te End of te World?

“he message of Russell Maroon Soatz, te message of te revolutionary maroon, is a message tat we ignore only at our own peril and tat of our world. Prison is designed to crus te soul, deaden te mind and destroy te spirit, but it becomes for some,

like Maroon, a place for new awakening, deeper insigts, and expanded solidarity. As Maroon sows, te awakened prisoner understands te contradictions of te state, capitalism, and patriarcy in a way tat most of us, living in our larger and more comfortable prisons, can ardly begin to understand. We are living in Babylon, and Babylon must be destroyed. Our broters and sisters in prison are uniquely gifted to elp lead us out of captivity. he message of te revolutionary maroon is tat ‘exodus is te primary form class struggle takes today.’ his idea, tat we must learn to create and to live togeter in communities of liberation and solidarity, communities tat openly defy and negate te brutal oppression of capital, state and patriarcy, is te precisely correct message for our time.” —Jon P. Clark, professor of environmental studies and pilosopy at Loyola University, autor ofhe Impossible Community: Realizing Communitarian Anarcism

“He escaped from custody two times, and altoug recaptured and imprisoned under orrific conditions, Russell as not relinquised is spirit of resistance. He is te ‘Maroon.’ If more young men emulated is lifestyle, te liberation of Black people would be very near at and.” —Herman Ferguson, friend and comrade of Malcolm X in te Organization for Afro-American Unity

“In describing uman traits, it as been said tat tey come in two types: one, a termostat, te oter, a termometer. hese two objects look identical, and oftentimes confuse people. hey can be identical in size and sape: equipped wit mercury, allowing bot to reflect temperatures, tus making it even arder to distinguis between tem. he one big difference, owever, is tat te termostat is equipped wit a mecanism tat not only allows it to reflect temperatures but also allows it to control temperatures. If I ad to describe Russell ‘Maroon’ Soatz (besides giving im is props for being a man of substance, courage, and principles) e—witout doubt—would be a termostat: Possessing te ability to not only reflect but control temperatures as well. his book,Maroon te Implacable,enforces and gives credence to tis concept . . . a compelling read!” —Robert Hillary King, prison justice activist, autor ofFrom te Bottom of te Heap, and former prisoner in solitary confinement in te Angola prison in Louisiana

“Many people will be astonised to discover te perspective of Russell Maroon Soatz wen tey finally read is work. houg e’s been inside for forty of is sixty-nine years on eart, te problems e raises about te justice movement are amazingly up to date; for example, wat to do about te organizations tat claim to represent te movement but work overtime to control it? And e writes witout jargon and even witout rancor, toug tere is plenty to be bitter about. He asks not wy we struggle—we sould know tat by now!—but ow we organize to struggle. He is dedicated witout being dogmatic and I know from experience tat is mind is open and very keen for te views of oters. Above all, e tinks organizationally, rater tan in mangled, arrogant, academic retoric. He is always trying to work out wat to do. Were e looks for answers is te only sensible place: not in ideas but in te istorical experience

of te grassroots. His ‘Dragon and te Hydra’ provokes and invites a dialogue wit activists—a pleasure I for one look forward to.” —Selma James, autor ofSex, Race, and Class: he Perspective of Winning, and coordinator of Global Women’s Strike

“For twenty-seven years I visited four prisoners, one of wom was Russell Soatz, wo we called Maroon. From im I always got a lesson in politics tat fortified me and made me understand just wat was appening in our country and wat I sould be doing about it. Just before Mumia was moved out of SCI Greene, e was able to talk wit Maroon for two wole days. He told me tat tose two glorious days were more important to im tan all te years e was unable to communicate wit Maroon. Maroon never lost is fait in te people, nor is ability to cut troug te lies fed to us by te media. He trusted te trut of ‘power to te people,’ and it kept im focused and opeful. His body was incarcerated but is mind soared. My mentor!” —Frances Goldin, publiser of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Barbara Kingsolver, and Adrienne Ric

“Wow! I ave been an organizer during te Great Slave Rebellion of te 1960s, to te urban bus riders of today, to te prison rebellions of tomorrow. Soatz, combining George Jackson and W.E.B. Du Bois, is a fine istorian beind bars wo writes like a novelist. Weter te maroons were real (wic tey were) or supereroes (wic tey also were), te tale of free Blacks, runaway slaves, Amerindians, and working-class wites building a revolutionary army in te swamps is exciting stuff—and just te level of imagery and imagination we need to rebuild te revolution today.” —Eric Mann, autor ofComrade George: An Investigation into te Life, Political hougt, and Assassination of George Jackson

“More tan ever, I am convinced tat te answers to uman society’s dilemmas will come from te margins of our society, from tose people wo ave been excluded or wo ave cosen te pat of exodus, and wo are building alternatives in watever isolated place tey can make a stand. As Russell Maroon Soatz sows us, even someone locked away in solitary confinement for decades, can utilize is imagination to sow us ‘ordinary citizens’ te way forward. his exciting collection of writings explores pats of action for all of us: feminists, revolutionaries, community activists, ecosocialists, uman rigts campaigners. Extraordinary idden istories of resistance combine wit a vision of te future and a strategic callenge to every one of us to take action to cange te world, werever we are situated. To ave your freedom denied to you is a terrible ting. To be eld in solitary confinement is torture. No government sould be allowed to abuse its citizens in tis way, watever teir actions or beliefs. But not only sould we support te call to Free Russell Maroon Soatz—we sould be proud to associate wit is ideals and is activism, and we sould take up te callenge e is setting us from is prison cell, to establis a unifying ‘mosaic’ movement based on te principle of intercommunal self-determination.” —Janet Cerry, Sout African activist and istorian, former political detainee, and researcer for te Sout African Trut and Reconciliation Commission.

“Wit te little tat I understand of Englis, I ave been impressed to read of te life of Maroon and wat e as written. I was also in prison, wen te military tribunal tat judged me didn’t dare to sentence me to deat, wic some were calling for. In te various prisons were I was eld, in Peru and Argentina, I was treated worse tan ordinary prisoners, even toug from afar, muc better tan wat Maroon suffers. I respect is fortitude and am grateful for is istorical teacings. “In Latin America, te slaves tat escaped were called ‘cimarrones’ and teir organizations ‘palenques,’ ‘quilombos,’ ‘cumbes,’ ‘rocelas,’ ‘ladeiras,’ etc. Among te most famous was te ‘Quilombo de Palmares’ in Brazil. Wit a population of 15,000 rebel slaves, it lasted for almost te entire seventeent century. he Portuguese intervened wit 6,000 soldiers and it took two years to conquer it. he communitarian democratic organization tat it ad is not strange; after all tis caracteristic is maintained by indigenous people all over te world. Were tere are indigenous people, te indigenous community exists. Anoter common caracteristic of tese peoples is teir great love and respect for Moter Eart. here is also a caracteristic tat as been called ‘Buen Vivir,’ wic consists in a appiness tat does not come from a quantity of money, but from a satisfied life. A great solidarity exists, togeter wit a respect for differences. “hese caracteristics in teir strongest form exist in te most ‘savage’ people, tose wo are least domesticated by civilization. “Now tat te ruling capitalist system, in its most ferocious form ever, attacks nature (and tus te uman species),‘civilized’ people are beginning to take note of te ‘ecosocialist’ consciousness of tese populations, because tey emerge wit strengt in defense of nature, and because (among tese peoples) it is te society tat makes decisions. his universality of indigenous consciousness sows us tat it is not an etnic caracteristic, but tat it was te form of uman existence since te beginning. “We ave arrived at a crucial conjuncture: Eiter umanity recovers its primitive etics or it extinguises itself, crused by te egotistical voracity of te great transnational corporations. “ To return to primitive etics does not mean to disdain all of te positive contributions of civilization. It will be societies temselves tat determine wic contributions of civilization we can continue enjoying and in wat form, witout putting te subsistence of te species in danger. “In terms of matriarcy I am in complete agreement; it will not mean te oppression of men. Also in tis we will return to te original etic, wic fortunately we can still see in te Mosuo of te Cinese provinces of Yunnan and Sicuan, a society free of macismo. “In te common struggle for ‘a world were many worlds fit’ (wic is not only necessary but urgent, before te system exterminates te species), one of our fundamental tasks is to struggle in ever more widespread ways for te freedom of Maroon. We will bring togeter ever more voices to get im out of prison.We can do it.” —Hugo Blanco, former political prisoner, leader of te Campesino Confederation of Peru; editor of te journalLuca Indígena

MAROON THE IMPLACABLE THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF RUSSELL MAROON SHOATZ

Edited by Fred Ho and Quincy Saul

Editors’ Note

he essays in tis volume represent te prison writings of Russell Maroon Soatz up until te year of publication. Prior to tis book, tese essays were scattered far and wide across pamplets, zines, and websites. We did our best to collect everyting, but it is possible tat some slipped troug our net. In addition, Maroon is certain to keep writing, and readers are encouraged to follow te continuing evolution of is tougt by reading is blog at www.russellmaroonsoats.blogspot.com. hese essays do not appear in exact cronological order but are pre- sented tematically in a way tat we ope will demonstrate te breadt and evolution of Maroon’s tougt. In some of is writings, following te lead of many feminist activists and scolars, Maroon uses alternative spellings, for example“womyn” (singular) and “wimmin” (plural). hese, along wit some oter alternative spellings (“amerikkka”/“Amerika,” etc.) and some slang/colloquialisms wic appear trougout te text, ave been left uncanged from Maroon’s original texts.

Maroon the Implacable: he CollectedWritings of Russell Maroon Shoatz Edited by Fred Ho and Quincy Saul

© PM Press 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means without permission in writing from the publisher

PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org

Cover design by John Yates Cover illustration by Carlito Rovira Layout by Jonathan Rowland

ISBN: 978-1-60486-059-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955003

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the USA on recycled paper, by the Employee Owners of homson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan. www.thomsonshore.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to express our love and gratitude to te following people and organizations, wo all contributed and made possible tis very impor- tant collection of writings by Russell Maroon Soatz, wic we believe will become an iconic text in te years to come: Russell Soatz III, Saron Soatz, and Teresa Soatz; Kanya D’Almeida; Iyanna Jones and te Black Waxx crew; Carlito Rovira (for te beautiful painted cover image); Steve Bloom (for copyediting); Matt Meyer and Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge; Bret Grote; everyone in Scientific Soul Sessions and Ecosocialist Horizons; special gratitude to Lutie Spitzer (wose munificent generosity and matron support is unmatced); our friends at PM Press (Craig O’Hara and Ramsey Kanaan); all of te activists wo’ve been supporting political prisoners in te United States; and to everyone wo, over te years, as kept Maroon’s writings alive and circulating,witout wose effortstis book would not ave been possible; but most of all to Maroon imself for is graciousness, inspiration, and leadersip to all of us! Note tat a major new book, Maroon’s autobiograpy (cowritten and edited by Kanya D’Almeida wit Fred Ho), will be fortcoming in 2013. Everyone, please join te Campaign to Free Russell Maroon Soatz and all U.S. political prisoners!

Fred Ho and Quincy Saul

CONTENTS

Foreword: To the Outer World from Within: The Ferocity to Be Free •Chuck D

Introduction: The Revolutionary Maroon Quincy Saul

Prelude: Fire in the Hole!: Why Russell Maroon Shoatz Is Important to Creative Revolutionaries! •Fred Ho

About These Writings: Author’s Note Russell Maroon Shoatz (2012)

I Am Maroon! (1995)

Message from a Death Camp (1997)

Twenty-First-Century Political Prisoners: Real and Potential (2002)

Taxpayers and Prison: A Fool’s Paradise (2011)

Death by Regulation: Pennsylvania Control Unit Abuses (1995)

The Black Liberation Struggle in Philadelphia (2006)

xi

1

13

21

29

37

43

49

55

63

Black Fighting Formations: Their Strengths, 79 Weaknesses, and Potentials (1994–1995)

The Dragon and the Hydra: A Historical Study of Organizational Methods (2006)

101