FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01/25/2018
Keith
'Comrade Malik' Washington
TDC #1487958
Eastham Unit
2665 Prison Rd. #1
Lovelady, Texas 75851
In Texas Prisons
African National employees are the most Honorable and Dedicated!
From Texas Prison insider, workers’ rights and abolition
amidst poor conditions and insufficient funding
Lovelady, Texas: Peace
and Blessings Sisters and Brothers! It is very rare that you will hear the
TRUTH about what is actually happening behind these concrete walls and razor
wire. The Public Information Officer for TDCJ Mr. Jason Clark continues on his
path of deceptions and lies. In the aftermath of the suicide death of Benjamin
Larue at the Eastham Unit in Lovelady, Texas there was a massive upheaval of
prison employees from the Highest to the Lowest ranking officers. However, the
group that was unfairly targeted the most were the many hard working and
dedicated Nigerian and Kenyan officers who work in the Ad-Seg section of Eastham
Unit. It is true that the officer working the wing (G-line) when Ben was found
dead was a Nigerian National named Asongkeng Ngu. But what is happening in
Texas prisons has been going on far too long and it is time we shed a discerning
light on the problem!
The upper echelon of TDCJ prison administrators are white
men and women. Many of you hear me use the words Racist or White supremacist
when I talk about TDCJ administrators but that is not the correct terminology
in what we are experiencing here and in so many other units where African
Nationals are employed by this Prison Agency. Xenophobia is the operative Word!
Senator John Whitmire was actually very instrumental in
bringing the African Nationals to TDCJ in order to bail the agency out of a
horrible employee shortage of which it is still suffering from, because of low
pay, poor working conditions and low morale. I’ve been to over 18 prison units in
the past 10 years and I can tell you that the African National employees who
work for this prison agency are some of the most honorable and dedicated
workers I’ve ever seen! They rarely ever are involved in smuggling in
contraband and they follow the TDCJ rules and policy to the best of their
ability! I’m sick and tired of seeing this xenophobic prison agency
discriminate against these WORKERS!
There are many overt and covert ways the Prison Agency
discriminates against its African National employees. One thing I’ve noticed is
the jobs or work assignments given to Africans in respect to the work
assignments given to White and Black American Employees. A lot of this is ‘Taboo’
within the Agency and you would be hard pressed to get any employee to be
forthcoming and talk about the ‘secret practice’ of discrimination against African
employees. What is truly amazing about the African employees is their high
level of education. Most, if not ALL, of the Nigerian and Kenyan employees here
at Eastham have Advanced Degrees.
We have Civil Engineers, Pharmacists, Doc tors,
Biologists and more! However, because of Racism and discrimination in the work
environment in Texas and many other States across America, the Africans are
hindered from realizing their ‘Dreams’ and forced into servitude to a Prison
Agency which treates them as low class citizens!
I am no fan of any prison Agency in America, in fact, I
am an abolitionist, but I am a champion of the WORKERS.
A lot of the African Nationals are here on Work Visas and
I wonder, does this keep them from getting involved in the Correctional
Officers Union!??? Lance Lowry is the President of the Union and I always hear
him complaining about employee shortages but I never hear him speak up for the
African Nationals who have done an incredible job helping TDCJ weather this
storm that has come literally and figuratively. I am talking about two specific
things here:
1) The massive budget cuts approved by the 85th Texas Legislature
are taking a horrible toll on this Prison Agency.
2) Hurricane Harvey has created a horrible situation for
a grossly underfunded agency.
I would like to see Investigative Journalists and Civil
Rights Lawyers and Activists to conduct anonymous interviews with some of these
hard working and honorable Africans in order to expose what is really going on
up in these slave kamps and gulags.
TDCJ spokesperson Jason Clark can continue to tell you
that all is well and that the Agency treats all of its employees equally but I
promise you as this media release circulates there will be many Africans
thanking me for attempting to shed light on the injustices they suffer through
every day when they don this confederate army gray prison uniform in Texas.
Until next time, I leave you all in Peace.
Keith 'Malik'
Washington is a co-founder and chief spokespersyn for the End Prison
Slavery in Texas Movement, a proud member of the Incarcerated Workers
Organizing Committee and he is the Deputy Chairman of the New Afrikan Black
Panther Party (Prison Chapter). Malik has been instrumental in
calling for the abolition of legalized slavery in Amerika and is very active in
the Fight Toxic Prisons campaign. You can view his work at comrademalik.com or you can write him
directly at:
Keith 'Comrade Malik'
Washington
TDC #1487958
Eastham Unit
2665 Prison Rd. #1
Lovelady, Texas 75851
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