Political Women Prisoners in the U.S.

31 Pages·1987·11.051 MB·English

by  Revolting Lesbians

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POLITICAL WOMEN PRISONERS
IN THE U.S.

July 1987 Political women prisoners in the U.S. i
NOTE--The inforn.lation about the Lexington Control Unit was taken mainly from
an unpublished article by Gwen and from the Background Information Packet
put out by the Out of Control Committee to Shut Down Control Units in San
Francisco.
(In New York, contact: Women's Committee to Close Control Units
PO Box 2512, Cadman Plaza Station
Brooklyn, New York 11202)
written and produced by Revolting Lesbians, July 1987, Bay Area, California.
We are considering doing am update on this publication within & few months. If you
have information that you believe should be included, please write to us at: the
Women's Building, 3543 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, c/o the Committee to Shut
Down the Lexington Control Unit, Box 30.
Cover graphic by Bg-rita d. brown
Labor donated
Table of Contents
Introduction ...........

Locked away—women in U.S. prisons.
B
Some individual stories
0
Alejandrina Torres.

Judy Clarke.... 0

0
Kathy Boudin
0
Laura Whitehorn
Linda Evans .. = —
~
Marilyn Buck

MOVE e 6
e
Alberta Africa
9
Consuswella Africa
P
Janet Africa........ —
—
Janine Africa
Ramona Africa
Sue Africa
Ohio Seven..
Barbara Curzi-Laaman 14

Carol Savcier Mannin,
Patricia Gros
Puerto Rican POWSs captured 1980.
Alicia Rodriguez......... .......
Carmen Valentin .....
Dylcia Pagan-Morales.
Haydee Torres....
Ida Luz Rodriguez
Puerto Rican POWSs captured 1985.
Ivonne Melendez

Luz Maria Berrios Berrios
Plowshares ..........
Helen Woodson .
Jean Gump...
Sanctuary Movement
Stacey Merkt
Silvia Baraldini
Susan Rosenberg
Women who fought back against physical and sexual abuse
Hazel Kontos ..
Janice Painter .
Juanita Thomas
Rita Silk Nauni

More about lesbians in prison
Aid to incarcerated mothers
CaroliCrooks: ... .ocesnzeensn

Linda Evans..........
Nevada State Prison
Rita D. Brown
ROSI.

Veronica Compton ..
Hundreds of lesbians
Lexington Control Unit
What about grand juries?
Political women prisoners in the U.S. July 1987
9
Introduction straight, white, middle and upper keeping us separate and obedient
class women within these institu- in order to avoid getting locked up.
tions. Women who cannot or will
And within institutions there is
not conform to prevailing stan-
usually some version of “lock
We are Revolting Lesbians. We dards of physical attractiveness:
down,” that functions as the iron
will be talking this evening about a fat women, butches, visibly dis-
fist of behavior modification, a
number of different women politi- abled women, are punished for
warning that no matter how much
cal prisoners who have a range of their appearance. Similarly,
you're being shit on, it could
political viewpoints. The members
women who, due to religious or
always get worse.
of our group also have a range of political convictions, cultural tradi-
political viewpoints. We are not Again, tonight’s presentation
tions, or simple survival tactics,
asking you to agree with the poli- are said to “exhibit behaviors™ not will be focused most specifically on
tics of all the prisoners we are dis- in line with prevailing standards of women political prisoners.
cussing. We do think that we all femininity and are condemned for Tonight we will mostly be using
need to know what happens to pol- the conventional definition of a
their “bad attitudes.” Women who
itical women prisoners in this political prisoner, which is some-
assert their sexual autonomy, be
country and support them in their they lesbians, prostitutes, or celi- body who is in prison or held in
struggles against the criminal injus- unusual conditions because of their
bate, are judged sick, crazy, and
self-conscious political acts or a
tice system. noncompliant.
person who is in prison as part of
Prisons are perhaps the most All women experience sexism in
the government’s attempt to
obvious examples of total institu- their encounters with institutions.
suppress or destroy a movement.
tions, places where people are The fact that women labeled devi-
It is right that the movement -
locked up because other people ant are more frequently locked up
should pay special attention to'its
decide they should be removed in psychiatric hospitals than pris-
members who have been singled
from society. ons is a function of the sexist
out by the state. However, in
Other example include juvenile tracking system operating within
another sense, all prisoners are pol-
detention centers, psychiatric hos- society. Some women spend long itical because the laws and the
pitals, deportation and relocation periods of their lives in two or
courts in this country are com-
centers, residential schools for phy- more kinds of institutions. For
pletely political and not at all fair.
sically and developmentally dis- instance, if you're a prisoner in a Also, as Revolting Lesbians, we
abled people, and nursing homes. residential school and you're
believe that all women who are in
All of these are places where the judged to be in sufficiently bad
prison are there for political rea-
people who live there lose control health, the authorities may transfer
sons, either economic (like prosti-
over such decisions as when they you to a hospital. If it’s your
tution or theft) or for defending
sleep, what they eat, how they thoughts that are judged bad, you
ourselves or our children.
dress, and who they associate with. could get locked up in a psychia-
Under the Geneva Convention,
Physical and sexual abuse are ram- tric hospital. Ifit’s your actions
political prisoners, like prisoners of
pant within total institutions, that the authorities think are bad,
war, are guaranteed privileges not
including behavior modification, you might wind up in juvenile hall
forced drugging, rape, sensory or jail. In all cases, you are a pris- granted to so-called “‘common
criminals” (people who “‘break
deprivation, electroshock, psycho- oner, and you do not get out until
laws” for reasons other than politi-
surgery, and sterilization. People someone other than yourself
cal motivation—i.e. economic). A
who live in such institutions, certifies you as being good
number of countries, including the
whether they are called inmates, enough—in health, thoughts, and
U.S., deny political prisoner status,
residents, students, or patients are actions—to be free.
preferring instead to prosecute on
in fact imprisoned and in this talk It is in the interests of the state
criminal charges. This deligitim-
we will use the word “prisoners”
to keep prisoners and ex-prisoners
izes the politics of an individual's
to refer to all of them. of the various institutions divided
actioa, and avoids bad interna-
Total institutions exaggerate from each other. We are taught to tional press and the Geneva Con-
societal racism, classism, and lesbi- think, “Well, at least I'm not crim-
vention guarantees. The blame for
phobia. Women of color, poor inal, crazy, crippled, senile,” in the crime falls onto the individual
women, and lesbians are dispro- order to feel a little better about
or group rather than the state.
portionally incarcerated and sin- ourselves. What's important is
gled out for worse treatment than how institutions work together
July 1987
Political women prisoners in the U.S.
In the Lexington Control Unit, the U.S. average of 22 months.! education, unemployment, Medi-
which we'll tell you more about The death penalty. Every cal, and Aid to Families with
later, the intent is clearly and Western industrial nation, except Dependent Children both nation-
overtly political. The women there the United States, has stopped exe- ally and at the state level. Califor-
are revolutionaries whose actions nia, which spends a smaller per-
cuting prisoners, either by legally
have been criminalized by the banning execution, or else by sim- centage of its budget on education
state. These three women, who
ply not using it as a sentence. By than any other state in the nation,
“happen to be” a disabled Puerto
contrast, countries generally repres- has the nation’s largest prison sys-
Rican nationalist, a non-U.S.
sive of human rights, such as tem.
citizen, and a Jew, have been sub-
South Africa, have kept punish-
jected to psychological, physical,
ment by death.? WOMEN IN U.S. PRISONS—
and sexual torture in an effort to
WHO’S WHO
make them renounce their political
convictions and snitch on their WHAT DOES PRISON COST? Racial distribution. Women of
comrades. The abuse continues. In addition to causing an enor- color are imprisoned in rates
Lexington Control Unit is also mous waste of human potential; disproportionate to their numbers
designed to serve as a “‘deterrent” prisons absorb huge amounts of in society as a whole. For
to political dissent, a warning of money. For instance: instance, although Black women
what might happen to any of us represent less than 12 percent of
o In 1980, it cost an average of
who get too far out of line. the female adult population in the
$13,000 per year per prisoner
United States, a 1982 study
The state protects its interests to keep people in jail. The
showed that approximately 46 per-
by calling rebellion criminal and income of the average Ameri-
cent of prisoners were Black.
crazy. We as Revolting Lesbians can family during that same
see it in our interest to learn more time was approximately
about the women whose resistance $16,000. Economic backgrounds.
continues behind bars, protest the + Asof 1980, the government According to one study, 70% of all
pre-trial prisoners were unem-
abuses they are subjected to, and was spending about $50,000 per
bring their struggles to our com- ployed at the time of arrest. More
cell to build prisons and jails.
munities. than 30% had been unemployed
+ Recently, there has been an for more than one year.
increasing emphasis on getting
Although the connection
“tough on crime." This has
Locked away—women in between poverty and imprison-
caused overcrowding and
ment exists for the prison popula-
U.S. prisons increased prison construction,
tion as a whole, it is a particular
turning "prison costs into the
issue for women. Two out of three
fastest growing major expense
adults living in poverty in America
OVERVIEW in the [California] state
are women, and statistics show
government...the corrections
Rate of imprisonment. The that poverty and crimes of survival
budget could soon begin to
United States has the second lead many women to prison. For
strip money from education
highest rate of imprisonment in instance:
and health and welfare pro-
the world, based on those countries
grams."? « Between 70 and 80 percent of
for which statistics are available,
women in prison come from
and imprisons more people per In fact, over the past several
impoverished backgrounds; 50
capita than any other industrial- years there have already been
percent are between the ages of
ized western nation. extensive cuts in funds for
22 and 30; 24 percent are mar-
Length of sentences. The ! Willamette Valley Observer. March ried, and between 60 and 70
United States follows only two 12, 1981, percent have children.*
nations—the Soviet Union and 2 Capital Punishment and the Ameri-
South Africa—in the average length can Agenda. Hawkins and Zimring, ¢ Statistics compiled by the National
of time served in prison. In con- Cambridge University Press, 1987. Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Quoted in The Christian Science M oni-
trast, most western nations 3 Women's jail afflicted by over-
crowding, McClatchy News Service, tor, October 28, 1982.
prescribe short prison stays: an
March 22, 1987.
average of 40 days in the Nether-
lands, for instance, compared to
Political women prisoners in the U.S. July 1987
The high percentage of inmates of treatment accorded them, and U.S. Bureau of Prison revealed
who are single mothers is espe- the amount of time served. Some that women inmates receive fewer
cially significant, since studies have people believe that lesbians and visits than men, even when the dis-
shown that most women are in gay men serve longer sentences tance between home and the insti-
prison for crimes related to their than heterosexual prisoners, and tution is the same.
inability to provide for their fami- this is one of the questions the sur-
In addition, women’s prisons
lies. For example, 92%° of women vey was trying to answer. We do
are often built in remote areas, far
are in prison for non-violent not yet have the results of this sur-
from metropolitan areas (large
"crimes," many of which are vey.
numbers of women prisoners come
related to economic survival, such
Although harrassment in prison from metropolitan areas). Often
as forgery, counterfeiting, stolen
is often spontaneous, it sometimes public transportation does not go
property, gambling, drugs, and
takes the form of formal rules. In close enough to the prison, making
prostitution.
Oregon, lesbian and gay male it very difficult for families without
Abused women fighting back. inmates who kissed or embraced cars to visit at all. In addition,
As many as 1,000 women a visitors of the same sex. were pun- children who are separated from
year are imprisoned in the U.S. for ished and written up. This prac- their mothers during their mother’s
murder or manslaughter because tice, which did not apply to imprisonment have a higher
they killed an abusing husband or heterosexual inmates, was chal- incidence of problems than chil-
boyfriend. Often these women lenged by an inmate, Welsey John- dren who can maintain closer con-
were in fear for their own lives or son, represented by the American tact with their mothers.
those of their children; nonethe- Civil Liberties Union. According
less, 75 to 90 percent of the to the 1987 court ruling, ‘“‘gay and
Medical care. Medical care jn
women who kill their batterers are lesbian prisoners will no longer
prisons is often lacking, and
convicted even when evidence of receive punishment for physical
according to a report by the U.S.
abuse is admitted.5 A 1984 contact with same sex visitors, nor
Justice Department, the medical
Denver, Colorado, study found will the contact be entered into the
care at Vacaville, the nation’s larg-
prisoners’ official record.”8
that women are more likely to be
est prison, constitutes cruel and
charged with first or second degree unusual punishment. The
murder for killing a man they QUALITY OF LIFE Department’s investigation found
know than men are for killing a
What is life like for women living “severe shortages of medical and
woman they know. The women
in U.S. prisons? Women live in psychiatric staff, failure to provide
also face much harsher sentences
overcrowded conditions, often in timely treatment,...inmates
than the men.”
prisons so far removed from their involved in operating-room pro-
homes that it is difficult for their cedures, unsanitary conditions and
Lesbians in prison. One of extreme overcrowding.”® Vacaville
families to visit them. They are
the forms of oppression lesbians given inadequate medical care and is not the only prison with such
face in society in general is invisi- job training, are more often problems: in California, only one
bility: a denial of our very sedated than their male counter- prison hospital, the one in San
existence. This oppression extends parts, and are subject to sexual Quentin, has ever been properly
to incarceration: we could not find harrassment by prison authorities. licensed by the state Department
any statistics about the numbers or of Health Services—and San Quen-
treatment of lesbians in prison. tin lost their hospital license in
Location. Studies, as well as
We do know that in 1986 Amnesty 1986 after it failed a Department
common sense, tell us that it is
International conducted a survey of Health Services inspection. And
important for women in prison to
of lesbians and gay men in prison, it was necessary for a class-action
maintain contact with their fami-
looking at such questions as the suit to be filed so that pregnant
lies, both in order to cope as well
numbers of gay inmates, the kind women and new mothers at CIW-
as possible with the institutionali-
Frontera could receive adequate
zation, and in order to succeed in
5 Connexions magazine, fall 1984. prenatal and postpartum care. The
society after their release from
S Battered Women Who Kill:
Psychological Self-Defense as a Legal prison. Yet a study done by the © “Prison health care called cruel and
Justification, Ewing, 1987. unusual punishment,” San Francisco
7 Washington Post, April 21, 1987, 8 Off Our Backs. Vol. 12, No. 1, Examiner. June 14, 1987,
spring, 1987.
July 1987 Political women prisoners in the U.S.
settlement requires that every preg- were not adequately addressed. Overcrowding. California’s
nant and new mother prisoner be Emergency medical care was physi- prison system is the nation’s larg-
seen regularly by a gynecologist cally inaccessible, geographically est, and includes 63,600 inmates.
and a nurse practitioner; it also distant, and available only through As in many other parts of the
sets guidelines for medical tests, time-consuming and cumbersome country, overcrowing in California
nutrition and identification of security measures (such as guard- prisons is severe. Vacaville, which
high-risk mothers. ing and shackling laboring is the nation’s largest prison, was
Women entering prison often women.) Infants are separated designed for 4,730 prisoners but
have a variety of health problems. from their mothers after only one houses 8,216.10
And they often receive even worse or two days, before critical In the California Institution for
medical care than male inmates. mother/infant bonding can be Women, California’s only all-
One reason given is that, since completed. If a mother is not female prison, the following condi-
women comprise such a small per- released from prison within one tions exist:!!
centage of the population of incar- year, she will most likely lose cus-
cerated adults, medical services are tody of her child permanently. e 32 women livingin two rooms,
sharing one toilet and one sink
not designed to meet their needs. Remember that many women
However, when prison authorities are in prison for “‘crimes’ related « filthy bathrooms
want to provide "specialized medi- to trying to support their children! * no place to exercise (the gym
cal care” for women they are able has been converted to a dorm)
to do so: women inmates are two
Sexual harrassment. * 238 women sharing two tele-
to three times more likely to be
“Women in prison have reported phones.
prescribed psychiatric drugs such
incidents of sexual harrassment by
Withdrawal is a typical way for
as Thorazine, Haldol, and Prolixin,
male correctional staff. Coercion
women to cope in overcrowded
than male inmates, even when
and intimidation are used to mani-
prisons. Unlike some male
both are housed in the same
pulate women, as are promises of
inmates in similar situations,
prison. These drugs can impair
preferential treatment. Strip
women “‘don’t flood their cells,
cognitive and physical functions,
searches of female inmates are usu-
permanent damage to the nervous they don'’t set fire to their mat-
ally performed by female staff, but
system, and even death. tresses, and they don’t join gangs
male guards are often not far or wage bloody warfare.”12 As a
enough out of viewing range to
result, in the push for better prison
M edical care and pregnancy. ensure privacy.
conditions, women get mostly
According to a 1985 study by Similar to the response to rape overlooked.
Prison Match (Programs for Chil- victims in the free world, there is a
dren and Inmate Parents), about tendency among correctional
Job training. Particularly
one quarter of the 464 women stu- officials to blame the victims of
since many women become prison-
died were currently or recently sexual harrassment. Most often
ers due to crimes of survival, they
pregnant. Less than half of these the charges are denied.”
are interested in obtaining educa-
pregnancies ended in live births:
Says Susan Rosenberg, a politi- tion and job training while incar-
33.6 percent ending in miscarriages
cal prisoner serving a 58-year sen- cerated. However, there are even
as compared with 31.7 percent of
tence, “Sexual threats and sexism fewer such programs available for
abortions. The rate of miscar-
as a weapon are rampant in the women than for men inside. This
riages in the general population is
prisons as a whole. It is an under- is a problem nationwide. In 1982,
about 15 percent, the rate of
pinning of the institutional policies the Christian Science Monitor
congenital disabilities is about 2
of the BOP. It is encouraged and reported that women inmates in
percent (the Harvard M edical
applauded by the administration
School Health Letter, 1983). and by the guards. One regulation 10 “Prison health care called cruel
and unusual punishment,” San Fran-
According to the Prison Match says that male guards can pat cisco Examiner, June 14, 1987.
study, 61 percent of pregnancies search a woman prisoner at any
" Women's jail afflicted by over-
had complications. One third of time. In an “emergency” situa- crowding. McClatchy News Service,
the infants born had health prob- tion, a male guard can strip search March 22, 1987.
lems at birth or shortly thereafter. a woman prisoner. Defining emer- 2 Women's jail afflicted by over-
The pregnant women's need for a gency situations is left up to the crowding. McClatchy News Service,
healthy diet, fresh air, and exercise individual discretion of the guard.” March 22, 1987.
July 1987
Political women prisoners in the U.S.
Boston had only two vocational that of male-headed families.” This blackboard on which it draws the
training programs to choose from, trend did not end in 1978 or 1983: line that it dares us to cross. The
leading to average annual salaries the U.S. Department of Justice political trial has also, therefore,
of $11,846. Men had access to noted in 1986 that although served as the crucible within which
training in 14 trades with average women comprise 4.8 percent of the all political movements have had
annual salaries of $16,726. total U.S. prison population, the to test their strength, determine
‘Women inmates were earning up number of women prisoners con- their direction, and come out on
to $1.25 per day for prison mainte- tinues to grow at a rate faster than one side or the other.”!$
nance jobs, versus $2.25 for men that of male inmates: 8.9 percent
inmates. versus 4.9 percent for the first six
In the U.S. The U.S. govern-
months of 1986.!5
The fact that all inmates, and
ment denies that there are any pol-
especially women, are not given In California, which already has itical prisoners within this country;
appropriate training is especially the most overcrowded prison sys- however, at this time, there are
ironic, because the cost of sending tem in the nation, the number of over 100 self-defined political pris-
someone to prison for a year all inmates is expected to double oners and prisoners of war in the
equals the cost of sending a stu- by 1995.16 The population of U.S. At least 25% of these are
dent to Harvard University— women is expected to continue to
women.
$17,256 per year. Within four grow at a disproportionate rate.
years, prison officials say, the cost
Harrassment. These women
will rise to $25,000.!3
POLITICAL PRISONERS are subject to the same kinds of
Overview. “Some countries have harrassment and lack of care as
INCREASING PRISON POPU- high rates of political prisoners— other incarcerated women. In
LATION
people who are imprisoned many cases the harrassment is
Considering the appalling condi- because of their political beliefs intensified in order to try to break
tions women live under in prison, and may have committed a crime the spirit of these political prison-
it is especially discouraging to real- as a result of these beliefs. Under ers. Women at the Lexington Con-
ize that the number of women the Geneva Convention, political trol Unit are subjected to repeated
incarcerated has been steadily ris- prisoners, like prisoners of war, are vaginal and rectal “‘searches” by
ing. In the nine years between guaranteed privileges that so-called male guards, are strip searched
1974 and 1983, the number of common criminals (people who every time they leave and re-enter
women in U.S. prisons increased "break laws" for reasons other than their cells, are denied interaction
by 133%. During that same political motivation, i.e. economic) with other prisoners, denied visits
period, the number of men in are not. A number of countries, by anyone other than family
prison increased by 86%.!4 including the U .S., deny political members and attorneys, and are
These incarceration rates are prisoner status, preferring instead under continuous video and guard
linked to economics. “The to prosecute on criminal charges. surveillance. Medical care is
This deligitimizes the politics of an withheld at the will of the prison
number of poor families increased
little between 1969 and 1978, but individual’s action, and avoids bad authorities, e.g., Alejandrina
the composition of this group international press and the Geneva Torres, a Puerto Rican nationalist
currently held at Lexington,
changed markedly. During that Convention guarantees. The
time the number of poor families blame for the crime falls onto the suffered from heart palpitations for
individual or group rather than the weeks, but was told she was “too
headed by women increased by
state.”!7 much of a security risk” to be
one-third. Families with female
taken to the infirmary and treated.
heads have a poverty rate six times “The political trial has
(Alejandrina has a history of heart
throughout history been the tool of
3 Women's jail afficted by over- problems.)
the government, the stage upon
crowding, McClatchy News Service,
March 22, 1987. which it demonstrates what it will
tolerate and what it will crush, the Conclusion. Following are
S The Washington Post Magazine,
short biographies of some of the
January 15, 1984. This article was
quoting a siudy done by the U.S. 1S Bulletin. U.S. Department of Jus- individual women currently in
Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice tice, September 14, 1986. U.S. prisons who are, by their own
16 S.F. Chronicle. December 9, 1986.
Statistics.
" From Through the Looking Glass.. '® Susan Saxe.
July 1987 Political women prisoners in the U.S.
description, political prisoners.

Says one, Silvia Baraldini, who is Some individual stories
currently serving a 43 year sen-
tence for charges of conspiracy
(under RICO) and incarcerated at
The following pages give informa-
Lexington Control Unit:
tion about individual women now
being held in U.S. prisons for pol-
I cannot stress eno ugh the im por-
itical “‘crimes.” This information is
tance of keeping the work going.
not always easy to find, and so the
| The people in charge are going to
stories are often incomplete.
respond only to increased
Where we can, we have given
pressure...the issue of political pris-
information about the women's
oners must be raised. This is the
backgrounds, politics, and their
| reason why we have been sent here
current place of imprisonment and
and this is the reason the condi-
their sentences. Whenever possi-
tions are so harsh. Everything is
ble, we have used the women’s
aimed at isolating us from the
own words and own definitions of
struggle outside.
themselves.

This list includes three “out”
lesbians; we know there are more.
We wish to express our support
REMEMBER OUR and respect for women who are
open about their lesbian identity, -
SISTERS INSIDE! despite the difficulties of being
“out” in prison. For those who
are not ‘“‘out” at this time, we
regret the circumstances that cause
this to be true.
‘We have listed people alphabet-
ically, either by their own first
names, or, in some cases, by the
group they are part of.

Alejandrina Torres

Alejandrina Torres is a Puerto
Rican Prisoner of War born in San
Lorenzo, Puerto Rico on June 18,
1939. She was the ninth of ten
children. Her father died shortly
after her birth, causing her mother
to work outside the home to pro-
vide for them. Her mother’s fail-
ing health forced the Fernandez
family to move to New York,
where Alejandrina graduated from
high school. In 1963, after work-
ing in church as a volunteer for a
period of time, she moved to Chi-
cago, where she met and married
Reverend Jose Alberto Torres, who
also shared her deep commitment
Political women prisoners in the U.S. July 1987
to social justice. men’s unit; forcibly strip-searched political prisoner.” (from private
Together they raised five chil- by male guards; and given forced correspondence, May 1987.)
vaginal and rectal searches by male
dren. In 1965, Alejandrina
physicians’ assistants.
became a member of the First
Congregational Church, where she Alejandrina was transferred to Kathy Boudin
continued working for quality edu- the Lexington Control Unit in
cation, and providing social ser- October 1986 and is currently
vices to help alleviate the worsen- imprisoned there. She says, “The In the 1960’s Kathy Boudin
worked as a welfare-rights organ-
ing economic conditions of the example of women’s commitment
izer, and as an organizer for Stu-
Puerto Rican community. In is rooted in the ability to teach and
1972, Alejandrina, along with to learn, but most importantly, to dents for a Democratic Society
doing anti-war and anti-draft work.
other community activists, carry out our tasks unrelentlessly.”
founded the Rafael Cancel She went underground in 1969
Miranda Puerto Rican High School because of her opposition to the
war in Viet Nam and the repres-
(today known as Dr. Pedro Albizu Judy Clarke
sion of the Black movement. In
Campos) and Betances Clinic in
1977. She helped set up an Puerto her own words, “‘As a white

Rican cultural center that houses a Judy Clarke had been active for woman, I did not want the crimes
child care center, museum, a years in civil rights work, the committed against Black people to
10,000 volume library, and an ‘Weather Underground, and SDS. be done in my name. Looking at
award-winning high school, all of She was given a sentence of 75 the history of the U.S., I saw the
Black freedom movement as both
which refuse government funds. years to life with no chance of
Following Alejandrina’s arrest, the parole for the October 20, 1981 a way of providing fundamental
FBI attempted to destroy the attempted Brinks’ expropriation. justice for Black people and a key
center by smashing its computers, She is currently at Bedford in New to bringing change to the whole
stealing membership lists, and try- York, where she has been in isola- country. I was inspired by the
ing to convince the community it tion for 20 months. In 1984, as example of abolitionist women and
was a terrorist school. Two years she was leaving a visit in prison, the underground railroad.”
later, the high school received the the guards handcuffed her and then Kathy went underground for 12
Department of Education’s award put her in segregation. Afrer this, years. On October 20, 1981, she
for being the best alternative high she was given written notice that was arrested during an attempt to
school in the country. she was charged with with "con- seize money from a Brinks’
spiracy to escape.” She will be in armored truck to support the Black
Alejandrina was captured on
June 29, 1983, along with other isolation for another four months. liberation struggle and its under-
She writes “The length of my sen- ground movement. After nearly
comrades, and immediately
tence is unprecedented here at Bed- three years of pre-trial incarcera-
assumed Prisoner of War status.
ford. Women who actually tion (almost all of it isolated from
Her arrest followed a two-year
escaped and were later found other prisoners), Kathy pled guilty
investigation by 110 FBI agents
spend six months to a year in to one count of robbery and one
who illegally installed video cam-
segregation—the only reason I got count of felony murder and was
eras in every room of an alleged
F.A.L.N. safe house. She is two years is that [ am a revolution- sentenced in 1984 to 25 years to
presently serving a sentence of 35 ary political prisoner who the state life.
years for charges of seditious con- wants to isolate from other prison- She is now incarcerated at Bed-
ers and from the struggle outside.”
spiracy. (Until recently, the charge ford Hills, New York, where she
(The Insurgent, February 1985.)
of seditious conspiracy had been arranged for the play “For Colored
levelled only against the Puerto Judy Clarke is a mother who Girls Who Have Considered Sui-
Rican Independence Movement— believes “every child on this earth cide When the Rainbow is Enuf”
in 1937, 1955, 1981, 1982, and has a birthright that is being held to be put on, despite great
1983. Recently it has also been hostage by this imperialist sys- difficulties. She has also been
levelled against members of the tem.” She is also an open lesbian active in protesting mandatory
Ohio 7.) who writes “Yes,...I am definitely AIDS testing of prisoners.
out as a lesbian. It’s part of my
Alejandrina has continually Kathy’s son Chesa was born
identity as a person and a woman,
been sexually abused and tortured: while she was underground. She
so of course as a revolutionary and
she has been housed in an all writes, “I want him, and all the
July 1987
Political women prisoners in the U.S.