They Can’t Kill a Revolutionary
Posted By MTWT - Lucy on February 27, 2009 
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By Coyote
First and foremost I would like to extend my sincerest greetings of solidarity and respect to the Bay View and also to my comrade Ikemba (Maritte Funches) and to all the genuine, sincere and compassionate people who read this article.
Marritte Funches aka Ikemba
I am sincerely moved by Marritte’s cry for help – and when I say “cry,” I do not mean that in a degrading way whatsoever – because when I see true radicals, true revolutionaries, locked down in the hands of haters, seeking help and support and assistance from the general public, pleading for people to help them, pleading for their lives, not only does it tell me that they’re sincerely in need of dire help, it also tells me that somewhere, these COs are sitting back grinning, saying to themselves, “Yeah, we got his Black ass now.”
This is not the first time the State of Nevada has tried to kill Marritte Funches; they had him on trial a couple of years ago on a so-called capital punishment case, and in the spirit of resistance, with his back against the wall and nothing to lose, he fired his public defender and took it upon himself to study and learn the law, and he stood there in that courtroom like David standing up to Goliath and from his heart and with his brilliant intellect he spoke truth to power and fought for his life and all due to his radical spirit of resistance he was able to convince the jury to find him “not guilty!” He beat them. They tried to kill a true revolutionary, they tried to do him like George Jackson, and he beat them. So now they really want to do him in!
I’ve never seen Ikemba bow or buckle under the pressure, because comrades like Ikemba and me, we live by the creed that these pigs will never break us, but rather, on the contrary, it’s actually these circumstances and situations that make us into the imprisoned radical intellectuals that we have become while struggling and suffering behind enemy lines.
Yes, we are political prisoners, not because we read political books while we are in prison. It’s deeper than that. Our actions, activism and efforts are political by all means and, furthermore, anyone who truly understands that this entire American justice system is foul and corrupt from the ground up should be willing to view almost all prisoners as political prisoners anyway.
So, when I see someone like Maritte Funches calling out for help, or someone like Russell “Maroon” Shoatz calling out for help, because they aren’t receiving any proper medical care, pleading for their lives, it’s a sad sight to see because in my heart I know what they’re up against. I know and can prove that there is no true medical care in these prisons. The quality of life is real low in these death camps, where they have no problems locking up youths as young as 16 years old and by design they are knocking us off in here, because they know they can get away with it.
Just like J. Edgar Hoover knew he could get away with assassinating Fred Hampton and Mark Clark for their successful efforts in educating, politicizing and organizing the Black youth of Chicago. The times are different now in this Pepsi generation, but the situation is pretty much the same. The issues are the same, the struggles are the same, and by design, they are knocking us off in these prisons. And no, I’m not saying this as one of those dudes who has read way too many conspiracy books where I’m to the point where I think everything is a conspiracy but I’m writing this as someone who knows from experience, and I am here today to prove that these prison rats have indeed been trying to knock us off.
“They are knocking us off in here, because they know they can get away with it.”
We sincerely, honestly and truly need help from the outside or else we are forever doomed in these sunless cemeteries. We are poor, powerless, imprisoned people, locked up and oppressed by people who are rich and powerful. We are helpless people against the huge obstacles. We need all the love we can get.
In prison, we don’t live, we maintain. And that’s what people like Ikemba (Marritte Funches) and Maroon (Russell Shoatz) are trying to do; they’re not only trying to maintain their existence, but they are also trying to preserve the lives and sanity of others who have to struggle and suffer behind enemy lines. They are trying to preserve these young lives and young minds by actively seeking ways to educate, politicize and organize these youngsters, because people like Ikemba and people like Maroon know what’s happening and they know, recognize and understand what they’re up against.
And because they are actively trying to show others what they’re up against and the way to resist, ways to rise above it and overcome it, these pigs are actively seeking ways to do them in. And one of their most effective strategies has been to lock us down and intentionally neglect to give us any proper medical care. And like I said, I’m not just thinking out of the side of my neck; I am going to prove it, for the first time ever, with the help of the BayView. I’m going to expose the atrocities we are faced with in here!
Our physical health, as well as our mental health, is in constant jeopardy in these prisons all across America, and what makes it so cold is that we are at the mercy of our captors. We are at the mercy of people who have no mercy. We are at the mercy of people who hate us, fear us, despise us and who are always out to show us who’s boss. They don’t care about us, what we’re going through in life, what challenges we have to face when we get out of here. They don’t care if we get out of gangs or not, they don’t care if we overcome drug addiction, poverty or any of that. They aren’t here to rehabilitate us, they aren’t here to help us, they are not even allowed to help us, and they won’t help us.
In Assata Shakur’s poem, “Affirmation,” she wrote that she has been locked by the lawless, handcuffed by the haters and gagged by the greedy. What does that mean, locked by the lawless? The people who work for the state, the government, have the law on their side. They can break the law and get away with it, so in all reality, they are lawless.
“Our physical health, as well as our mental health, is in constant jeopardy in these prisons all across America, and what makes it so cold is that we are at the mercy of our captors. We are at the mercy of people who have no mercy. We are at the mercy of people who hate us, fear us, despise us.”
They can enforce the law, but they don’t have to abide by it. They feel as if the law does not apply to them. So you see, they got us behind enemy lines locked, handcuffed and gagged. Just like they bound and gagged Bobby Seale in an American courtroom. They blatantly abuse their power to keep us bound and gagged, just to show us who’s boss. That’s what we are up against.
I want to show my solidarity to Ikemba. I want to help save his life because his life is worth saving. He is my comrade, he is someone who has schooled me and reached out to me in real ways that have helped me get set on the path of activism and radicalism. I am Hispanic and he is Black, and he has crossed “racial lines” to reach out to me and even during times when there was conflict and turmoil between the Blacks and Hispanics in these Nevada prisons, we both were able to put solidarity above the bullshit and collaborate on real levels of truth and understanding.
I guarantee you Ikemba’s life is worth saving! You save this man’s life and you will save many lives, because this is a man, a warrior, a comrade who has the capability and desire to reach out to others, young prisoners, in real and meaningful ways. Ikemba truly has the spirit of George Jackson and that’s not a sight you see around here every day amongst all this daily degeneration.
So please help this man get a lawyer, help him get some real medical care, before these haters knock him off! This shit is real. We are dying up in here, getting buried alive up in here. Just imagine if you had kidney failure and you had no one to turn to for help, nowhere to go, no one who cared, no one to give you help. How would that make you feel?
Think about it: We are helpless in here while at the mercy of people who would gladly spit on our graves and there’s no reason we shouldn’t have the right to be treated like humans, with a little bit of dignity and respect. Health care is a basic necessity in life, just like food, shelter and water; it should be distributed to all people fairly and equally. The basic necessities in life should not come with a price tag. That just ain’t right.
So, if you’re reading this, this is your chance to do something right for humanity, this is your chance to do something good for a good man. Get involved, get on the phone, call people, talk to people, reach out, pool your resources, help this man get a lawyer so he can get a doctor to look at his kidneys, so he can get the treatment he deserves!
I want to expose the tragedies that take place here in Nevada’s prisons and I truly hope the Bay View will help me do it. I am sending a 13-page declaration that was written by a registered nurse, Lorraine Memory, who works here at Ely State Prison and who had the courage to stand up and speak out on behalf of another one of my comrades, Kevin Lisle.
This document will show you now the warden and the doctors here at ESP and in Nevada generally are trying to knock us off! I mean, this document is coming from someone who works here on the inside and who was willing to put her job on the line to save the lives of the inmates who reside here. Like I said, she wrote it in support of my comrade on death row, Kevin Lisle, who was basically left to be hung out and dried.
The doctor here at ESP – who was a gynecologist working at a men’s prison by the way – was eventually escorted off the ESP premises by the FBI and told that he was not allowed to practice medicine in the State of Nevada ever again. The FBI had him under investigation because he was on the internet trying to expedite the executions of some of the death row inmates here at ESP (Nevada’s maximum security prison) where he worked and was in charge of the care and wellbeing of these inmates.
Three inmates have died under his care, “by accident,” due to lack of medical attention. It’s hard to believe that it was an accident. This 13-page document puts it all out there for people to see how they are knocking us off in these prisons, and it exposes the racism, sadism and oppression that our keepers are capable of. This is what goes on in all prisons across this country!
I hope when people read this they will begin to understand things in a whole new light, and hopefully it will make people feel inclined to do something to help Ikemba with his grave and serious plight. His life is on the line and I hope this document will help people understand how serious this is. This document is meant to reveal the truth, because what we say is going on in these prisons is the truth and cannot and should not be hidden. It must be exposed.
How the truth is received depends on what the people who are exposed to it do about it. You can see that we are helpless in here. Just like the comrade Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, who is locked down in Pennsylvania having heart trouble and who can’t get any medical treatment. He has liberated himself from prison twice. So now they just ignore his pleas for help because they automatically assume, or suspect, its another plot to escape or because they want to see a radical like him hurry up and die.
These are matters of life and death, this is serious business and direct action needs to be taken because these are people whose lives are worth saving because of the real, worthwhile contributions they make for their people and their communities. We cannot allow them to sit here in prison and rot and fade away in the hands of their enemies.
My solidarity goes out to the Native brothers in Nevada State Prison in Carson City who are on a hunger strike for the support of their Native comrade who was attacked and assaulted by the correctional officers for helping Ikemba get word out to the people on the outside about his grave medical condition. You don’t see that type of solidarity extended to other races like that in here, so I have to give my “eagle feathers” to them for that! That’s good shit. We need to come together in here and organize ourselves. We need help from real comrades on the outs. Get involved in our struggle please; we have nobody out here in Nevada to help us.
“We need people on the outside to get involved in our lives, in our struggles in real and meaningful ways, because these are real struggles we are going through, real crises, real tragedy, real oppression that we are up against. So, if you have a heart, get involved.”
We cannot expect the people who keep us here to help us. We can’t trust any of these people who are in power, because if history has taught us anything, it’s taught us that they use that power to oppress us, not to help us. Government cannot be trusted or relied upon; just look at what happened with the governor of Illinois on Dec. 9, 2008, who was arrested for corruption. That’s what government means: corruption.
We can’t expect the people who hold us here to help us. We need people on the outs to get involved in our lives, in our struggles in real and meaningful ways, because these are real struggles we are going through, real crises, real tragedy, real oppression that we are up against. So, if you have a heart, get involved. I hope this article and the nurse’s testimony will open your eyes and open your heart to true activism.
It’s time to get activated. Its time to get aggravated. Its time to do something real, something right. Keep your head up, Ikemba. Stay strong, brother, because they can’t kill a revolutionary. Much love to the Bay View. Thank you for your support.
Coyote is a 31-year-old self-defined anarchist who holds his own prison chapter of Anarchist Black Cross in the confines of Nevada’s maximum security prison, Ely State Prison. To send letters of encouragement and support, write to Coyote Sheff, 55671, P.O. Box 1989, Ely, NV 89301-1989.
This article can be found at SFbaview
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