John Clarke posted this yesterday on Facebook:
When a wave of arrests took place following the major confrontation at the Ontario Legislature, in June of 2000, that became known as the Queen’s Park Riot, those of us who were sent to the provincial jails experienced no end of solidarity and support from the other prisoners.
There was one exception. A young man from a somewhat middle class background who had joined us at the action was taken to the infamous Don Jail in Toronto. When he got out, I made some remark about how great it had been to be in such a welcoming place, even if the facilities were a little lacking. He, however, had had a very different experience. Displaying somewhat elitist politics and limited survival skills, he told the other prisoners that he was a political prisoner who didn’t deserve to be locked up with criminals. I can’t imagine why they didn’t like him!
The demand for political prisoner status does have a very valid history but all the experiences I’ve had in those jails reinforces my sense that, as a day to day operation, they are the cutting edge of a highly political operation. Those who are warehoused in them are the Indigenous victims of colonial enforcement, the people who face the racial hierarchy of this society and those who are the targets of a repressive system of class based social control.
If you find yourself locked up for a directly political act of resistance, you should feel a great sense of affinity and respect for those who are in there with you. Their acts of survival and frustration flow from the very injustices you were challenging. The respect they display towards anyone who has engaged in social resistance is enormously telling. The distinction between the political prisoner and the regular inmate needs to be addressed carefully because day to day repression in this society is political to the core.
The Abolitionary 