Solidarity to solitary strikers!

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SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 2016 9 On Aug. 13, a rally and march took place in solidarity with the hunger strikers protesting solitary confine­ ment in Waupun, Wis. The rally met in front of the notorious maximumsecurity Waupun Correctional Insti­ tution, which has been around since the 1850s.

(Quite a few prisoner protests and strikes have taken place at WCI over the years. In 1969, about 250 pris­ oners protested low wages, filthy work conditions, and brutality of the guards. In 1976, 88 prisoners seized hostages and held them for 13 hours. Another rebellion took place in 1983.)

The Aug. 13 rally included about 50 people from different backgrounds, including Ex-Prisoners Organization, Industrial Workers of the World, a small delegation from Socialist Ac­ tion, and a variety of other groups.

At the beginning of the rally, an exconvict talked about life in the prison. The demonstrators then marched around the prison, shouting slogans and accompanied by drums. One ban­ ner read, “Dying to l67 days,” the pe­ riod that the hunger strike has been going on. The protest was “escorted” by patrols of the Waupun police, the Fond du Lac County sheriff’s office, and other units.

The march stopped at various lo­ cales around the prison to shout slogans. At one point, the marchers yelled over the wall to give support to Cesar Deleon and the rest of the hunger strikers. They also shouted that demonstrators would be back for the National Prisoner Work Strike, on Sept. 9. Prisoners in at least 20 states are planning to take part in the action, making it the largest coordinated prison strike in U.S. history.

The protest ended with a speech by a mother of a person in solidarity confinement. n

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presence in the march.

And this is despite the fact that a month before the march, Pride sponsored a standing-room-only panel