POW Robert "Seth" Hayes

[XXPANTHAXX]

REVOLUTIONARY GREETINGS, Comrades, Supporters, Friends, and emerging Combatants of Afrikan Liberation Struggle:

A LUTA CONTINUA' (The Struggle Continues)

The Struggle for Liberation, love, truth, peace and justice, within amerikka continues. We all must do our part to ensure that our young inherit a positive and progressive share in life's unending struggle to be! With that in mind, I'd like to share a bit of my history with you in this article. It is my hope that through my experiences, you will glean some insight and fortitude to wage arduous struggle through your own life experiences.

My name is Robert Seth' Hayes. I was captured and convicted in New York City in 1973 under a host of charges, attributed to my membership in the Black Liberation Army (BLA). Through my conviction, I received a sentence of 25 years to life. In 1994-95 I began my 22nd-23rdyear in confinement. And it's the confinement, the nature thereof, I'd like to talk to you about here. Been in mind, that prior to my and others like myself, arrival into the prison system, the conditions were at their normal "oppressive" high. But upon contact with combatants of the community, greater emphasis was then placed on how to deter emerging minds (those already confined, and those entering it), from gaining insight or developments of consciousness, from captured Freedom Fighters. Executive Teams (i.e. Department of Corrections top advisors) from across state (prison) lines began to assess/share ideas, and information, on how to psychologically depress, isolate, oppress and hopefully render impotent, revolutionary combatants. It was agreed by them (the D.O.C.) that the standard practice of physical force was to be continually emphasized and heightened by a secondary level of mental terror. The objective was to convince outsiders to steer clear of captured comrades or suffer similar circumstances. And if by chance, combatants themselves became "worn out" to the point that they themselves abstained from revolutionary practices (i.e. became unstable, reactionary in practice, or incapable of organizing others, or themselves), so be it!

With the introduction of Revolutionaries into mainstream prison life, the system (with its multifaceted tentacles) found itself confronted with its greatest challenge. Simply put, the lines were drawn, the enemy identified, and the battle became engaged.

For me, the first distracting incident occurred during my 5th year of incarceration. One evening, at approximately 10 pm, an officer passing by the cage holding me hesitated in front of it. When I looked up to determine what he desired, the fool snapped a picture of me nearly blinding me with the flash, then quickly raced down the gallery. After settling down, I began pondering the reasons for his actions. Was this a means of identifying me for a hit man or squad? A souvenir? I/we never clearly determined exactly why the act was committed, but it did have its affects. I began to move more slowly and resist certain conversations while being too busy watching my surroundings. Regrettably several days passed before I concluded that what I encountered was the opening salvo of "unexplained" acts specifically designed to undermine the recipient and make him second guess day to day activities The results being, others (the enemy) could close in closer as the Rade was now moving slower, more cautious, more accessible to observation. Closer scrutiny to determine if the Revolutionary was resorting to indecision, using greater caution, and whether or not he/she appeared to be moving in confidence? Though I took the necessary legal steps in the matter! I/we never forgot the lesson we received. The battle on the Psychological plane had begun. Hence from that day forward, my watch word was, "plan for the expected and be prepared for the unexpected." Move responsibly, and as always, seek counseling from one's peers!

Over the years, Comrades, statewide, have discovered the systematic moving of Rades to isolated areas as a further means of discouraging Revolutionary work. While in Green Haven C.F., while engaged in solidarity activities, I was snatched up and moved to Southport C.F. Once there and contacting folks in the street, everyone had the same question. What and where is Southport? Heretofore, it was an unknown entity. A High-Tech prison recently opened, that none of us had ever heard of. No doubt I would have spent many a year there had it not become necessary (according to the D.O.C.) to create a Marion (23 hr. a day lockdown) type state facility. Without having SHU status, I could not legitimately be held there. I was transferred to another isolated outpost called Wemda C.F. where I reside to this day. With the new emerging pragmatic conservative team in place statewide, the emphasis now has shifted back to the 70's standards of placing organizers in one holding place, as opposed to one man to a cell, as widely spaced as possible.

These types of dehumanizing practices along with a host of other demeaning acts, have been the specialty of corrections for many many years. They are designed not only to derail conscious activities, but simultaneously act as a deterrent to others seeking to make the crossover. Needless to say, none of it works against a determined and conscious member of Domesticated Warfare here in Amerikka. With the support networks such as the Campaign to Free Afrikan Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War in Amerikka, headed by Dhoruba Bin Wahad and Tanaquil Jones, and others too numerous to name it has been relatively easy to maintain a sense of Firmness and Alertness and Strength, while still confined. As it stands, I am scheduled for the parole board in 1998. At that time I will have completed 25 years in captivity. I have no optimism that I will be released, but I will nevertheless struggle to become released.

[Sadly, Hayes was correct and his parole was denied.]

If in the event I am not released, I will maintain a Revolutionary Commitment to Struggle til Liberation comes or life ends. So I say to you, one and all, the Struggle is arduous, therefore, so must your commitment to changing society, humanity, be arduous. HARAMBEE (Let's Pull Together). A Luta Continua'.

We Resist,
We Resist
We Resist!

Robert Seth Hayes
BLACK LIBERATION ARMY AFRIKAN FREEDOM FIGHTER