Political Prisoners

Organizing Against the Prison Industrial Complex

One of the most important and constant areas of Yuri’s activism was her work in support of political prisoners and against the prison industrial complex in the United States.

In the opening of the chapter “Supporting Political Prisoners” in her memoir, Passing It On (1998), Yuri writes:

“There are over two million men and women, mostly of color, warehoused in prisons across the country, which is more than any other nation. Many are innocent, and many should not be in prison but rather, in hospitals. There are 150,000 women in prison, and over a million and half children have parents in prison. There are also another five million people on parole. The prison industrial complex is building more prisons and more youth prisons. The majority of prisoners are Black and Latino, and American Indians make up a high percentage of the prison population. The Kanaka Maoles (indigenous Hawaiians) have the largest imprisoned population in their island country...racism, classism, and politics weigh heavily in the criminal justice system: in jury selection, poor defense, prosecutorial misconduct, police intimidation of witnesses, and withholding evidence. Once locked behind the walls, there are guard brutalities, withholding of medication, denial of basic needs, long stays in solitary confinement, taking personal property from prisoners during shake-downs, allowance of prison rapes, and the pitting of one racial group against another. Prison is not a place of rehabilitation; it is a place for punishment, isolation and humiliation."