Georgia Prisoner Hunger Strike

In this piece, Georgia prisoner and former hunger striker Yahya Jihad Ali discusses his experience in Jackson State prison.  I have been corresponding with Yahya since he and 4 other hunger strikers in Jackson State Prison wrote a piece I submitted in March. I have typed the letter up exactly as he wrote it to me, as best I could:

The benefit that I'm still deriving from the hunger strike is the strength that I've gained from knowing that I survived not eating several days at a time.  Every time I go through a new struggle I draw comfort in the fact that I've been through worst.  In order to master a situation one must first master themselves.  I feel I have truly mastered the essence of who I am. 

This article consists of writings by five men who participated in the Georgia Prison Hunger Strike.  The strike began in June 2012 with 10 prisoners striking to protest mistreatment and poor conditions.  It was part of a continuation of a December 2010 prisoner strike in which prisoners refused to work or leave their cells. According to Bruce Dixon, "They were demanding simple things like transparency in inmate accounts, like wages for work, like educational programs behind the walls and such.

On Monday, July 16th, 2012 there was a rally held in Forsyth, Georgia to show solidarity with Hunger Strikers in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center (also known as GDC or Jackson State Prison).  About 80 people attended the event, which was organized and coordinated by many local radical organizations and members of the Hunger Strikers’ families. Some of the groups involved included Project South, The Ordinary People's Society, Prodigal Child Project, Take Back the Block, Industrial Workers of the World – Atlanta Chapter, and the Atlanta Black Cross to name a few.