the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 31, 2025
The award-winning documentary focuses on an organized fight in California’s Pelican Bay State Prison. It houses men in solitary confinement who are accused of “gang activity”, with no oversight, no way to appeal. The only way they could get out was to agree to snitch on gang activity. Some were held in solitary for decades. (The United Nations says solitary confinement for more than 15 days is torture.)
In 2011, they decided to go on a hunger strike to fight against this practice. They signed a “no hostilities” pact between the different nationalities, neighborhoods, and races. After two weeks of the hunger strike, the prison administration appeared to cave, but nothing came of it.
Two years later, they came together to try with a hunger strike again. This time nearly 29,000 prisoners across 33 prisons and 4 out-of-state prisons went on a hunger strike, all on the same day. The strike lasted for nearly two months, and at the end there were still 100 refusing food. This time, they could not be ignored. As a result, the Pelican Bay Prison was shut down, and the prisoners were transferred. The solidarity won though their efforts was the real victory, and lays the ground for the next fight.