Cayenne Bird, Letters and Articles in Suport

B. Cayenne Bird
Letters in Support of U.N.I.O.N.

This page is in response to the slugfest instigated by Matthew Gray because the UNION won the compassionate release of Beverly Diaz after a campaign since February, 2003. Attacks on the UNION Director, B. Cayenne Bird have angered many people who have worked very hard to build a voting group that is the key voice for inmates and their families in California. As a legal person, I am alerted when, where and how to help people by the UNION newsletter. Like all the UNION subscribers, I work from my heart. There are no paid volunteers in our group. The good of the cause is the most important thing to us. We may attack politicians but infighting with people on our side is not something we like to do as it wastes time and takes away from our campaigns and projects.

UNION people who attempted to post to the PRUP email list were not allowed to do so. The attacks on our work invalidated many hardworking volunteers. Most of these email lists are not doing activism that includes projects such as protests, press conferences, mailings, a television and radio show and lawsuits, getting out the vote for candidates who are against prisons and harsh laws such as the UNION has done since 1998.

This is the other side of the story. We must look at hidden agendas in such attacks and realize that Heidi Jones works for the DHHS and Lanie Vanatter is a former prison guard who had a mental breakdown. B. Cayenne Bird is a reputable journalist and organizer and has donated her time without a salary to give voice to the voiceless tirelessly since 1998.

The compassionate release of Beverly Diaz happened because of Cayenne's new television series "Cayenne Common Sense" where we brought Beverly's now deceased mother, Ann Kilitz on the air to describe how she was ignored as she begged for her daughter's life. Cayenne also allowed Beverly's children age 10 and 19 to ask the public for help.

Within two weeks both doctors signed a compassionate release but Edward Alameida turned it down several months later. Cayenne told him that the UNION was going to picket his office and draw attention to this obviously case of murder by medical neglect.

Matthew Gray is named as one of the people who ignored the appeals of dozens of people to help Beverly Diaz, which he did AFTER the compassionate release was granted. The UNION Newsletter documented requests to Zimmerman in Assembly member Jeff Denham's office (60 of us went there on March 13 and begged for mercy for Beverly when a transplant was still possible) - and we documented dozens of requests to Matthew Gray and others that were totally ignored.

It is a historical event that a compassionate release would be granted two months before the expected date of death instead of two days. Instead of everyone sharing our joy at this important victory, the UNION and B. Cayenne Bird have been bashed out of petty jealousy and a total misunderstanding of our communications network.

April 9, 2004

Well, I prefer not to be long winded spideriixs, as this is all volunteer time for me here and my schedule is backed up, but there are so many misunderstandings and false statements that I am taking the time to respond out of respect for the posters. I have published more than 1000 articles over my career, owned my own publishing company for ten years in Orange County which was listed with Brad and Dunstreet, done a great deal of organizing. Additionally, have television and radio shows running in a series statewide that was just picked up by the Cox network. My school chums know that my maiden name was "Cox" just to give you a clue.

If you'd like to read a few of my published articles, this is the website where some of them are posted.

http://www.oocities.org/1union1/advice.htm

and the television and radio shows are playing statewide, these are recent productions in addition to the daily newsletter where we share responses and letter to the editor examples.

If people were getting the communication of media professionals - not just mine - that they must organize and mobilize to have a voice, we wouldn't have all these harsh laws in place or all the budget cuts. So never let it be said that I fall down on communication, although I cannot always be here to post to you and answer questions.

The UNION is a newsletter that teaches people to organize. We coordinate at least three pickets and attendance at important hearings each year, inspire lawsuits by finding pro bono attorneys when we can - seven subscribe - we answer at least 500 inmate letters peer week.

We have many subscribers who have been involved for six years who spend hundreds of dollars on printing, postage, and the necessary costs of activism.

Producing and distributing our television and radio shows has cost us $3500 so far but we know that public education is vital to reform. So we all donated our time to produce our regular series. It sounds simple but many volunteers are required to do these shows in the high quality fashion that we achieved. None of us are rich, so we must gather money to send out the high quality special tapes to the television stations, buy the postage for each one as the series moves from channel to channel (100 channels, eight shows, it's about $600 just to distribute each show with no salaries being paid).

This is just one of our projects.

Last March 13 we did a protest at the Capitol in the middle of the week that cost us $1000 to put together. This included renting tables and equipment, printing flyers (more was spent by families who distributed flyers to bring the crowd that MUST appear before the legislators take anybody seriously). We had to prepare 50 press packets of many pages each since we did one picket to cover a number of bills that we wanted to support or oppose.

You cannot have activism for free. But all the people who participate in the UNION work are volunteers. None of us have EVER taken a salary. Let's get that straight.
It is necessary to have money for expenses just to answer mail and send literature into inmates who are all looking for $50,000 worth of free legal help which no group in California can provide.

Most email groups do not answer inmate mail, we do. We want them to know they are suffering because their families have never set up a real group to that can hire lawyers and activists so that the work can actually get done.

ACLU pays their lobbyists and lawyers, clerical staff and this is common sense. But not even they can afford to do all the fighting that needs to be done due to constant shortages of funds and volunteers. This is the fault of inactive family members that NONE of these groups can really do lawsuits, initiiative campaigns, provide enough legal services.

Funds and volunteers are vital if there is really going to be activism.

Passing email can be done for free, but passing email back and forth does not do one thing to help our cause unless there is going to be a lawsuit, initiative campaign, ad campaign for public education, massive pickets for media attention to back up what is stated.

Wanting reform and paying for and working for reform are two different things.
We had eleven campaigns that people wanted us to work on in January.
We had to do a vote to determine the top five due to limitations of funds and volunteers. These were all life and death issues that deserved work and investment of time and money but all the groups are short what it takes to be really effective
And of course, there is no large voting group that can elect candidates to office and pay for their campaigns.

Some of our oldest subscribers have worked 50 plus hours a week as volunteers since 1998. We grow forward but it has cost the best of us a lot of time and money doing thankless work.

Cesar Chavez went through this for many years before the hippies and students came in and set up the United Farmworkers Union which at one time had 20,000 dues paying members who finally did have the teeth it takes to do things right. The problem in that cause has always been ignorance and apathy, poverty, problems similar to ours. Had the hippies and students not come in and set it up, UFW wouldn't exist While there are still challenges, even the most uneducated farm worker knows they must organize, mobilize, raise money, recruit more strength and show up to calls to action. They know that the size of the crowd is the proof of their strength.

There are not 20 farmworker's groups. There are not fifty teacher's unions. We are suffering oppression because of our failure to organize enough workers and raise enough funds to take care of our own business.

We do not have the volunteers to answer 500 plus emails a day or 500 regular mail letters from inmates per week, so we have restricted ourselves to subscribed, committed people only. We are simply a communications system that keeps the media and legislators informed on a daily basis of what our credible families are reporting from behind the walls We do a lot of work for everyone but it is all done for no pay.
Some UNION people are heads of other groups such as large churches or labor unions - we have many teachers, professors, health care workers.

We try to support their activities on our behalf as much as possible. We are limited only by the number of active volunteers and the funds we have for campaigns, as is any group in all of America.

This is backwards thinking to criticize raising the funds it takes for activism and you need to examine the hidden agenda of anyone who would do that - what they are telling you is not to do protests, lawsuits, initiative campaigns or media campaigns.
This cannot be a friend to inmates who would teach not to organize and fight back properly.

We are always short on funds to meet the emergency requests coming from every direction so we restrict ourselves to those who are sincere in supporting and helping with our work. The journalists may not belong to a group but they may "subscribe to a newsletter" and with 45 journalists on our list for a decade, and my status as a journalist, we are naturally going to protect our business from the CDC people on the internet.

We do not want our battle plans all over the internet and we want to protect our writers and fighters as much as possible from retaliation against their loved ones, so we do it this way by subscription only.

One lady bought $30 worth of bubble envelopes to pay for her annual subscription, another bought $30 worth of copies to hand out at her prison. That's how we do it, pay for supplies. The newsletter is so large that it costs quite a bit for subscribers to mail it into their inmates but often this is the only education that inmates are receiving on how to organize and mobilize.

We have saved lives and given hope to inmates who are otherwise suicidal but we could not mail this huge newsletter in every day for $30 a year.

We would do many more campaigns if the money was there. Groups that only pass email really aren't making much of a difference.
Four steps are required.

1. Writing to editors at least once a week, 150 word letters that address items currently in the news. The media always read their email and mail. Politicians do not read email

2. Showing up when called three times a year to show our numbers and our ability to organize to the legislators. Otherwise they do not fear lawsuits, initiative campaigns or recalls. The size of the crowd determines the size of respect we're going to get for the issues at hand. No crowd? No media coverage, no clout.

3. Recruiting others to write and show up until we find those 6500 workers who are always on standby alert. CCPOA only has 28,000 members but they raise $2 million per month to keep their campaigns in force and hire 22 lawyers, scores of p.r. people. We outnumber them as 3 million people are hurt by injustice connected to state prisoners alone. This does not include jails, juvenile halls or the federal prisons. They can organize, we have not, so they're in charge of our lives.

CCPOA puts out a call to action to their phone tree and can bring 1500 picketers out anywhere in the state in about three hours. It takes the families of prisoners months to bring out a couple of hundred people. We are all suffering due to an inability to organize and respond with crowds when needed. We only call three pickets a year because that's all we can afford but many more are needed to address and stand up to all the problems.

A small crowd means nothing to these bullies who understand the power of funded voting groups.

4. Getting out the vote. When someone will represent us, the UNION people know to bring ten people each to the polls in an effort to get people elected CCPOA has its members sitting in the legislature in elected office They paid for their campaigns. These are the same people who are going to vote on our issues. So what do you think their vote is going to be? In our favor, no! Never. We have to fight fire with fire or be the victim of larger, smarter voting groups.

Write to editors, show up when called, recruit others to write and show up, and get out the vote. A simple formula but almost no one besides us is doing it If they were the problems wouldn't exist as we would have hundreds of lawsuits filed and ads blasting away on the radio. We have achieved this current prison blow up simple by alerting the media on a daily basis of our complaints. But it may not last long and it is a continuous process. Other groups understand these basics of organizing and activism and do it every day AGAINST you. Beating out the families of prisoners is too easy. You can do something about that fairly easily.

But not without some time and some money required to cover expenses of lawsuits and campaigns. What ulterior motive would anyone have to urge you not to do this necessary work for reform? Are they really on your side when they tell you not to fight back or criticize the work of those who are fighting back? There are hidden agendas everywhere. Too many groups out there run by people with no loved one in prison at all.

I support any group who is truly picketing, writing to editors constantly, doing public education campaigns, lawsuits and intiative campaigns when they are in our best interests, but we only have so many projects that we can handle as volunteers in the UNION. Our feeling is that we carry too much of the battles and could do more with more support. But as a group, we are a lean, mean, fighting machine and we do not fight with each other. We support one another.

There are warden confirmation hearings coming up. It would be nice not to be the only person testifying against these devils this year. A great deal can be headed off at the pass when people are paying attention and responding at the right time.

I have never seen one other group or person except us (ME) stand up and state all the reasons why a warden shouldn't be confirmed. This delivers the message to the legislators and the media that everyone must be happy and that these wardens are doing a good job. Silence is deadly. If more people were testifying, they wouldn't be able to torture the inmates of the leaders so easily. If more people were testifying and reporting abuses to the media, we wouldn't have two year lockdowns happening that nobody knew about.

We have a lot of work that needs to get done but we are only as strong as the number of people who respond to the calls to action.

You need not be a subscriber to the UNION newsletter to help with the important work that affects your life We post what is needed on our alerts page. Doesn't mean that we are going to have the money to pay for a good campaign but we do keep everyone informed. The trouble is that we have too many people out there who think someone is going to rescue them, some group, judge, legislator and of course only a large voting group can effect a rescue. That's what we're striving toward.

As far as wanting everyone on our lists and overburdening ourselves with too much email, that is not our goal at all. We want committed workers who understand that our only way out of this mess is by contributing the time and money it takes to really fight back. Otherwise we're carrying dead weight which wastes our time and resources.

We are gathering support for a large, class action lawsuits to stand up against visits. We hope that with 3 million people connected to inmates there will be 2600 people willing to get together and get this done

There are 30,000 children who may not visit their fathers and mothers until they reach the age of 18 years old. Now the base for support of lawsuit is larger.

We don't care who gets it filed, but we're making an effort because no one else is doing it. With seven volunteer lawyers in our ranks, we think we can put this together but it won't begin until we see 2600 people ready and willing to back it.
The more who participate and support class action lawsuits, the cheaper it becomes to hire real legal work done, which is what we need here You never see CCPOA or the Crime Victims groups depending only on pro bono lawyers.
If that's the case, we'll never win anything.

These lawsuits take a lot of time to coordinate, but we need to do it, so let's expand the 1150 names we have and take it the rest of the way.

Fight back or be a victim the choice is yours. The law firm will collect the money when we get the backers together, we're not gathering funds yet and won't until we know that people are really going to carry a small share of the load for a real fight.
2600 x $20 each is $54,000 - that's how we need to think in order to get things done, in large numbers.

We all need to recruit more workers to whatever groups we think are the best. Then we won't have to be the political footballs any longer. It's a choice we have to make.

B. Cayenne Bird

Letters in Support

I have known B. Cayenne Bird for twenty years and I would like you to post this story to your list
if you will. There was never a finer and more generous person born on the face of the planet
than this mother and grandmother, who has sacrificed so much to give the prisoners and their
families some respect and education on how to throw off their chains. This garbage going around
on the lists is by people who ought to be questioned. I have been a subscribing journalist since 1998.

There is a picture of me at our last rally on March 13 at the Capital at this website. I am the tall guy with the gray hair in casual clothes. You will notice the high caliber people who surround this fine
lady, many of them donate time who have no loved one in prison. One of those people is me. I highly resent this attack on our work which has benefited everyone. I wrote this last April when Cayenne’s son was being tortured because what she teaches people is a workable way to end all the oppression.

She is targeted because she is the most brilliant person about organizing in California. Her education of the journalists greatly elevated and exposed the entire cause. Not many professional organizers would have put up with the nonsense she has endured. She doesn’t want quantity of people surrounding her, she wants quality people who understand true organizing. You never see her criticizing individuals unless they are politicians or officials on our payroll as taxpayers who aren’t doing their jobs. I like the information she gives to us in a concise format. It is the only way that we as journalists can know what is going on in the prisons.

She holds people accountable and teaches them that they alone are responsible for being taken seriously because they can show numbers, raise money so they can qualify for grants, do lawsuits and initiative campaigns regularly because thousands of people share the financial load. I have paid for printing out of my own pocket, volunteered my time, and there is no one more dedicated, who struggles more for the good of the whole than B. Cayenne Bird, a person who just set a milestone with the release of Beverly Diaz. If there was no UNION, there would be almost zero voice for prisoners at these Senate Hearings.

What a dumb thing to slap the volunteers who carry everyone.

By Jerry Baker, Columnist

Posted in the UNION Newsletter August 6, 2003

Dear Frank,

First of all I want to thank you you so much Frank for all the support you and Cayenne have given me and going beyond the call of duty in everything you've done for me. My children are so grateful that you and Ms. Bird have invited them to do the segment on Aug. 19th to speak on my behalf.

They will each be bringing their own copy of a letter to Gov. Gray Davis and each will be bringing a picture of us. You have been so kind to me. I will always hold that close to my heart.

I truly believe if each human being gave an outreached hand of comfort and support that life would have meaning for everyone, regardless of how poor, how sick or how overwhelming the tragedy in our life have become.

It is people like you and Ms. Bird and the countless others that whose names I do not know who over time have helped bring justice to the little people in life.

I am making a pledge if my life is spared that I will devote my self and service to a good cause for those that have been treated unfairly.

Your friend

Beverly Diaz

To: matthew.gray@sen.ca.gov
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 10:04 AM

I want to thank you for all the pre-publicity on that particular episode of my show.

You are one of the stars of it and people will really want to tune in to see how your viciousness and callousness is exposed. So keep on promoting and tell people to check their local cable channels, different episodes air in different areas, I have no control over programming or editing.

Everyone is a volunteer, including me but you are PAID to do an important job. I suggest you get your priorities straight as we are bound to see an even higher death toll in the prisons from these deadly flu strains.

There is a pox outbreak and quarantine at CSP Lancaster that is fatal to already compromised prisoners.

A staph outbreak in the gym at Pleasant Valley Prison is reported.

Another report is that two workers in the kitchen at Folsom Represa have active Hep C.

You need to get your priorities straight kid. Your negligence is taking too many lives.

Beverly's legal case for willful negligence and medical neglect is rock solid. YOU,
Matthew Gray are one of the culprits identified here several times a month on this case
alone.

You have egg all over your face. It would be better for you to use whatever authority
you MAY have to help instead of to hurt people. I can't and WON'T stop the lawsuits
but there is always the possibility that you will be named in more, so why not attend
to what is really important here. Assuring the safety of all California inmates. You're on
the taxpayer's payroll in a job that is obviously way too big for you. Abusing authority
and coming in at the last minute, bashing us with lies.

Your notes across the internet have caused even more complaints and pleas for help that
you've ignored to arrive. While you are just one of the problems up there, rest assured
that people do know what you've done and haven't done. I suggest you go for help
to someone in authority because we have been documenting all your excuses for not
saving inmates for some time. You need to expose the problems instead of covering
them up and pretending that because you are powerless, they do not exist. This would
be the humanitarian thing to do. This would be the right thing to do. Is your ego more
important than the welfare of the inmates and the suffering of their worrying families?

Think about the impact of your inaction's and get your priorities straight. You will be
held accountable Matthew Gray for your actions and your inaction's.

B. Cayenne Bird

December 6, 2003

I am anxiously awaiting your public apology to B. Cayenne Bird and encouragement for people to get plugged into the UNION. Your statements were not only slanderous but grossly inaccurate.

Prisoners and their families never had such effective advocacy as they've had from someone is well respected by journalists everywhere and feared by those who oppress you. She has often demonstrated courage, strength and leadership even when her own son was nearly killed because she has a plan that is workable to put an end to CCPOA.

Matthew Gray has been named in at least four lawsuits for his willful neglect that resulted in inmate death or permanent injury because of the UNION's careful record keeping. One of those cases of neglect is Beverly Diaz which is well documented in the UNION newsletter step by step, possibly as many as 100 appeals to both he and Zimmerman in Jeff Denham's office. This pressure to end willful neglect comes from the UNION on many fronts.

We legal people need a trustworthy person such as Cayenne, whom I have known for years, to alert and bring large turn outs of people in order to influence judges and legislators. Recently, in the only high profile case where prison guards were on trial, the UNION volunteers made a loud statement that people do care about rape in prison. Without this cooperation, we cannot put this costly trials in the public eye.

If each family with a prisoner sent her $1,000 each, it would not be too much to ask. However, I know for a fact that the UNION is very active and struggles for money. It is a ridiculous notion that you can achieve lawsuits, initiative campaigns and large pickets with no funds.

It is not Cayenne Bird who fails you, it you who fail her. You will notice that the people of the UNION are well educated professionals who are committed to the simple back up actions that she needs which has prevented things from becoming far worse.

She wins the bills. CDC Director Alameida has decreed changes without authority to do so. The UNION has gathered more than 600 names to participate in a class action lawsuit. Thousands of people can easily file a lawsuit at any time for about $20 each.

You'd better hope, pray and help Cayenne achieve that database of 6500 people because until it happens, you will suffer more and more cuts and oppression.

You have slandered the best mind in the movement but you have also slandered the work of a few thousand people who have knocked themselves out to create a proper voting machine.
It is a scary situation to appear on all these bills with the law enforcement unions writing big checks to buy off the legislature. But the one person who is there the majority of the time, who has been criticized for standing up for the "bad" people, the one person who has given many of them a conscience and educated the press to a "healing" approach is the person you attacked yesterday.

B. Cayenne Bird.

Another person you attacked with your libelous accusations is me, someone who volunteers hundreds of hours per month to assist this group. I hope that you are getting my message here. Your ego should not be bigger than the greater cause. Issue the apology and build the UNION coalition with funds and volunteers for the good of everyone. Your insults come at a time when we are gathering support for an important class action lawsuit. The UNION is waiting for 2600 people to pledge support because they are tired of carrying everyone on their back

She's not weak and the release of Beverly Diaz is evidence of that, but Matthew Gray was notified by dozens of people in February when a transplant was still possible. You need to give public apology and credit to Cayenne and the UNION people who work so hard. Saving lives is a daily occurrence for her and she has clout because she is skilled and courageous journalist. As I said, your ego shouldn't be a factor in this full-fledged apology that we are all waiting to witness on all the lists.

You need the UNION and Cayenne's leadership a lot more than she needs you if these battles are to be won. Passing email is not fighting battles.

Please copy me. I'm very irritated with this undeserving libel and slander. You should all order a subscription to the UNION newsletter so you can learn what to do to save yourselves. Forget egos and rally around your best advocate. With this flu epidemic, the death toll is going to be high and doing a big protest right now might save lives. You effectively told people not to come. Undo that big mistake right now.

Do you know the difference between good and evil? The right and wrong thing to do?

Paul Godsend

Cayenne:

Please don't print my name in the newsletter but I want the UNION people to know that the efforts you made to get Robert Presley to recognize the problems in prison with lockdowns and food was used to fire him.

As you know most of the legislature and media are tuned into your struggles. It came up when the decision was being made whether or not to keep him how he treated the UNION families and ignored your requests. So, you all caused him to be fired, although there were other factors. You wouldn't know this unless I let it out so please withhold my identity, but I think it is important.

I need to tell you that Hickman is as pro CDC and CCPOA as Presley. As long as you all keep cracking the whip, he won't get away with the abuses but cracking the whip is necessary . Everyone saw the professional way you conducted yourselves, went through the channels. This is another feather you can put in your cap which is more like a headdress of achievements at this point. Good for you.

Whenever we think of the leading prison advocate, we think of you and Matthew Gray is a kid who has a lot of growing up to do. Don't get discouraged. The level of maturity and intelligence in your group is well known and feared by those who are bringing forward bills. They do not want you to testify against them with your clear logic on statewide television, that's for certain. All of you have my sincerest respect.

Sent from the Senate

Heidi,

I am sorry you are warning people about the UNION. I have been a member since 1998 when it started and Cayenne has personally helped me when my loved one was at High Desert. Only the UNION and Patrick Crusade helped me back then.

I live in Virginia so I am not involved in California Activist Politics over who gets what credit. I don't really care who gets credit. I just know who helped me. I flew a few years ago to CA to attend SHU hearings in Sacramento because my loved one is now in the SHU at Pelican Bay. Cayenne was there along with other UNION people who had loved ones in the SHU and they spoke.

Rose Braz was there, Corey Weinstein was there and they spoke. I believe the Friends Committee people were there also. Loved ones spoke but I saw no other groups. I never appealed to Matt Gray for help but I did contact the ombudsmen and after I did things only got worse for my loved one. I know Cayenne worked hard on the Beverly Diaz case. I wrote letters months ago regarding her release.

Maybe Cayenne does not work as you do or as others do but she does work. Her work helped my loved one get transferred out of that hell hole of High Desert and believe it or not I would much rather see him in the SHU at Pelican Bay than at the hell hole of High Desert. All of the back biting and fighting among groups helps no one. If you don't agree with her methods or people don't agree with your methods so be it . Remember the important thing. WE are all fighting for our loved ones in the best way we can.
Linda C

Sarah posted my comments to a couple of these email lists and she was told by Heidi Jones to "go start her own list" and taken off. Isn't that a slap in the face to so many hardworking people in the UNION? And so pointless and off base, totally uninformed. Let's hope that when the smoke clears that enlightenment happens. Thank you for standing up for our UNION.

Cayenne;

I have Hep C from prison, I have medical records showing that I did not have it when I entered
into the prison system.

And upon release I tested positive for Hep C. I think I caught it via contaminated surgical equipment. (I never used I.V. drugs). I had many minor surgery's for a wart on my finger, inmates in the medical dept. stated to me that most of the time the machine that sterilizes the equipment does not work.

So put me on that list for a lawsuit. Also what is the Statue of Limitations for filing a lawsuit just as this.

I think it is a year from the date you contacted the disease or a year from the date of discovery.

Long time UNION member (since 1998)

In The Struggle: Charles Wesley

P.S. My Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit against C.D.C. is scheduled for trial in February 2004. I hope the UNION knows how important it is that you all come to back me up. I was turned away from the clinic VHS 64 times and ended up permanently disabled. It is rare that we have a lawsuit but medical neglect is torture. The UNION is my home base of supporters and has kept me going through many trials.

God values faith, our trust in Him, above every other character quality that a Christian can develop. And how do we develop faith? By spending time in the presence of God through prayer and applying His Word and His promises to our everyday lives.

Heidi,

How can you possibly write such warnings about Ms. Bird? I can state unequivocally that she is one great lady! She has taught a number of helpless people to act and stop sitting around complaining. She listens and gives a helping hand where needed. She has stood up for all inmates and chosen to devote her life to righting the wrongs that occur daily in the lives of inmates and their families. She is a TEACHER. She is a MOTIVATOR. She has stood up ALONE against the wrongs that CDC has thrown out. Where were you when she was standing up against the atrocities? In the few short years that I have had to deal with CDC and prison policy, I have seen more and more rights or privileges taken from those who are helpless to help themselves behind bars. Men are living on buses, being bussed from prison to prison just ahead of the next inspection. Men are housed (I should say stacked up) in gyms without any help with sanitation. Visiting rights have been taken. Phone calls have been limited. Visiting days have been cut. Packages are taken from inmates. Unsanitary conditions abound. Families are being punished as well as inmates. What have YOU done to right these wrongs? I have seen this myself. I am not taking Cayenne's word on this, I have experienced it. I have seen her in action. I have witnessed her pen and speeches. She is an advocate. She is visible, not sitting behind a computer or setting up a pretty site online. She is writing, talking, acting, moving, motivating, stirring and she knows the real truth about what is being said. Yes, she has a sharp tongue at times. Good for her. She has guts! We need more people like her.

Shame on you for trying to take away from the inmates, from the families of inmates by putting her down in your words to many folks who might not know the truth. Every one of us need to stand up and speak up for what we know to be wrong. We need leadership and I have not seen it from you. Please join in the fight for the inmates and families instead of being destructive to a woman who has suffered at the hands of CDC right along with the rest of us who suffer as we watch our loved ones lose weight, battle with illnesses and suffer at the hands of calloused guards who are not strong enough to stand up and be accountable.

Use your time more wisely as this is more than a waste,
Shirley Wetherwax
San Diego

Dear Cayenne,

I am glad you brought up the fact that ALL organizations have expenses. Postage, gas, sending money into the inmates for assistance for them, copying and going places for recruiting. It also takes TIME, and time is money.

And, yes, labor unions have dues for that reason. People always think their reps and staff make a lot.......they don't. They would make MUCH more on the business end of it working for companies if money were their motivation.

We would be wise to fund raise and to apply for a grant. That will involve more bookkeeping practices and audits, but not having resources makes inadequately strengthened groups. And you are SO correct, a portion of labor union funds DOES go to political party activities and lobbying funds. These are "volunteered" funds by the union members who understand that nothing changes unless we can make our voices heard at the legislative arena. Union members are allowed to place that portion designated for "political" activities into another donation if they
are offended by using money to influence our lawmaking........and that's the real world. Labor unions do much more than bargain for raises and benefits, they are attempting to alter our laws to support workers and their families in society in general.

And we have bills to pay also. Unfortunately, the world operates on this concept of exchanging gifts and services by a third designation......money. None of us are in a position to donate endlessly, and most of us use our money for projects.

I think Heidi was horribly unfair in her attack and it offended me for all of us. I would be happy to give Matthew Gray his acknowledgment-- what did he do? I didn't see him on any of our activities. Was he hiding in the sidelines? Come out where we can see you and thank you then, or stop "crabbing" about it if we forget to mention you.

Astraea Kelly, Respiratory Therapist

from

Matthew.Gray@sen.ca.gov

BTW, not that accuracy ever mattered to you, but some time ago I was
promoted and am now the Deputy Chief of Staff.

I expect you'll want to take credit for that as well...

Matthew

Dear Cayenne:

I would like to express my heartfelt sympathies to the Bolander family. CDC does not know how to handle the mentally ill and our many UNION battles over this abuse over the years are evidence that the bill in federal congress is desperately needed.

Would the Bolander family be interested in contacting others so that we can build a list supporting a lawsuit for abuse of the mentally ill? I think that even those of us who do not have a mentally ill person in prison understand the dangers of careless double celling and of making the mentally ill agitated and violent.

You're right about one thing, we need to file about 20 lawsuits and everyone should be reaching out to others. If the Bolander family will cooperate in assisting with mailings I have the names of people with mentally ill inmates who should be mobilized to help us.

Ending visiting for thousands of children over alleged actions of one mentally ill inmate is an outrage and we should do something about it, which we are trying to do. But let's recruit some of these new people to help in reaching out on this topic too.

I would like to know of everyone who has asked Matthew Gray or any other senate aid or legislator for help and been turned down so they can join in one or more of our lawsuits as witnesses. It's time we held these people in charge accountable for the people who are suffering and dying on their watch.

I recall that you begged Matthew Gray and Senator Vasconcellos for help for Charles Wesley years ago when he was still in prison desperately needing surgery and they didn't come through. I hope Charles named them in his lawsuit! Maybe we don't win against these callous "leaders" but anytime they are forced to sit in a courtroom chair before a judge for their actions and inaction's of willful neglect, we have won something very important.

Susan Randall
uniondatabase@aol.com

The UNION folks worked on this campaign to release Beverly Diaz for nine months beginning in February, 2003.

Dozens of pleas were issued to Matthew Gray for help and at least 60 people visited Senator Jeff Denham beginning in February 2003. Several lawsuits are being filed against Matthew Gray for callousness in answering inmate complaints, including one where my son was nearly killed at Mule Creek earlier this year.

Frank Courser and I spent thousands of hours and hundreds of dollars fighting the bill proposed to make a law that transplants would officially be denied transplants in the last session. We did the first letter campaign months ago. The filming of the television show resulted in the actual compassionate release from the two doctors. Before that the answer was no.

But we weren't the only ones. Harvey and Lettie Baker assisted in many, many ways, Astraea Kelly worked hard on this campaign, Matthew Gray told Ann McNulty that she was stupid when she appealed to him to help. At least 60 people crowded into Denham's office and begged for mercy for Beverly. Sarah Chappell made a passionate plea that day and later.

It was a tremendous group effort and since we are by subscription only for active writing, picketing, suing, recruiting, voters, you cannot know what we do or do not do. But we are now six years old.

The UNION is usually the only voice for inmates in showing up in the legislature. There are many inmate email groups but they do not picket in Sacramento, bring crowds to hearings, file lawsuits or do actual activism.

We were the only people to show up the Dillard trial to back Rob Bastian recently. He is witness to our entire campaign for Beverly Diaz as well.

Yes, I have my own television show, I have been a journalist for 35 years. Ann Kilitz Beverly's dead mother made her last trip to appear on it with Beverly's children this summer. We filmed a l/2 hour segment and poor Beverly's mother named every person that she had begged for help and was ignored. We have documented MANY complaints where Matthew Gray has been responsible for a permanent injury or death due to callousness but he is not the only one.

He was also callous to the notification that John Bolander expected to be killed this summer after his accusation of child molestation ended visits for thousands of children and their inmates. I was the only person to show up to battle this bill which DID NOT turn into a law, but did turn into a "rule." There was no one else there to stand up for this but little ole' me.

I did a television show about Bolander which did air and his entire family are active supporters of the UNION.

The threat of a picket of Alameida's office and senatorial assistance, a nine month campaign, and television shows which are currently being edited but very clear on the 3/4 tape (Frank has only a VHS) will tell this story.

Additionally, I have filmed eight other shows with dynamic guests all of them UNION folks.
So as people who never write a letter to editors, never show up to important hearings, file a lawsuit, maintain a database of committed writers and protesters fail to organize, it isn't wise to throw stones at the one group who is always there fighting on behalf of inmates since 1998.

People must take the personal responsibility to picket in Sacramento. That is where the war is located. The legislators find it quite amusing that the families of prisoners cannot bring 1000 people to stand up for inmates, cannot find the 6500 necessary to do initiative campaigns, write to one another instead of to editors.

But they know this is not the case with the UNION. And Matthew Gray is a very lucky young man that I don't print all the letters that have arrived about deaths and suffering that he caused by not following through.

We have gathered 630 names for a class action lawsuit over the visiting and new packages policies. To change a rule requires a lawsuit.

To change a law requires an initiative campaign.

We do not have in-fighting in the UNION. Our people are doctors, teachers, nurses, social workers, four journalists who write about and assist with our campaigns, lawyers, public defenders and I, personally have been published on a multitude of issues.

So, the UNION did in fact achieve the release of Beverly Diaz and why did Matthew Gray take nine months to get around to it?

I have never taken a salary for my work as a professional organizer and journalist on behalf of inmates. And as I said, the only people I ever see showing up to hearings are Drug Policy Alliance, ACLU, Friends Committee on Legislation and myself.

Email groups cannot achieve reform unless they are going to do lawsuits and initiative campaigns. But in 1998 when I entered the prison reform movement, there were no journalists writing about abuses at all except for Mark Arax who has quoted me many times over the years.

I invite you to get serious about organizing, we do have cooperating groups and clergy in the UNION but writing and showing up for picketing is key to showing that everyone has the intelligence to properly organize the large number of people necessary.

Our lawsuit for visiting and packages will go forward when I see 2600 workers.

If others have been injured due to callous aides in the legislature, I urge you to contact me for the federal lawsuit we already have in progress naming 85 CDC employees.

Lawsuits and initiative campaigns is the only language that carries teeth. We are doing that on behalf of everyone, and yes, we did force the release of Beverly Diaz. It's historical! Letter campaigns to politicians and officials are thrown in the garbage can (although we did one for Beverly last Spring). 1000 people at a picket is never ignored.

The current flu epidemic which we've been preparing for and alerting legislators about will claim many lives of inmates who already have weakened immune systems. If I see enough participants we would like to picket to back up the demand I made to Alameida's office for disinfectant, more sanitary food handling, and a number of other vital health care issues that will minimize the death toll. Compromised inmates cannot survive some of these deadly strains of flu that have already claimed the lives of eleven children and sickened thousands across the country.

The soldiers have been coming home sick. The inmates are vulnerable. There is an outbreak of staph and Pleasant Valley State Prison in the gym. This is not a time for silliness but a time to pull together and show that we do have the ability to organize large crowds and file lawsuits for preventable crises such as the one that is currently upon us.

Beverly Diaz knows how she became the first person to be released. Both she and her mother have written us numerous letters of thanks. We get many complaints, as many as 500 per week, and there is no way that we can do a campaign as extensive as this one for everyone.
But I have always thought that with 8000 plus cases of hepatitis being spread EVERY YEAR in California's prisons that we as citizens need to unite and make certain the transplants are available instead of "politically" denied.

Some people pretend to be advocates. Some people actually are, I rest my case.

B. Cayenne Bird
http://www.oocities.org/1union1/home.html

Everyone in the UNION knows that we struggle for money but we are a newsletter on purpose. And what I donate to the cause in terms of funds and time isn't any of your business. We are not a 5013C organization, most of our individual members put up the $1000 it takes to do a picket correctly.

I don't see you at the Senate Heidi Jones standing up for prisoners.

Nor do I see you teaching people to write editors because they would tell me if that was happening.

I don't see you coordinating pickets in Sacramento or bringing groups to important senate hearings.

You didn't help us gather 66,000 signatures to Amend Three Strikes last summer. My son isn't incarcerated on three strikes but I helped three campaigns that were doomed to lose from the very beginning because there weren't enough people involved.

The UNION is larger than you think, but it doesn't really matter to me who achieves the 6500 necessary to do lawsuits and initiative campaigns, or who goes up to these tedious meetings in the Senate.

Do you know that we stopped 60 bills in the last session alone that would have made things far worse? I didn't see you up there for even one meeting Heidi Jones. I don't think this is laziness on your part, it is a lack of experience with how the system works.

Insight without the PROPER action is worthless. Until they see enough people mobilized, galvanized, not broken up into 500 little groups, capable of raising enough funds to do lawsuits and campaigns, there will be no threat.

If you buy a news subscription to the Bee or the LA Times, do you have a right to see their books? Isn't this looking the gift horse in the mouth?

There is no group in California that has enough funds and volunteers to do things right. My income is from disability income. I have arthritis in my wrist and back. As I said, I have never taken money from inmates or their families for personal use and there are many people close to me.

I live in a little two room place in the foothills outside Sacramento. When the legislature is in session the parking alone costs me $90 per month not to mention the 80 miles round trip in gas and wear and tear on my car.

I am not attacking your work but I don't see you setting up a well funded, picketing, writing to editors (letter campaigns to officials are a waste) suing, recruiting, mobilized organization gearing up to do initiative campaigns and lawsuits which are necessary.

I have never met you, have no idea what you look like, you have never been a part of the UNION or the ridiculous letter you circulated would never have been posted. As I said, our energies are much more than sending email back and forth to one another.

There is no rich prisoner advocate, give me a break! What are you thinking here!

Yes, when CAVC ran out of money, we stepped in a bought more petitions for everyone but that is because one of our members mortgaged their house to do so.

We are only as strong as the number of people who want to take the information and do something with it, only as strong as the number of people writing regularly to EDITORS, doing pickets at the Capital, doing campaigns and preparing their readers for activism.

I don't see any other group doing that or even maintaining a database. Until this gets done, we are all stuck, so you'd better wish us luck for the good of us all.

And what do you want to do about this flu and staph outbreak? Just sit on the sidelines and watch inmates die because not enough people made noise at the capital where the war is located? How smart is that?

Cayenne

The UNION is a newsletter, a communication system whereby people subscribe to it. Since I am a professional organizer and well-published journalist, I teach people when, where and how to REALLY fight back.

I owned the newsletter long before my son went to prison and Matthew Gray and John Vasconcellos were subscribers to it as well as most of the journalists in California whom I have known for decades. The newsletter was in existence years before 1998 when I became more than just the newsletter publisher but also an advocate because no group in California could call a decent picket in SACRAMENTO, where the war is located.

We have actually done one campaign after another which has benefited everyone. I, however, do not like to get tons of email and snail mail from people who are always begging for help but have never really created an organization that can provide that help.

We now have 39 journalists, four of them have prisoners inside, who subscribe to the newsletter and have for years. They carry most of your battles and we supply them information of what is going on behind the walls since the press is banned. They may not belong to a "group" ethically, but they may subscribe to a newsletter. So that is why we are the UNION newsletter. We value our journalists.

In 1998 I began donating all the proceeds from my EXISTING newsletter to my personal following as a long time journalist to pay for printing and postage and our pickets at the Capital. We usually have four or five a year. We must rent tables, do press packets, print and distribute flyers, pay for hotel rooms for speakers, etc. We are not just passing email.

But nobody in the UNION gets a salary and in fact, we have all spent thousands of dollars of our own personal funds, money we didn't really have to spare to fight for others, to build ourselves to where we are today.

But officially the UNION is a newsletter, I am a journalist, publisher and a volunteer and that is the way it always has been, and Jo Ann Galvan was our record keeper for several years before Susan Randall took over as database coordinator in 1999.

Our system has always been the same. Yes, we kick people out who don't write letters to the editors or show up to pickets four times a year, who never recruit others to write and picket or help with any of the work. Inaction is why we have all these problems! We are about action!

And some of those people I kick out for sitting on the sidelines get sore with me for insisting they carry some of the load. But the only reason in the world we have all these problems is because the same 500 people are fighting all the battles, writing all the articles for public education, paying for everything, filing all the lawsuits (we have three in progress right now separate from the class action lawsuit we're planning) while others pass email back and forth to one another. There is no group in California with adequate funds and volunteers to be effective.

I am not here to fight individual cases for people although sometimes I do that from the goodness of my heart for those who are hard workers in our UNION.

I am simply here to publish a newsletter and teach people how, when, where they can fight back. My family and I have paid a high price for doing that, believe me. But it is the people of the UNION who have struggled to organize and done the campaigns for the most part.

The key journalists all follow the newsletter, and have for many years, as well as many legislators. It is a good place to confront people who aren't taking care of business. Inmates often die because their appeals for help are never even read by the politicians. But we have no petty infighting because we're too busy writing to editors, planning our next protest, filing lawsuits and keeping ourselves very well educated on the current issues.

I believe there are 6500 people who want their loved ones out of prison or at the very least want them in the most comfortable and safe conditions possible. That many workers can change any law, recall any politician but less than that cannot.

Because there are only 150 days to qualify items for the ballot.

Most of the original people are still in the UNION, we protect one another and stick together, we're friends and have been through a war together. And we've created the crowd many times, gotten out the vote when a candidate is representing us, helped and supported others with their rallies and made a big difference.

Saving lives is routine for us as our journalists are very responsive to our press releases and articles, most of the letters to the editor you see printed out there are ones that we wrote. Because that is my rule, if I am going to spend 3 hours a day writing a newsletter then subscribers need to write in to editors who will always listen when they get 200 letters on the same topic. Knowledge without action is worthless. So we write to editors every week.

We're effective because we do a great deal more than just pass email to one another. But until there is one group of writing, picketing, voters who can bring ten people each to the polls (there are 3 million people MINIMUM connected to inmates) to put people into office who will represent you, until there are 6500 workers who can raise the money for initiative campaigns or at least 2600 people who will share the load of class action lawsuits, we are all stuck.

Recently we started a campaign where our core UNION folks renewed their commitment letters, about 157 have arrived the past two weeks, more are on the way. I think we are the best group of volunteers in California. Five LA Times journalists have been very close to us for a number of years, the San Jose Mercury News, the Chronicle, the New York Times, the Reporter always publishes our articles, BBC, Kron 4, Ecobyte News, The Justice Express, Justice Denied Magazine, many, many more depend on our alerts.

So think before you bash people who are always there for everyone, and think about why we have had one victory after another and not much wasted motion like some of these other email groups that never sue, never picket in large crowds, never challenge the legislators, never do get published which is vital to public education. Anytime I kick people forward it is for their own good. When one group brings together 6500 people, the legislators will recognize our movement. Until then, we are no threat and we are going to suffer the most cutbacks. They know that the UNION knows how to really organize and has the press plugged into us everyday, so we ARE taken seriously. We are a threat, other groups are not. Naturally, we are going to get bashed.

We've done a great deal of good. But the point is that we are all volunteers carrying the bulk of the battles as others sit on the sidelines and don't help us. This is what the legislators count on, apathy and ignorance on how the system really works, by groups who are powerful and funded. As I said before, it isn't wise to bash allies. Why not study our system and past campaigns (about 1% of them are posted at the website).

We are for subscribers only and no threat to all the email groups. I don't want to waste my time on passing email back and forth to people who aren't truly organizing. Once that gets done right, our troubles will be over. Did you know that if each inmate sent ten friends and family members to fill up their cars with ten more people the potential combined vote that we have is 16 million - enough to elect anyone?

We are the voting group. The communications system. The press came to us during the fires for reports on injured inmates since CDC was blocking everything. The reason the press plugs into us is that many are my personal friends whom I knew long before my son was arrested. This should not threaten anyone but be a welcome vehicle. Sometimes I get criticized for fighting for "criminals."

Less than 6500 organized workers - that means on one database committed and standing by ready to write to editors, picket, sue, recruit others, raise money for initiative campaigns can force reform. So when my messages about ignorance and apathy get rough, that's because our true enemy is our failure to properly organize a scary, large, funded voting group.

Nothing else gets any respect from the lawmakers. Nobody is operating up there out of compassion, the law enforcement and other groups buy them off, pay for their election campaigns so naturally the bills they write are going to be for those special interests. We outnumber everybody but it doesn't count unless people are properly organized. This is the one thing that almost every other type of group in California can easily do but not families of prisoners. They knock one another down and attack the effective individuals in silly power games. This has been going on for twenty years.

But not in the UNION. We're too busy fighting back. An apology would be nice and circulation of both my responses to all the lists that you bashed us on would be helpful.

Lives are at stake with this flu and other dangerous diseases raging out of control. We need to picket. Who will join us in an effort to minimize the death toll? Some of our families from San Diego and Los Angeles would rather hire a homeless person to stand for them for $30 since the trip costs them about $150. We know that small pickets are a joke to the legislators. They know how many ACTIVE people it takes to do initiative campaigns and be a serious force. So that's why we have that rule. But our own folks are very nice looking middle aged and elderly folks mostly and I prefer to have them because they know the issues. Still, crowds are necessary for the media and the legislators to take any cause seriously. These are some of the things I teach in the UNION. I didn't have to take the time to explain but I thought that since the information was incorrect that I would, for the good of us all.

My television and radio shows and the newsletters are more than I can handle. I have ten grocery bags full of mail backed up here that need answering. We need a whole lot more support in order to do more good work out there. But one thing I do not need is hundreds of people begging for help when they didn't care enough to build the proper organization that could really provide the help. That's why the prison guards have control of your life. They did this. You should see all the horrible stuff coming out of Alameida's office simply because they think you can't organize 6500 people into one effective group. You're going to be shocked. The UNION is far from being the enemy. We're the Calvary.