Apr 2, 2020
Kijana Tashiri Askari
In this podcast special, a comrade spoke with Kijana Tashiri Askari, an imprisoned community organizer, prison abolitionist, and New Afrikan Black Revolutionary who helped to found the W.L. Nolen Mentorship Program. At one point in time the mentorship program had about 50 prisoners nationwide on its mailing list. The W.L. Nolen Mentorship Program, named after a central leader in the formation of the California Prisoner Liberation Movement, alongside George Jackson, during the 1960s and 70s. Kijana Tashiri spent over two decades in the Pelican Bay SHU and was instrumental in the development of the networks that sprung forth the first waves of California Prisoner Hunger Strikes. You can reach WLNMP at w.l.nolen13@gmail.com or by mail through
True Leap Press
PO Box 408197
Chicago IL, 60640
You can also write to Kijana at:
Kijana Tashiri Askari
s/n Marcus Harrison #H-54077
CMF Vacaville – Wing #342
P.O. Box 2000, Vacaville, CA 95696
You can read writings by Kijana at his blog, KijanaTashiriAskari.Wordpress.Com
Currently Kijana is facing dire conditions at Vacaville Medical Facility, a smaller prison across the road from CSP-Solano. Two weeks ago he was diagnosed with a heart blockage that requires immediate surgery, however because of the COVID-19 crisis, he was turned away from the hospital and sent back to the prison, where he remains. At the facility where he is imprisoned, there is relatively zero movement of prisoners happening, as everyone is being held in isolation. However, prisoners are not being allowed access to cleaning supplies, and it is a mixed bag in terms of guards taking the crisis serious, and those who are not. He, along with countless people locked up at this facility, are at severe risk if the virus spreads through the prison.
Freeworld and incarcerated supporters of Kijana’s have organized a phone zap, demanding the following things:
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That the surgery be performed and necessary medical protocols are followed. Kijana needs a splint in his heart. This is a serious condition.
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That the proper precautions for his physical safety are made during Kijana’s procedure. We demand that surgery is done in a sanitized and controlled area, to prevent contamination of this coronavirus.
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That Kijana be given adequate medication in light of this blockage revelation, he is currently only taking Tylenol.
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We demand his immediate release as his time locked up has been served 3-fold!
(This is key to his survival and a realistic demand, given that he is up for parole this year)
If you choose to call, email (1, 2), or write the governor’s office, we urge you to connect this to the broader struggle of releasing elders, immune-compromised, and those most vulnerable to the virus inside; thus:
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That the governor of California grant mass clemency and systematic release of all elders, immune-compromised, and those most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Keep an eye out for posts with scripts and images for a phone zap for Kijana on our Twitter and Instagram, but even more so on the Twitter and Facebook for True Leap Press.
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Tracks in this podcast: