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NEWS & LETTERS, August-September 2001 Civil rights activists and drug law reformers protested in the small Texas town of Tulia demanding justice on July 22 for the Tulia 46. It marked the second anniversary of the Tulia "raid" when a large proportion of the entire Black population of the town was accused of cocaine trafficking by one corrupt (white) informer and convicted with no physical evidence whatsoever. Forty-three of the town's 250 Black residents got dragged into the criminal injustice system. Families of prisoners, calling themselves "Mothers of the Disappeared" kicked off a national campaign showing how the drug war affects families. One of the organizers, Mattie White, is a 50-year-old grandmother who is now holding down two jobs and raising her grandchildren. Three of her children were arrested two years ago during the infamous "raid." The ACLU and NAACP have filed lawsuits which helped keep about half of the accused out of prison. The mothers' organizing also caused Texas to pass a law that makes convictions require corroborating evidence. "Mothers of the Disappeared" is the latest in a long tradition of families of prisoners organizing. In the early 1990s Mothers' ROC (Mothers Reclaiming Our Children) organized in Los Angeles, followed by LA 4+ committee. Families Against California's Three Strikes has had an explosive growth. The very name, "Mothers of the Disappeared," draws attention to the international struggle of mothers who lose their children in political wars like the Madres de Plaza de Mayo who drew the world's attention to the disappeared in Argentina's dirty war of assassination against leftist opposition. Other prison activists, including the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, are having events in August to demand an end to the unjust drug war. -Urszula Wislanka |
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