Pablo Piña D-28079
P.O. Box 7500 D-2 122# SHU
Crescent City, CA 95531

12/28/13

Re: Hunger Striker: (Post)
Knowing Your Limits And Whom
Should Not Participate

I wanted to share with you my thoughts about being on hunger strike. I wrote a journal on the effects and struggles of what I experienced on the three hunger strikes. I took notes daily of all I went through and what prison and medical staff did as well. I wanted to have this printed. But I sent it to a friend to read, and he never returned it.

I obviously can't recite it now. But what I will attempt to do is describe what I feel is the most important thing to consider before and during a hunger strike. Because failure to do so could cost you your life. Or one of your friends or fellow participants.

Before we began our first hunger strikes in 2010, we were looking for any information that could help us, give us an idea of what we should expect. How long can one survive without eating food. But what we found was not very helpful.

During the hunger strikes, we lost some prisoners. They died while on a hunger strike. It could have been any of us.

It was those sacrifices which I salute in my journal and today. But most importantly it was what made me think of the realization that hunger strikes are not for everyone. No matter how much they want to participate, it's better that they don't.

*The first hunger strike at Pelican Bay SHU was in 2002, I believe. But it only lasted for a week. And was done only for the sole purpose of alerting the media that there were serious problems in California's prisons. The media is the greatest asset to have in any struggle.
*The civil case that was pending at that time was settled. It brought some minor changes to the gang validation process but not where it affected the large scale amount of SHU prisoners. In reality, it did nothing for us back here. But the prisoner who filed the case, he was let out of SHU. And was paid a good monetary settlement.

We have been fighting against each other in prison for decades. So there was very little trust among us. (And still is...)

*But in 2010, when I was asked what I thought about a new hunger strikes, at first I was skeptical. Because the people asking didn't even participate in the last one.
*They also wanted everyone to put up personal funds to hire an attorney or firm to take out case to court. This was a lot to ask for. I can't even take care of my own personal needs. I just don't have the funds.
*But I agreed to the first hunger strike. Many people now involved at first didn't want to participate. I'm surprised how outspoken many are now. When at first they didn't want any part of it.
*I spoke to the people I know and discussed it in depth. The pros and cons and one thing kept fixing itself to my mind and cut into my thoughts: "What exactly are we going to do? Just sit here until we start dying?"
*And so I agreed that I'd participate. But we all had very little expectations or hope that it would work. What we were counting on is that the media would make it serious.
*As it began more and more prisoners began to participate. Which was good because it gave us some support.
*The first day was easy. The second day, even easier. After a week of not eating only drinking water, it was not as hard as I thought.

But then on the eighth and ninth day, I began to feel the change. First I had not used the bathroom in nine days. My stomach felt empty. And it was starting to tighten up. I wasn't hungry though. Not at all. But I noticed that my voice had almost all but disappeared. I could not even yell for shower change. No sound came out. Then as days passed, I started to get really dizzy.

About two weeks later, I was in serious pain. I began getting these pains in my sides. I mean, it felt like my skin was being ripped off me. I couldn't sleep anymore.

By the time the third week rolled around, I felt really tired. I heard several inmates being carried out. When an inmate is sick, his neighbors call "man down," and he'd be taken to the hospital.

What I soon learned was that if I stood up, I would get like a dizzy spell. I would completely black out. The first time I fell against the wall and it sorta broke my fall. I slid down the wall. If the wall wasn't there, I would have fallen on my face. Like a couple others had done.

One day I was at the sink filling a milk carton with water when, out of nowhere, I could feel my legs start to shake. And everything got gray, like fuzzy. I couldn't see the sink. My hand, nothing. I dropped the milk carton, and I knew the sink was there so I grabbed it and held onto it. I would have fallen face first into it. Instead my knees bent and I slowly fell to my knees. After four minutes, it cleared up.

*So I learned that after a week to ten days, I'd get dizzy. I learned in order to protect myself from falling on my face. Firs stand, count to ten, then walk. Don't just stand and walk.
*I learned the pains in my sides were my kidneys. You must drink a lot of water and lie still. Very still.
*Don't think of eating. If you want to go a long distance, tell yourself you don't need to eat. After three weeks, the strike was called off.
*The second hunger strike I thought I was ready for it. I figured I'd get the pains and dizzy spells in a week to ten days. But I started getting dizzy in three days.
*The body is only at its best when it's well fed. It needs protein and vitamins, and it gets that from food and water.
*Your body can function as long as it's healthy. But starving it is going to cause your organs to shut down. Like my voice, I couldn't talk because my vocal cords shut down.
*A lot of inmates have medical issues already. So when they starve themselves, their bodies are already weak. Which makes them worse faster and could cause death.
*I was laying on a hospital bed, and a nurse was taking my vital signs. Then a doctor spoke to me. When all of a sudden I couldn't breathe and it felt like I was having a heart attack. I began shaking and convulsing. It was so bad it brought tears to my eyes. I could hear the nurse saying, "What's wrong?" and she told the doctor my blood pressure skyrocketed.
*A person who has heart issues would be in danger of an attack. And could die. Anyone with medical problems has to be careful.
*I personally would tell anyone with medical issues not to go on a hunger strike because it could kill him.
*I went through this three times. I lost 30 pounds and 37 pounds. I was really thin. My clothes felt too big for me. Very loose. :/