Rashid Has Been Transferred! In Solitary, with No Medical Care

Kevin “Rashid” Johnson is Minister of Defense of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, and a long-time prisoner held by the Virginia Department of Corrections. Rashid is a well-known artist and author, who had written about politics, history, and philosophy, and has also written numerous articles exposing acts of abuse and corruption in the U.S. prison system.

Earlier this year, Rashid received a diagnosis of prostate cancer. This was eight long months after test results in late 2021 indicated a biopsy was needed, one that he only received in April. Since receiving his diagnosis on July 1, Rashid has been provided with zero medical care, and prison guards have effectively sabotaged his access to treatment by arranging for him to be late for his appointment with a doctor, which was then cancelled. To make matters worse, on September 23 Rashid was transferred with barely any notice from Nottaway to Sussex I prison, where he has since been kept in solitary with no access to his property beyond his legal property.

What with this new transfer to Sussex I, confinement to solitary, and denial of access to his property, all in the context of his recent cancer diagnosis and lack of care, Virginia officials seem intent on killing Rashid. We must not allow this to happen!

As a first step, supporters are urged to phone the warden of Sussex I, and also Virginia prison officials, to voice your concerns (see below for contact info).

It has been communicated to Rashid by prison staff, specifically the VDOC Health Services Administrator, that emails which are clearly seen to be copied and pasted from a pre-written script are not being taken seriously. For this reason, we have moved away from giving out scripts and are placing an especial emphasis on simply articulating his demands in our own words in the form of actual coordinated phone calls. There is a tendency for folks to just copy/paste the script into a cookie cutter type email. This type of action has little to no effect on the prison staff. So, we are asking, at Rashid’s request, to please not copy/paste the script in emails or read a script verbatim.

Points you may want to raise when you phone:

• Mr Johnson has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and needs to receive appropriate medical care, including access to doctors, a healthy diet, and any treatments immediately.
• Mr Johnson does not belong in solitary confinement and must be granted access to all of his property immediately.

Please mention that you are phoning for your friend Kevin Johnson, inmate number 1007485,
housed at Sussex 1 State Prison.
People to Call:

Beth Cabell, Lead Warden | Phone: (804) 834-9967

Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections
Harold W. Clarke
VADOC
P.O. Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261
(804) 674-3000
docmail@vadoc.virginia.gov

Director of Health Services, VADOC
Steve Herrick
healthservicesinquiries@vadoc.virginia.gov
(804) 887-8118

Outside supporters have formed a KRJ Defense Committee. We meet weekly with the goal of building a large scale, grassroots type movement in defense of Rashid.

People who are interested in getting involved with any of the subcommittees, specifically for coordinated phone banking and our social media team, should reach out via email: general.secretary@ribpp.org or message us on Facebook or Instagram using either the RIBPP or PSO pages.