A new year has begun. This month alone, the state of Texas is planning
to murder 5 men in the name of justice. They will murder sons, fathers
and husbands. As last year showed, some of them don't wait for the
state to kill them; they take their own life in protest of a flawed
judicial process. Michael Johnson died after he took his own life on
19-10-2006 proclaiming his innocence.

The New Year also brought a new stronger and more coordinated wave of
protests. The non-violent resistance, claiming a change in inhumane
conditions, which had been strongly supported by a hunger strike that
started on October 8th, 2006, is now deployed on a larger scale. Early
reports talk about at least a dozen men on one pod alone, determined
hunger strikers now working within DRIVE or in collaboration with
since New Year Day. Their goal? They only want a little bit more than
they have now at Polunsky Unit Death Row. They are simply stated
hungry for humanity. Nothing complicated, nothing outrageous, nothing
more then the very basic human needs and nothing more then what almost
all other death row inmates in America are allowed to have.

Also, new recruits were thus found among the men of Texas Death Row
and women among Death Row inmates in Pennsylvania. While this inside
struggle is going on, the outside support hasn't been still: Among
several things, a rotating hunger strike in solidarity with the men
inside has started from the 1st of January; and the national DRIVE
spokesperson and CEDP-Austin (Campaign to End the Death Penalty)
member Bryan McCann and some other anti-DP activists had an important
meeting on December 18th with Rep. Jerry Madden, Chair of the House
Committee on Corrections, at the request of the latter. DRIVE issues
were addressed and for the first time, DRIVE was officially heard by
the Texas authorities.

The DRIVE Movement is getting stronger by the day. DRIVE's
determination is overwhelming, not a single protester has broken the
rule of non-violence and therefore the impact gets bigger. DRIVE is to
be taken seriously. DRIVE actions cannot be rejected.

"One of our main goals here is to chronicle our struggle to give you a
good look inside these walls. One rarely gets to see beyond the facade
the system presents to the world. As stated by one of this century's
most prolific writers, Paulo Coelho: "What the eyes don't see, the
heart doesn't grieve over." We hope that if we can help you see we can
move you to act. We also hope to somehow foster the attitude
throughout the world that we on Death Row are fellow human beings. I
will try my best to remove the misconceptions generally held that we
are monsters - cold blooded, un-feeling, unthinkably evil. Most people
who are pro-death and those working with the machine feel this way.
They have to. If they don't hate us enough, how can they kill us? And
how else can one learn to hate a person, without first removing their
humanity? I refuse to give up my humanity. And I refuse to allow you
to see me as anything other than who I am. Through our sacrifice and
return of good for evil, we intend to win this fight." said DRIVE
comrade Steven Woods.

For more information, personal reports of the inmates and much more,
please visit  http://drivemovement.org