Our visit with Mumia Abu-Jamal

By Monica Moorehead
Frackville, Pa.

Monica Moorehead visiting Mumia on death row in 1996. WW photo: Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes and I have been visiting political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal for 16 years. We started visiting him when he was on death row at State Correctional Institution-Greene in Waynesburg, Pa., which is near the West Virginia border. Our trips there by car from New York City would take at least seven hours, and even longer by bus.

Our first visit with Mumia — in March 1996 — was also the last face-to-face independent video interview of him, thanks to the late Key Martin, a founding member of the Peoples Video Network, who persisted in forcing the prison to grant this three-hour interview.

All of our visits at SCI-Greene gave us a glimpse into Mumia’s almost 30 years on death row — that is, the inhumane conditions that he and others were forced to endure, including spending 23 and a half hours a day in a tiny, poorly lit cell; being deprived of exercise, which caused the swelling of legs and ankles; and inadequate food and medical care.

Before every visit, Mumia was subjected to an invasive strip search. His wrists and ankles were shackled during visits. But when we met with him and discussed world events from a revolutionary perspective, these very oppressive conditions would seemingly melt away. Mumia had the ability to make each visit an illuminating political experience despite the repressive environment.

This past December, following the overturn of Mumia’s death sentence, he was moved to SCI-Mahanoy, a general population prison in Frackville, not far from Harrisburg, Pa. Larry and I had the incredible opportunity to visit ­Mumia on May 6. We were ecstatic to be able to physically hug and shake hands with him for the first time in 16 years. He was in very good spirits, smiling and very animated.

The visiting room had the atmosphere of a large cafeteria, including a commissary to allow family members and friends to purchase food for their loved ones in prison. It was very heartening to see and hear children running and laughing throughout the room, and to see open affection being shown towards prisoners, all of whom were wearing jumpsuits with “DOC” — which stands for Department of Corrections — written on the back. When we asked Mumia what it was like to be off death row after 30 years, he replied, “It is still a major adjustment.”

He told us how surprised he was that so many prisoners knew of his case, and the respect they had for him as a political prisoner. A Mumia activist told me how a relative of a white prisoner had reproduced Mumia’s first book, “Live from Death Row,” for him to read. Mumia’s books are banned outright by the prison.

Mumia also told us how he has become a mentor for a number of prisoners, especially young ones. One prisoner in particular is only 20 years and was sentenced to a 40-year prison sentence for attempted murder, not murder! According to Mumia, the prison population is 60 percent Black, with a large number being Muslim.

‘Profoundly encouraged’ by OWS

For most of the three and a half hours we visited with Mumia, the main discussion focused on the Occupy Wall Street movement. Mumia acknowledged that Occupy Philadelphia forces helped play a decisive role in getting him off of death row by joining forces with veteran pro-Mumia activists like Pam Africa.

Mumia told us that when a number of Black activists expressed to him some misgivings about OWS, his response was to encourage them to recognize OWS as an evolving movement — a dynamic, evolving movement that activists must find ways of engaging, ideologically and strategically.

Mumia spoke about the economic basis for OWS, in that the predominantly white youth-led movement has been cut loose by capitalism, especially in this particular stage of deepening global economic crisis. These white youth are finding out that they have more in common with Black and Brown youth, who have historically known that the only future that capitalism offers is racial profiling and mass incarceration.

These white youth are becoming disillusioned with capitalism because, while they have been told they would have a better life than their parents, in reality they cannot find any good-paying jobs despite their college degrees. They are also finding out, as they face increasing repression, that the police as an armed force are neither their friends nor workers.

Mumia stated: “I am profoundly encouraged by the Occupy movement. It’s good news for revolutionaries everywhere when those who once thought that they were privileged start to rebel against the system and join with those of us who have no illusions about or love for imperialism.”

After we said our goodbyes to Mumia, Larry commented to me: “It was an incredible experience to be able see and touch Mumia without his ankle-to-wrist shackles and enclosed in a small booth behind a plexiglass window, which was the only way he could see visitors on death row. We must not be content or rest until Mumia is free.”

Moorehead, a WW managing editor, and Larry Holmes, Workers World Party’s First Secretary, are both Secretariat members of WWP. To view excerpts from the 1996 PVN interview, go to tinyurl.com/827fdvq; tinyurl.com/87e79be and tinyurl.com/76spkgw.

Addameer Calls for Continued Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners as Mass Hunger Strike is Launched

Ramallah, 18 April 2012 –
http://samidoun.ca/2012/04/addameer-calls-for-continued-solidarity-with-palestinian-prisoners-as-mass-hunger-strike-is-launched/

Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons launched a mass hunger strike yesterday, 17 April, on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The call for hunger strike came amidst a wave of individual hunger strikes initiated in the past few months, and prisoners on hunger strike continue to face punishments by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).

An estimated 1,200 Palestinian prisoners announced the beginning of an open hunger strike yesterday, along with approximately 2,300 who refused meals and are currently preparing for a wider campaign of disobedience. The hunger striking prisoners’ demands include: an end to the IPS’ abusive use of isolation for “security” reasons, which currently affects ­­­­19 prisoners, some of whom have spent 10 years in isolation; an end to Israel’s practice of detaining Palestinians without charge or trial in administrative detention, under which 322 Palestinians are currently detained; a repeal of a series of punitive measures taken against Palestinian prisoners following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, including the denial of family visits for all Gaza prisoners since 2007 and denial of access to university education since June 2011.

This collective hunger strike follows the 22-day day campaign of disobedience, including a mass hunger strike, launched at the end of September 2011 in protest of the escalating series of punitive measures taken against Palestinian prisoners in prior months. On 18 October, prisoners put their hunger strike on hold in light of the prisoner exchange deal concluded by Israel and Hamas. As most of the punitive measures taken by the IPS against prisoners were part of a policy aimed at collectively punishing them for the continued incarceration of Gilad Shalit, it was expected that these would be reversed with his release. At the time of the first phase of prisoner releases, the spokespersons for the prisoner’s movement made a deal with the IPS that the policy of isolation and other punitive measures would be stopped within three months if the prisoners ceased their hunger strike. Today marks six months since this agreement was made, and no policy changes have yet occurred. Prisoners have therefore re-launched their hunger strike to demand their most basic rights.

Notably, at least ten Palestinian prisoners remain on extended hunger strikes launched during and following the inspiring individual hunger strikes of Khader Adnan, who was on hunger strike for 66 days and released from administrative detention at around 11:00 pm yesterday, and Hana Shalabi, who ended her hunger strike after 43 days. Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh are currently on their 50th day of hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention. They are both being held in Ramleh Prison medical center, where their health is rapidly deteriorating. Three other administrative detainees have also been moved to Ramleh Prison medical center, including Hassan Safadi, Omar Abu Shalal and Jaafar Azzedine, on their 45th, 43rd and 28th days of hunger strike respectively. Ahmad Saqer, the currently longest-held administrative detainee, is on his 32nd day of hunger strike. Mohammed Suleiman, Thalassemia patient, is also refusing medical treatment in protest of his administrative detention. Four additional prisoners remain on hunger strike for other reasons, including: Mohammad Taj, on his 32nd day of hunger strike demanding to be treated as a prisoner of war; Mahmoud Sarsak, moved to Ramleh Prison medical center on 16 April and on his 27th day of hunger strike in protest of being held under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law; Azzam Diab, on his 23rd day of hunger strike in solidarity with his brother Bilal; and Abdullah Barghouti, on his 7th day of hunger strike in protest of his ongoing isolation.

These prisoners have all been punished for their hunger strikes by being placed in solitary confinement and denied family visits. The prisoners involved in the mass hunger strike have also already begun to face punishments by the IPS. In an attempt to isolate them from the rest of the prisoners, prisoners on hunger strike in Rimon prison have been transferred to the isolation section of the prison and prisoners on hunger strike in Eshel prison have been transferred to Ohalei Keidar, where no other Palestinian political prisoners are held. Even more troubling, the IPS has made it exceedingly difficult for independent doctors to visit the hunger striking prisoners and has prevented hunger strikers from meeting with their lawyers.

Addameer particularly condemns the IPS’ efforts to ban Addameer lawyer Samer Sam’an from all prison visits following the increasing number of Palestinian prisoners engaging in hunger strike. After being frequently denied visits upon request, the deputy director of Ofer prison informed Mr. Sam’an on 10 April that he would receive an official ban on access to all prisoners. According to IPS regulations, the director of a prison can decide to ban a lawyer visit to an individual prisoner for two days, after informing that prisoner, which can then be extended by the head of the IPS for up to one year. Mr. Sam’an’s ban therefore violates even the IPS’ own regulations, as he is now effectively being banned from access to all prisoners. Addameer anticipates that the IPS will continue to use tactics employed in last fall’s hunger strike in order to systematically prevent lawyers from having access to the hunger strikers, such as moving prisoners to other prisons without informing their lawyers, in an attempt to further isolate the hunger strikers and undermine their campaign.

Addameer calls on the diplomatic community to pressure Israel to immediately allow for hunger striking prisoners to have access to necessary healthcare and legal advisement. Addameer further urges all political parties, institutions, organizations and solidarity groups working in the field of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory and abroad to support the prisoners in their hunger strike and demand that their legitimate demands be granted. Addameer will continue to closely follow the prisoner’s campaign of civil disobedience and provide regular updates on the situation as it develops.

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org

On the killing of Trayvon Martin

Lynne Stewart
On the killing of Trayvon Martin
Published Apr 18, 2012 10:20 PM

Lynne Stewart, 72, noted activist and “people’s lawyer,” is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence at Carswell Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. She was convicted in 2005 of distributing press releases for a jailed client, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Originally sentenced to 28 months in prison, a federal court judge upped her time to a 10-year term. Stewart, who has been treated for breast cancer, entered prison in November 2009. Her attorneys appealed her sentence in federal appeals court in February; she and her supporters are awaiting a decision. On April 8, Stewart wrote this statement with her partner, Ralph Poynter, another decades-long activist.

I am going to start out with an apology. I am directing it most sincerely to Trayvon’s mother who is bearing a burden no mother should ever have — the sudden, violent death of her child. But I most respectfully must disagree when she states that this is not a “white and Black thing.” It is. It is just the latest in a long series of Black and white “things” that have been happening ever since the first Black person was ripped from all he knew and loved and transported unwillingly as a chattel slave from Africa to serve the Europeans (whites) in America.

The “things” I speak of are the victimization and oppression of Blacks by whites who are certain that they face no punishment, no retribution, for the outrages they commit. Close to 400 years after the first crime against Black humanity — slavery — was committed, there is a direct and unbroken connection to the recent events in Sanford, Fla., and the murder of Trayvon Martin.

Do I exaggerate? I don’t think so. I have lived 72 years, 50 of them in the movement. Repeatedly, we mourn and attend funerals and memorials for the victims of an unjust authority — be it police, neighborhood watch, KKK, Nightriders or just “everyday” white folks who know there is nothing to stop them. Back in the 1960s, the murder of Clifford Glover in the 14th Street subway station by police, while [he was] “graffiti-ing,” was the horror and outrage of the day. So many have followed [that] I have lost track, but I can never forget Eleanor Bumpers in the Bronx, Alberta Spruill of Harlem and Ben Chaney in Mississippi.

Nor can I forget the mothers who fought for justice, including Margarita Rosario, whose son [Anthony Rosario], was ordered to the floor by two New York City detectives and then was shot at close range; and Juanita Young, whose son [Malcolm Ferguson], after protesting Amadou Diallo’s death, was murdered by New York police on a tenement stairway. When the cop was questioned, he said he didn’t know why he did it. Both Juanita and Margarita had to deal with a Bronx District Attorney that called both murders “justifiable homicide.” In November 2011, in White Plains, a 68-year-old Black man with a heart condition, an ex-Marine and Corrections Officer [Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.], was shot dead in his own home by local police for no reason. There are so many other victims.

The “Stolen Lives” [Killed by Law Enforcement] project now numbers thousands of murdered persons, mostly young, almost all of color. So this is an old, old problem.

I, for one, in the words of Fannie Lou Hamer am “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” We are always the victims. It seems that by not recognizing what MUST be done, we have abdicated away our humanity, piece by piece. There was a brief but golden period when brave Black men took upon themselves the protection of the community and let it be known that they would respond in self-defense to anyone who was an aggressor to the people. In that period, it was made clear that those who thought that they could get away with murder could not and that they would be met with equal and appropriate force. Then the number of racial murders decreased.

Now many of these Black heroes are in the oppressors’ prisons suffering long sentences on trumped-up charges with little or no chance of coming home to the community they attempted to protect. Am I exaggerating? Were Frantz Fanon and Malcolm X wrong when they spoke of the need for self-defense? Do we not understand the value of asserting our humanity and ceasing to always be the victim?

I am raising this issue because it is particularly sickening that [George] Zimmerman [who killed Trayvon Martin] invoked this [self-] defense against an unarmed teenager, who posed no physical danger to him. Were the situation reversed, we all know who would be in the deepest, darkest cell awaiting a possible death penalty. Instead, Trayvon is dead and the true [perpetrator] who wasn’t wearing a hoodie but who was and is a coward hiding behind the “mightiness” of being a white man in White America walks free. Can this be tolerated?

The community is weeping tears of blood. The exploiters have arrived now in limos, seeking out the cameras and they will leave in limos, having performed the latest phase of “keep cool.” It’s exploitation for personal gain — now confounded by unscrupulous members of the community against the suffering of real people. Can’t they understand that on this ultimate question of color, it could be their son or granddaughter lying bloodied and dead? No. Their own greedy needs and those of CNN are more compelling to them.

So we continue to live in this America where schoolchildren, Black and white, recite “with liberty and justice for all,” when the reality in towns, cities and gated communities in Florida is the opposite. Only a resolute, proud and emboldened Black community can throw off these chains of fear and oppression and assertively stand up rather than groveling, yet again, to an unjust system.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

NYC, 5/5: CAMPAIGN LAUNCH TO FREE RUSSELL MAROON SHOATS/Z

SCIENTIFIC SOUL SESSIONS urges all to come out for the INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHING OF THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE RUSSELL MAROON SHOATS/Z!

 

 

Saturday, May 5, 2012, St. Mary’s Church, 521 West 126^th Street (between Old Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues), Harlem, NY, 6pm to 8pm

 

This is Fred Ho.  As I near the end of my life fighting a brutal war against metastatic cancer, there are only two things I seek to complete before my transition:

 

1.    Freeing Russell Maroon Shoatz, brilliant and innovative revolutionary thinker-organizer, who has been imprisoned for almost 40 years, 30 of which has been in solitary confinement even though he has not had one infraction in the past 20 years!  This is cruel, inhumane and brutal.  The man is a revolutionary genius.

 

To find out for yourself, go to russellmaroonshoats.wordpress.com and read his interview on topics of FOOD SECURITY, MATRIARCHY, and NEW REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZING. 

 

Mumia wrote to me saying that we need to concentrate on getting Maroon into general population just as the movement has succeeded for him.

 

2.    Elevating and consolidating Scientific Soul Sessions as the freshest example of 21^st century revolutionary leadership!

 

The program, true to Scientific Soul Sessions equating politics and the arts, will feature many performers, including myself!  There is no admission charge, but we will be fundraising!!

(Note: Maroon prefers the spelling of his last name to be Shoatz though legally his birth spelling is Shoats!)

Sundiata Acoli Wins Appeal and is Up for Parole Again

Attorney Bruce Afran’s appeal of Sundiata Acoli’s parole-denial and 10 year hit resulted in the New Jersey Appellate Court’s remand to the NJ Parole Board that its 10 year hit be cut to 2 years. It was done and Sundiata has become immediately eligible for a parole hearing again. The Appellate Court must still rule on Sundiata’s 2010 denial of parole but meanwhile he’s preparing to go before the parole board again for his newly won 2012 parole hearing. In that regards he would greatly appreciate any and all letters sent to the parole board urging that he be released.

    Sundiata is 75 years of age and has been in prison 39 years resulting from a stop of his car by state troopers on the NJ Turnpike, in 1973, which erupted in gunfire that resulted in the death of his passenger, Zayd Shakur, and a state trooper, Werner Foerster. The other passenger, Assata Shakur,  was critically wounded and captured on the scene where another trooper, James Harper, was also wounded. Sundiata was wounded at the scene, captured in the woods 40 hours later and subsequently sentenced to life in NJ State prison.

    Sundiata is now the longest held prisoner in New Jersey’s history of similar convictions. He has maintained an outstanding record in prison and has had only a few minor disciplinary reports over the past 30 years and none during the last 16 years. He’s also maintained an excellent work and scholastic record and has always been a positive influence in prison, particularly in mentoring prisoners toward becoming crime-free benefactors to the community upon return to society and thereby break their cycle of recidivism.

    Sundiata is a 75 year old grandfather who has long been rehabilitated, has long satisfied all requirements for parole and has no or “little likelihood of committing another crime:” which is the main criterion for parole in New Jersey. Sundiata is an old man, in declining health, who wishes to live out the rest of his days in peace tending his grandchildren.

    Send letters urging the board that “39 years is enough! Release Sundiata Acoli! NJ #54859/Fed #39794-066″ Address the INSIDE LETTER to: The New Jersey State Parole Board, P.O. Box 862, Trenton NJ 08625, BUT ADDRESS/MAIL THE ENVELOPE TO:
     Florence Morgan,Esq.
    120-46 Queens Blvd.
    Queens NY 11415

    and the letter will be forwarded to the parole board after a copy is made for SAFC files.

    Thank you for your support. Please keep in touch with SundiataAcoli.org at The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Page to stay abreast of Sundiata’s parole situation and additional ways you can express support/solidarity with his parole effort. Sundiata and his Freedom Campaign, SAFC, send their sincerest condolences to the family and comrades of Christian Gomez, the prisoner who died in the California Prisoner’s Hunger Strike – and we send our warmest shout out of solidarity and strength to all those participating in or supporting the California Prisoner’s Hunger Strike.

Recent Letters from Political Prisoner Attorney Lynne Stewart

These 2 thoughtful letters from Lynne Stewart to the movement were forwarded recently by Ralph Poynter, her partner/comrade. For more info on Lynne’s case, including her pending appeal of her 10-year sentence, go to http://lynnestewart.org/

Write Lynne:

Lynne Stewart #53504-054
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
PO Box 27137
Ft. Worth, TX 76127

******************************************************************************************************

3/24/12;  12 pm

When one is asked to give a short reflection on a Big Topic, it is difficult to figure out what is most important. When the topic is Women and the listeners are very savvy politically–it is really tough.

Back in the late sixties when I was part of a “consciousness raising” group, ours was mainly an issue of being able to assert ones self in a world that we had been taught was naturally and rightly male dominated.  All of the women in this group were from the struggles for community control of schools on the Lower East Side and we were a seasoned, and we thought, tough crew. Later, you would have thought from the tears that flowed at these meetings, that we were from the DAR or Junior League–girlie girls!! Because you see we found the commonality of our experiences— incidents we thought were personal, decisions made from our worst motivations,  participation in soul destroying “training” by the patriarchy , and many more, made us understand that there were plans afoot.  If we shared so much negative brainwashing, what was it about ?  We realized that of course, it made life easier for the oppressor–both as an individual and societal but that it wasn’t what we were willing to settle for. Our bonds strengthened and we were all better able to cope and confront with what has now been called ‘sexism” as it affected us personally.

What was not so obvious in those days was that not only were we going to have to re-educate our partners, and our comrades in the struggle, we had unmasked the ugly underpinning of the personal and reveled its societal origins.  We not only had to deal with men who were near, dear and basically sympathetic–we were going to have to deal with generations of men preceding, old goats and Pharisees.  My dear partner Ralph Poynter has remarked many times that all the religions, ancient and modern have as their goal –old men controlling young women.  It is manifesting itself in our time with great immediacy through the campaigns to eliminate or limit reproductive rights. Decisions that are so very personal, they believe they have the right to make for us.  Bully boy tactics — must inform the parents, must watch an ultrasound, must wait 24 hours.  The very tactics they use,  show their misogyny and view that we women, are all children in need of paternal guidance.  We cannot make decisions, we don’t know what we’re doing!!  The patriarchy will make them for us!!!

Another aspect of this abortion debate, and one that has been part of it forever is the very immediate question of exactly what these guys ,who want above all for us to reproduce, are prepared to offer that child??? Back in those days of consciousness raising, one of our true Sheroes was a Black woman lawyer named Flo Kennedy.  She queried in her usual acerbic tone, “Where are all these friends of the fetus after babies are born ?” Are there better schools, better healthcare, more safe housing ?  No, of course not, and this reveals the underlying perverse motivation is not to bring forth beloved babies. It is to make sure that the mothers (women) accept a certain bondage while providing and dedicating themselves to those children.  The worst “terror” is not being able to provide and shelter these little ones from the evils of the consummate corporate society.  And the same men that howl for abortion rights to be eliminated, do not provide one iota, not a drip not a dab of real help to mothers financial or otherwise for these now born fetuses.

When any topic surrounding women is scratched, the ugly patriarchal controls are revealed.  How about the military?  Want your daughter out there killing third world people for an imperial US greed that has never been matched ??  Even worse than becoming a Condoleezza Rice or Sarah Palin is what women in the service are subjected to by their “fellow” soldiers and “superiors”.  Yes, I mean Rapes, Sexual Assaults, Improper touching of all kinds, Bullying and ultimately murder.  This is documented and the loneliness, self hate and despair of these young women make this one of our highest feminist priorities.

Our movement must be dedicated to the end of the wars that make these women into cannon fodder, throw aways and to building awareness everyday, in every way that these atrocities to women cannot be tolerated — not from a superior officer, not from a boss, professor, doctor, prison guard, teacher–not from the guy who “loved” you and married you. Consent, a Basic Human right Must be respected. Romantic Love is used to distract us–Hello??? Falling in love isn’t the reason women were created! We were created to fight back and to join others likeminded and to fight together for a society of Equality, on every level.

Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you that this is a big topic and one that naturally gets me riled up.  Before I finish I must say a word about women in prison. Of course it is a microcosm of the control exercised in the real world.  Guards with arbitrary authority in charge of hundreds of women who are docile for the most part. Some are victims of the “war” on drugs and are suffering ten, twenty, thirty years of prison usually due, again,  to bad choices of love and loyalty.  Also we all suffer a tremendous level of disrespect here and sympathy is non-existent for the most part.  All that basically protects us is other women–roommates. friends who will speak out if there is a medical problem.  Unfortunately, many of the women are from a lower stratum and are used to being ignored or stonewalled.  Even I, a mouthy New Yorker with lawyer connections and a tremendous supporter base (thank you thank you) have been waiting since October for surgery.  Could it be my age? Could it be that it is “just” a woman thing?   I always assume the worst while I still exist in this patriarchy.  It also brings to mind when I was first arrested that a friend shouted at me “If you don’t think you are singled out as a woman. you are crazy !!”  Nuff said

To finish this rambling I want to say that the problems confronting women as women are as various and serious as those confronting the movement as a whole and that we can never forget our loyalty to both causes.  We are dedicated to changing the world and resolving the “woman question” is still prime on the agenda.  Without that resolution we are only moving the shells in a shell game.

Change must be fundamental—from the root–and re-order of the so-called society as a whole.

Lynne Stewart
March 2012
Carwell FMC
53504-054

************************************************************************************************************

3/16/12  9:30 am

A few years have passed (smile) since my partner/compañero Ralph Poynter rescued the Viet Cong flag from arrest by the New York City Police during a militant protest against the war in Vietnam. We then, protected by our motorcycle helmets joined a renegade-breakaway-group that  made its way swiftly to New York’s Central Park.( If you want further details, check with Ralph.  He was 78 years young this week and loves to tell “war”(excuse the expression !) stories.

Since then we have attended countless anti imperialist war demos and vigils and rallies, conferences  and to paraphrase the immortal words of one of the female giants of our movement, Fannie Lou Hamer,  I too am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Too many wars, too much death and destruction on both sides.  Not enough wars of national liberation or guerilla wars–just the American model of superior weapons, shock and awe—invade, rape the resources (Iraq and Libya) and then a semi withdrawal leaving nations in the hands of a money grubbing opposition that quickly moves to do the imperial masters’ bidding, set up their personal Swiss accounts and are no better and sometimes much worse than those they replace.

And Our everpresent legacy of these wars–Go down to your local “shelter for the homeless” or state prison and count the veterans. Ask the person asking for spare change, or the man or woman on the bus or subway talking to unseen phantoms of fear and blood–what was their most recent employment?  Check out the recruiting offices, fancy busses and high school “career” days.  Watch any sport on tv and the Ads that sell the glamorous, patriotic life of the military is the best that big money can produce.  It attracts, as it is meant to do, the kids this government means to “throw away”   in the projects of the big cities, on the farms that can no longer compete, in mines  of Appalachia, in the immigrant communities. And these sons and daughters of “someone else” die; they are maimed; they are driven mad, in faraway places where people hate them and the flag they operate under.  And then they come home to haunt our  worst nightmares.

All of that said, what to do ???  Can we afford to see these sons and daughters the victims of a rapacious imperialism  and our brothers and sisters living in the invaded/occupied lands at home with childrens’ massacre–to drones to desolation and despair.  Will the concept of this endless war (VERY PROFITABLE for the 1 % !!) next see another generation fed into the meat grinder. What to do?

We must raise the level of our resistance.  As Dan Berrigan, who opposed war on religious and peaceful grounds, said we have to change the complexion of the jails and fill them with white protesters. There are many creative ways to impede or halt the war machines and I know the imaginative movement that spawned the concept of “occupy” can think of new ways, that do not involve going to Washington, hat in hand ,to the very legislators  who started these wars, continue them and know the best way to be enriched and re-elected.  They believe that we, the opposition, can always be stonewalled,, that we are too comfortable and fearful of losing that comfort, security level “at least I have a Job” to mount any real resistance.

And yet that is what must be done–make it so egregious to those who are in control that they must yield and once they falter we must be able to use that to our advantage and keep it going.  We need to start an offense and move it further and further into their territory. Does it mean sacrifice?? Yes  Would you rather stay at home and skip it–Probably; but we don’t have that LUXURY, too many ugly deaths do not allow us to be dropouts in the anti War resistance!!! We must rise up and fight back on behalf of all the wasted lives of their wars!!!

Lynne Stewart
53504-054

Revolutionary greetings – Robert Seth Hayes

Revolutionary greetings, dear comrades, friends and supporters.

This is Robert Seth Hayes, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a Black Liberation Army combatant. Still incarcerated, yet still progressing, I am determined to have closure to an era of Civil Rights struggles. To those of you who have been partners in solidarity, I extend my arms to enfold you, let the vibration of my beating heart, surround and comfort you. And may my spirit ever illuminate as a light along the path, as you continue your journey of making history. Greetings of profound respect. To all the Sisters and Brothers new to this all inclusive struggle: welcome, thank you, your support and attention are sorely needed.

 In June of 2012 I will return to the New York State parole board, and again apply for release. After being originally incarcerated in 1973, I first came up for parole in 1998, and have continued to receive two year hits since then. At present, we are again engaged in fund raising mode for our new legal strategy and have our work cut out for us. We are our own liberators, so we again ask you for assistance.

June of 2012 is the next date where we will again meet our opposition and enter the fight for freedom. We have already accomplished much, but the battle resumes and again we must be prepared.

Please assist us with whatever funds you can contribute in this on going fight to free all PP/POW’s.

Please send contributions for the Legal Defense Fund for Robert Seth Hayes to our director: Nate Buckley, 438 Massachusetts avenue, Buffalo, NY 14213.

If you wish to send a letter to the parole commissioners requesting my release and asking them to bring closure to both our fallen freedom fighters and our communities as a whole, send your letters c/o Cheryl L. Kates, P.C., Attorney At Law, PO Box 734, Victor NY 14564.

Your efforts are honored and appreciated. Stay Strong.

Know that your love and support provides support and strengthens my and others determination to prevail.

As a political prisoner and prisoner of war, I extend to you much love and admiration, from the many who are confined, but who remain still at the heart of the struggle. Much love to you!

With honor and respect, love and solidarity,

Robert Seth’ Hayes

February 15, 2012

by Sanyika Shakur, s/n Kody Scott
Robert Williams, who first came to prominence as president of the Monroe, N.C., NAACP, later wrote “Negroes with Guns” and advocated Black self-defense. Friends of both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Robert and his wife Mabel lived in exile for many years, traveling the world and befriending Castro, Mao and Ho Chi Minh. His book inspired Huey Newton and the Black Panthers.
We are the ones who refused to be captured in Afrika without a fight, who staged daring raids on enemy supply lines and brought our nationals back to freedom. We are the ones who made longer, sharper spears, thicker shields and turned our backs on collaborating kings.

We are the ones who, on the high seas enroute to the “New World,” brought new forms of combat to bear on our oppressors. We are the ones who couldn’t be broken, who kept our languages in circulation, our spirits alive and our minds free of foreign gods and hostile demons. We are those who, on a move, became Maroons, who settled the Geechi Islands, fought alongside the indigenous nations, until we, too, became indigenous.
We are the ones who couldn’t be broken, who kept our languages in circulation, our spirits alive and our minds free of foreign gods and hostile demons.

We are the ones who, in the midst of the first Two Thousand Seasons (a thousand dry, a thousand wet), birthed new ideas of national existence and national continuity.

We are the ones that whispered, “Strike now!” to Nat Turner, who plotted and planned with Denmark Vesey and Gabriel Prosser. We are of the same blood as General Harriet Tubman.

We are the ones who didn’t need to be freed by the 13th Amendment because we had never been anyone’s slave. We are the same ones who laughingly rejected the 14th Amendment to make us citizens of the oppressor nation. And, when the so-called Negroes fell for the farce of “Reconstruction,” we had long been organized and waiting for the Klan.

When bourgeois Negroes formed the NAACP, we formed the African Blood Brotherhood and Universal Negro Improvement Association. When the White Citizens Councils attacked the Civil Rights Movement, we struck back as the Deacons for Defense. We are the ones who left the right wing reactionary Nation of Islam with Malcolm X.
When the White Citizens Councils attacked the Civil Rights Movement, we struck back as the Deacons for Defense.

We are the ones who organized the ghettos, from California to Philly, as the Revolutionary Action Movement. We were in Monroe with Robert and Mable Williams. We sat at the feet of Queen Mother Moore, Ella Baker and Dara Abubakari. We are the ones who adopted the attacking Black Panther as our symbol, those who stared down pigs, created Black Student Unions and fed free breakfast to children. We sharpened the contradiction.

We are the ones who, realizing the neo-colonial nature of the term “Negro,” changed our national identity to Black. When that term, too, had been co-opted by opportunists and counter revolutionaries, we are the ones who converged on Detroit 500 deep and brought into existence the New Afrikan national identity. We are the ones who said Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina is the national territory.

We are the ones who breathed life into the Black Liberation Army, who proceeded to combat our historical enemies from coast to coast and all areas in between. We were on the roof in New Orleans with Mark Essex, in South Central L.A. with Geronimo ji Jaga, in El-Malik at the Capitol with the RNA-II. We are the ones who were in Chicago with Santa Bear and Spurgeon Jake Winters; in Attica with L.D. and Sam Melville. We were in Soledad with George, Fleeta and John; in the Marin County Courthouse with Jonathan, William, James and Ruchell. We are the ones who were with George, Hugo and Bato in San Quentin.
We were in Soledad with George, Fleeta and John; in the Marin County Courthouse with Jonathan, William, James and Ruchell. We are the ones who were with George, Hugo and Bato in San Quentin.

We are the ones from the George L. Jackson Assault Squad of the BLA in San Francisco. We are the ones in both Olugbala and Amistad Collectives of the BLA. And that was us in the Five Percenter-BLA units, too. We invaded the tombs to free our comrades and went underwater to assault Riker’s Island as well. We are the ones who made Nicky Barnes run to the Italian mob for protection.

We are the ones who were in support of the United Freedom Front, the May 19th Communists Organization, the George Jackson Brigade, the Sam Melville-Jonathan Jackson Unit, and the Prairie Fire/John Brown Anti-Klan Committee. We are the ones who introduced comrade-sista Assata Shakur to Fidel and Raul. We hooked Robert Williams up with Mao and Chou En Lai.

We are the ones who defended the people in a raging gun battle against pigs at Aretha Franklin’s father’s church in Detroit. We are the ones who brought you Kuwasi Balagoon, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Nehanda Abioudun, Fulani Sunni Ali, Safiya Bhukari, Yassmyn Fula, Afeni Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, Maliki Shakur Latine, Sekou Odinga, Jalil Muntaqim, Herman Bell and all the other stalwart standard bearers of liberation.

We are the ones who speak truth to power, who practice our theories, who are the messages we bring. We are the ones in the Provisional Government Republic of New Afrika, Peoples Center Council, The Peoples Revolutionary Leadership Council, New Afrikan Peoples Organization, New Afrikan Panthers, New Afrikan Scouts, Spear and Shield Collective, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, August Third Collective, New Afrikan Security Forces, Revolutionary Armed Task Force, New Afrikan Peoples Liberation Army and New Afrikan Women for Self-Determination. And we’ll be in many more to come.

We are the ones who support Puerto Rican Independence, the Mexicano/Chicano Movement, the American Indian Movement and all other revolutionary struggles for freedom against capitalist imperialism. We are those who stand firm against patriarchy, heterosexualism and liberalism. We are those that study Butch Lee, J. Sakai, Owusu, Yaki Yakubu, Chokwe Lumumba, Makungu Akinyele, Che, Cabral, Fanon and Dr. John Henrik Clarke. We are the ones who know that “revolution without women ain’t happenin’”!

We are the ones the enemy calls, “criminals,” “terrorists,” “gangs,” “militants,” “leftists,” “separatists,” “radicals,” “feminists,” “worst of the worst,” “America’s Most Wanted” and enemy combatants. Whatever.

We call ourselves Humans. We are New Afrikan revolutionaries. Those who weren’t afraid.

Who are you?

Free the Land!

Send our brother some love and light: Sanyika Shakur s/n Kody Scott, D-07829, PBSP-SHU C-7-112, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95532.

2/21 Albany Occupy Prisons Action for ending PP Jalil Muntaqim’s solitary confinement!

NOTE: The Free Mumia Coalition will be driving up to Albany for this Occupy Prisons Action, call our hotline if you want to join us.  212 330-8029

 

Justice For Jali!

 

End Prison Abuse and Solitary Confinement!

 

Attica “Correctional” Facility, January 23, 2012.

 

Jalil Anthony Bottom, a former Black Panther, was sentenced to SIX MONTHS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT (called SHU or Special Housing Unit) for possession of PHOTOS OF MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR 2 FORMER BLACK PANTHERS.

 

We call on Governor Cuomo, the NYS Legislature, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Department of so-called “Corrections”

 

ISOLATION = TORTURE. END IT!

 

“Long term solitary confinement in excess of 15 days could amount to torture and should be banned.” — Juan E. Mendez, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. New York locks people in isolation at almost twice the national rate.

 

REVERSE JALIL’S DISCRIMINATORY TICKET AND INCREDIBLE 6-MONTH SENTENCE.

 

Six months in solitary confinement for photos of a memorial service exposes the arbitrary and cruel over-use of SHU for targeting, harassment, and abuse.

 

STRIKE DOWN THE “UNAUTHORIZED ORGANIZATIONS” REGULATION, written so vaguely that it invites abuse and harassment based on prisoners political beliefs or staff whims

 

ATTICA = ABUSE. SHUT IT DOWN! “Attica has clearly been unable to cast off its violent past, and has proven, time and time again, to be an unsafe and inhumane place for prisoners… The only possible remedy is to close the facility.” –The Correctional Association of New York

 

JOIN THE PEOPLE’S MIC FOR JALIL & AGAINST CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT in solidarity with occupy4prisoners national occupy day in support of prisoners

 

Tuesday, February 21, 12:00 noon

 Capitol Building, Washington Ave. entrance, Albany

 

Protest Jalil’s sentence (Anthony Bottom #77A4283) and the abuse of solitary confinement: Call your NYS

legislator or Commissioner of Corrections Brian Fisher.

 

The Radical Caucus of Occupy Albany

 

More Photo Images For “Black History Month Then & Now”…. So What Are YOU Gonna Do?

More Photo Images For “Black History Month Then & Now”…. So What Are YOU Gonna Do?

THEN……………..& NOW

   

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THEN………………………..& NOW

           

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THEN………….

 

&   NOW…………

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500+ YEARS IS LONG ENOUGH; THIS FUCKING SHIT MUST STOP!

COME & JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH FROM (9AM – 12NOON) 

@ BRONX CRIMINAL COURT AS WE OFFICIALLY LAUNCH AN “ALL- INCLUSIVE & NON-SECTARIAN”  CITY WIDE CAMPAIGN TO STOP POLICE TERROR; DECENTRALIZE THE NYPD; DESTROY THE RACIST PBA/FOP PIG UNIONS & BRING REAL COMMUNITY CONTROL TO PUBLIC SAFETY IN NEW YORK CITY!

SAVE THE DATE!  BRING YOUR LITERATURE!  OCCUPY THE COURT!

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SIGN THE JERICHO COINTELPRO PETITION!

Free All Political Prisoners!
nycjericho@gmail.com • www.jerichony.org