Make It Plain: Marshall Eddie Conway - Political Prisoner of Action

Abdul Jabbar Caliph


Uhuru Comrades!

For the past four decades we have witness the noble courage of Marshall Eddie Conway, a political prisoner and victim of one of Americas’ most inhuman, anti-black counterinsurgency programs every developed. A program better known to us under the acronym of the "COINTELPRO", or COunter-INTelligence PROgram, the U.S. government run action that was responsible the imprisonment, death and exile of many of our comrades during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Eddies’ case, like many of our fallen comrades, highlights the vicious tactics that the federal government used to destroy a movement that was established for the betterment of humanity. A movement that worked to end the political oppression and economical exploitation of the working class in this capitalist-colonialist country. Eddie is one of literally thousands who worked to establish a socialist agenda for the betterment of society as a whole, and his case is significant for numerous reasons, the most important of which we should understand:

1. Comrade Conway's was associated with  the Pan-African Liberation Movement(PALM) and was an active member of the Black Panther Party(BPP) that was established during the Civil Rights/Black Power era of this country;
2. Comrade Conway’s very existence in this country was that of a colonized subject, therefore he realized that his people suffered from political oppression and economical exploitation more than any other race of people. Eddie was clear then and still is clear that black people exist in this country as colonized people;
3. Comrade Conway’s ideology and political affiliation like many other is why he is still considered a political prisoner/prisoner of war and remains trapped inside Maryland prison system.

We need to understand the legacy of the Black Panther Party (BPP)/Black Liberation Army (BLA) and its effects on the political movement for the liberation of the African working class; along with its relationship to the struggle for the betterment of humanity. Through hard work, they were able build a serious international movement to address the plight of the African working class in this country and throughout the world. They were able to form alliances with other progressive and revolutionary organizations that represented various racial/ethnic fractions that existed at the time. Political coalitions were formed with various labor and student unions, as well as with organizations such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Brown Berets. They were also able to establish survival programs for the people that addressed their needs such as the sickle anemia program and the free breakfast program for children before they went to school - two programs the U.S. government has appropriated for its own use.

Comrades, this is the legacy of the Black Panther Party, the work that Eddie was involved in and this is the reason that Marshall Eddie Conway remains in prison to this very day, characterized by the Criminal (In)Justice System as a security threat to this nation. Despite being framed for the alleged murder and assault of a Baltimore City Police Officer, Comrade Conway has refused to give up his fight on the behalf of the people. Despite the fact that we have seen two city resolutions passed on the behalf of this comrade, caling for his freedom, one of which was signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, this man still remains in prison as a political prisoner! 

Comrade Dhoruba bin Wahad (Richard Moore), former political prisoner of war and member of the Black Panther Party, summed it up correctly when he stated the following about the BPP:

“In fact, the BPP never posted a serious military threat to the U.S. government, it was the popularity of Ten-Point Program, our beliefs in the guaranteed rights of everyone to food, clothing, decent housing, free health care, education, etc., that terrified the government and motivated them to launch an all-out attack against us.”

This was confirmed despite the fact that J. Edger Hoover, the former head of the FBI, declaring the Black Panther Party to be “the greatest threat to security of this country”. Eddie goes on to point out the following in his book The Greatest Threat about the attack on the Black Panther Party when he stated:

“The opposition that the BPP faced presented to the U.S. world image could have been crushed. That would have been easy enough militarily, but the real problem of ideas would remain. It was necessary to not just destroy the BPP but also to demonize and criminalize its actions to dissuade future generations from its course.”

Nearly four decades later we see that COINTELPRO was successful in it goal of destroying a movement and leaving its victims to languish in prison or in exile, labeled as criminals. These comrades have paid the ultimate price and have sacrificed and suffered on the behalf of the people! Many of them are suffering from psychological and physical trauma that no human being deserves to be subjected to and yet they still refuse to give up on the movement - even through the movement, and in many cases, have given up on them and has failed to build a successful political prisoners/ prisoners of war movement. Many of these comrades are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to the constant threat of death along with being the subjects of low-intensisty-warfare. These were the goals and objectives of this government’s cowardly program:

1. The prevention of the coalition of any Black Nationalist organization, for in unity there is strength. They realized that this might be step towards a real “Mau Mau” in America, the beginning of a true black revolution;
2. The prevention and development and raise of a “Messiah” figure that could have the ability and desire to direct a unified black nationalist movement;
3. The prevention of violence on the part of Black Militants Nationalist organizations, this was of primary importance of this program.
4. The identification and neutralization of any potential threats to the internal security of this nation and overseas interest;
5. The prevention of any Black Militant Nationalist from gaining any type of respectability;
6. The prevention of long-range growth of black militant organizations, especially among the youth.

It is important that we understand what a political prisoner/prisoner of war is. Comrade Eddie's book “The Greatest Threat” defines the two:

1. A political prisoner is a person, sanctioned by the movement, involved in character and deeds, who is held in confinement for support of, or identification with, a people struggling for the freedom from an oppressive government or against its oppressive policies.
2. A prisoner of war is a sanctioned national combatant or ally of an international armed conflict who is held in confinement for acts in support of people struggling for freedom, self-determination, or independence from oppressive, colonial, alien dominated, or racist government regime and its policies.

J. Soffiyah Elijah, a Harvard Law School Professor and leading attorney in the political prisoner/prisoner of war movement, is also quoted in Conway's book as giving the following description in her article, “The Reality of Political Prisoners in the United States: What September 11 Taught Us About Defending Them”:

“Political prisoners are men and women who have been incarcerated for their political views and actions. They have consciously fought against social injustice, colonialism and/or imperialism and have been incarcerated as a result of political commitments. Even while in prison, these men and women continue to adhere to their principles. This definition of the term “political prisoner” is accepted throughout the international community.”

Comrades, no matter what social, cultural, political or religious community you are apart of, you need to understand that these comrades, because of the path that they took and because of the racial and class structure they represent, are often given the harshest sentences possible! You also need to understand that while the United States does not recognize political prisoners (PP) or prisoners of war (POW) the rest of humanity does and no matter how you define these terms, political prisoners and prisoners of war do exist. 

Comrades I believe that we have chosen the correct path and have selected the correct campaign to develop and work on, the campaign to free Marshall Eddie Conway! The Liberate Baltimore Coalition has once again risen to the occasion and set the correct path that any progressive organization/revolutionary movement must take if it is to truly represent the people! No movement can represent the people if it does not or will not speak about the issue of political prisoners and prisoners of war!

In conclusion, I leave you with the following quote from Eddie’s book Marshall Law and may it endow you with the spirit to keep fighting on the behalf of those who have been wronged because of their race, class, religion or sexuality and beliefs.

“Resistance is a natural response to oppression and the story of African descent in the western hemisphere is one of rebellion and broken shackles. Women and men marching on; these rag tag armies of black, brown and yellow soldiers armed with farm tools, the occasional musket and a plan to kill the slave master. Rising up out of their bondage, the rebels intended to be free in this world, or the next. Get free, or die trying. Charles Deslondes. Makandal. Nat Turner. These names would produces a fear so strong in whites that the thought of an armed and angry black man would echo that fear for generations to come. The race (class) struggle of the late 1960’s called to mind the same fear and anger.”

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Occupy Death Row

By Kevin Cooper

It seems that many people are glad, and in some cases downright happy, that the Occupy movements have taken place across this country. Many people around the world are asking, “What took so long?” All of them want it to grow, and to include all of the people who are being affected by the one percent and their policies.
One cannot live on this planet and not know the bed capitalism lays here within this country. The roots from the tree of greed have spread to damn near every part of this world. They have had an impact, directly or indirectly, on every person in this world, to one degree or another.

Capitalism, and the capitalists who run and control it, need very important ingredients to make it work. They need “The Haves” and “The Have Nots!”

 These days, as it once was when this country was first formed, it is very easy to tell the difference between the two. Some of the people, who for most of their lives considered themselves the “Haves,” are finding out that they were living a lie. That now, they are part of the “Have Nots.” This reality is causing them, or at least some of them, to become part of this Occupy movement, and understandably so.

I have never considered myself to be a “Have”, nor has this country ever treated me as a “Have!” No man or woman on death row in this state, or any other state, is a “Have.” We are also the “Have Nots.” We are the bottom one percent, who damn near everyone shits on. We are scapegoated, ignored, humiliated, disowned, and ritually tortured and murdered by, and at the hands of, the top one percent, and some of the 99 percent as well!

Those people who are truly the “Haves” within this country have not made it to any death row. For the most part, they never have and they never will. America has a deep seeded philosophy in which it only allows for the execution of its poorest people. These seeds have taken root and have grown in such a way that no person who this system sees as a “Have Not” is safe from its death machine. Whether they are within this building, or on a BART platform.

It seems that the one percent are immune from the sentence of death, even when their policies in war, or peace, have killed untold numbers of people around the world. The bottom one percent is not immune, and seems to be used as part of entertainment, from the media to the politicians.

While these truths must be known to the 99 percent who are now saying that they are the “Have Nots,” these truths are not acknowledged by the majority of them. We who are the bottom one percent, the historical “Have Nots,” the ones who are paraded before the public and humiliated, strapped to a gurney, tortured and murdered by the powers that be; we ask “Why aren’t we included in this Occupy movement?”

While people are, and should be, occupying Wall Street and every other money street in the country, as well as occupying every city that they can, I ain’t hearing no one say,"Occupy death row!"

Nonetheless, I have been doing so since 1985. And death row itself has been occupying this country since even before this land became a country. Executions, and the various ways that poor people have been executed throughout the years proves that executions are part of this country’s DNA.

So, I now respectfully ask this to those of you who are part of this occupy movement: Will you please not make the same mistake that was made by previous movements seeking civil, or any other type of rights? That mistake was not to include the ending of capital punishment as part of the demands.

Our fight, and our plight from here on death row is just as important to us, as your fight and your plight is to you! We understand this and respect this. All we ask, and all we have the right to ask, is that you not leave us behind, and/or out of the conversation. Any house, even a house full of “Have Nots,” divided upon itself cannot, and will not stand. We must unite!

In Struggle and Solidarity
From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper

Reprinted from "Dread Times"

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Protecting Our Children: Ensuring the Rights of Incarcerated Mothers

Submitted By Iresha Picot, The Assata's Daughters Project
Melinda is currently serving a thirty-six month sentence in state prison. She leaves behind two small children with her elderly aunt, whom after eight months in the aunt’s care, can no longer care for the children. They are placed into foster care and Melinda looses contact of them. Upon her release from prison, Melinda has learned that she has lost all parental rights of her children under the 1997 Bill Clinton initiative Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). While the ASFA was to ensure that children be moved out of foster care into adoption, this act has made it far more likely, that incarcerated mothers of children in foster care will lose their children permanently. The state can terminate parental rights in certain circumstances, with a shorter timeline for parents to complete services and regain custody or face termination. If a child is in foster care for 15 of the past 22 months of a parent’s incarceration, the state can move to terminate the parent’s rights except under certain circumstances (i.e. kinship). In addition, for women who are incarcerated for longer than two years (women in state prison serve an average of 36 months), this law can almost guarantee the loss of custody of their children. In most cases, after parental rights are terminated, they cannot be regained.

According to the 2008* Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1.7 million children under age 18, had a parent in state or federal prison. The number of children with a father in prison increased from 881,500 in 1991 to more than 1.5 million in 2007, a 77 percent increase.  During that time, the number of children with a mother in prison increased by 131 percent, from 63,900 to 147,400.  Over half of the parent’s incarcerated stated that they were the caregivers of their children.

Prison Abolitionists today have attributed the dehumanization and economic profits of Black and Brown bodies in the Prison Industrial Complex to that of Slavery. The thief of children from their incarcerated parents is with no exception. During slavery, children were ripped away from their mothers and sold into slavery without ever seeing their children again. This Adoption and Safe Families Act is no different. Moreover, with Black Women being the fastest growing group in prison, and being sentenced to prison six times more likely than white women, we can almost be sure as to whom this affects the most.

Forty-eight states besides Hawaii and Vermont have implemented ASFA. Last year, New York passed The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) Expanded Discretion Bill. The new law allows for foster care agencies and courts to take into account the special circumstances of parents in prison or residential treatment when determining a child's fate. I think all states should push this law to amend this act and demand the government for reunification of incarcerated parents with their children.

The Assata’s Daughters Project, an organization that my comrade Natasha and I created, is seeking to garner signatures to amend the Adoption and Safe Families Act for Pennsylvania. Our hope is that with enough interest, we can get Senators to sponsor this bill and take it all the way to the Governor! I propose that people help to amend this bill in their own states!

Please sign the petition! (<< Click link)

In Solidarity

(Originally published on Facebook, Monday, October 17, 2011)

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Spirit of 66’: An Analysis of Our Political Prisoners and Prisoners Of War

Correction: This article was originally published with Bcde. Abdul Jabbar Caliph as the author, when it was written by Bcde. Akili Shakur. We apologize to the Bcde. Akili and to our readers for the mistake.

 

In October 1966, under the auspices of founders Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party was formed. Due to the conditions surrounding the time period; Police brutality, unsuitable housing, mass incarceration of the impoverished and the limited education provided to minorities (sound familiar?), there was and remains a necessity for change. The men and women of the African community began this struggle immediately following our capture and subsequent displacement at the hands of our European oppressors many years ago. Conditions continued to deteriorate despite the efforts of our ancestors. Yet, it was in their spirit that Marcus Garvey,  Malcolm X and other comrades picked up the mantle and moved forward  constantly reminding us that the struggle continues……..into this atmosphere came the likes of Marshall “Eddie” Conway and George Wright.

Eddie Conway, our comrade and brother has been unjustly incarcerated since 1970. I say “unjustly” because the fact remains that there is no legitimate evidence supporting his conviction. In 1971 he was convicted of the murder of a Baltimore city police officer. He was sentenced to life as a result of this conviction. The statement of his alleged accomplice was recanted, his alibi not even considered and the word of police officers with prior knowledge of Mr. Conway was tainted at best. The officers claim to have had no knowledge of Eddie Conway (except having seen him on their patrols) and identified him in a photo shoot. However, records indicate that there were Baltimore city police detectives listed as founders of the Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther Party (of which Eddie Conway had become Minister of Defense). Also, based on information obtained by these personnel, the FBI had launched an investigation into the activities of Comrade Eddie. These facts support the likelihood that not only was the police aware of who Eddie Conway was but in fact targeted him. Despite the confirmation from his boss that he was working when the shooting took place, he remains in the Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI) in Maryland.  There have been numerous requests to address this gross miscarriage of justice yet to no avail. The last major effort culminating in the Baltimore City council requesting a pardon from the governor in 2002.This invoked an outcry from Baltimore police officers. Why? One would ask. How could this happen and not be corrected? The answer would be what the FBI has termed “Seditious Conspiracy”.

During this time period, another young man by the name of George Wright had escaped from prison where he was serving 15-30yrs for a murder (that again could hardly be proven) in 1962. After he and others escaped, they went to Detroit and joined the Black Liberation Army, the military arm of the Black Panther Party. In 1972, he and 4 other comrades hijacked a plane and consequently embarrassed the FBI. They were forced to strip down and give the comrades 1million dollars in exchange for the passengers. Afterward, they had the crew take them to another airport where they picked up a navigation expert en route to their destination, Algeria, where Comrade Eldridge Cleaver was in hiding. It is important to note that none of the flight crew or the navigator was harmed during this event. Upon arrival in Algeria they were granted asylum, but were asked to give back the money by the Algerian government under pressure from the American government. Some of the BLA members eventually fled to France and were tried and convicted in a French court. However, the French declined to extradite them as this excerpt from the associated press reveals:

“The group eventually made their way to France, where Wright's associates were tracked down, arrested, tried and convicted in Paris in 1976. France refused to extradite them to the US where they would have faced much longer sentences. According to news reports at the time, the defense hailed the light sentences they were given as "a condemnation of American racism" after the jury found "extenuating circumstances" in their actions, apparently agreeing with the defense’s assertion that the hijacking had been motivated by "racial oppression in the United States"

Yes, extenuating circumstances motivated by racial oppression in the United States. A French jury acknowledged the issue of racial oppression in the United States in 1976. This issue has not subsided. In fact, despite the appearance of improvement, the condition has worsened. This depleted condition was instigated by the beefed up internal military of the government, the police, and its investigative espionage branch, the FBI. So, why do we continue to fight for justice? What gives us the right? Why is the government wrong for its treatment of these two men in particular? For the answers, let’s examine a time tested American document, The Declaration of Independence.

IN Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —

Let us examine, for a moment, the last statement in this portion of the declaration. “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” This statement is in bold print when listed in the 1966 Party Platform and Program as an explanation for the 10 programs’ last point;

10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the Black colony in which only Black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate for the purpose of determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.

 The aforementioned statement, is the statement that legally entitles us, as a people of separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitles us, to the right of self-determination. A right long denied by the oppressive system established as a byproduct of Capitalism here in the United States. American is guilty of greater offenses against Africans here in these United States than any listed in the Declaration toward England! They have even gone as far as to subvert their own laws to quell what they deem “Seditious activity”. An example would be the current attempt to extradite George Wright. George Wright was granted political asylum by the government of Portugal. As a result, NO government should be entitled to request his extradition. This fact has not stopped American from pursuing its campaign to track down as many former BLA and BPP members as possible and subject them to incarceration or worse! If a government engages in a long train of abuses and usurpations, like abusing its power and forcing another government or institution to heed their demands, and pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, what should happen to such a Government? It is imperative that we never relent in our struggle to throw off the yoke of capitalism and its son, oppression. This country has murdered men in violation of its own laws, as in the case of Troy Davis, when the Supreme court acknowledged there was doubt, albeit “minimal doubt”. I’m quite certain that falls within the scope of “beyond a reasonable”. They have held Eddie Conway for over 40yrs with no valid evidence. They are now attempting to extradite George Wright, outside the scope of their authority. They have even gone as far as to attempt to open conversations with Cuba by requesting the return of Assata Shakur. They pursue our elder comrades that dared to struggle against them more diligently than they pursue the old German soldiers responsible for the atrocities against the Jews and WE are the victims! War with this system is necessary. It was then and continues to be now. The time for superfluous rhetoric is over the time for action is now!

During this month, the 45^th anniversary of the establishment of the Black Panther Party, let us not forget the comrades that fought for our liberation and died or are currently incarcerated. Although the list is long, I will be brief and mentioned just a few; George Jackson, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael, Albert Nuh Washington, Kuwasi Balagoon, Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, W. L. Nolen, Cleveland Edwards, Alvin Miller, Khatari Gaulden, Billy Christmas, James McClain, Jonathan Jackson, little Bobby Hutton, Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, John Huggins and this year Donald Cox and Geronimo ji jaga Pratt have all passed. There a host of others and a salute them all with the fist of power. There are a host of comrades that remain incarcerated; Russell Maroon Shoats, Jalil Muntaqim, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, Herman Bell, Ruchell Magee, H. rap Brown, Hugo Pinell, Mumia Abu Jamal, Eddie Conway and currently George Wright. Again there are many others and I salute them all with the fist of power. Let us not forget those exiled such as our sister Assata Shakur and the many that are still among us! Revolutionary love to you all!   

All Power To The People! Uhuru Sasa na Diama! Lasima Tushinde Mbilashaka!

 Bcde. Akili Shakur

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Inside the Belly of the Beast : The Exploding Prison Growth in the USA

For years now the prison population inside of the United Snakes of Amerikkka has grown at an incredible rate. Today the U.S. is the largest manufacturer of neo-slavery; with only 5% of the world’s population, it has incarcerated nearly a quarter of its population behind bars. Almost 1 out every 100 people in this country are locked behinds bars as you read this article. For the past forty-one years, since 1970, we have witnessed an increase in Amerikkka’s prison population by 700%, placing 2.4 million people directly inside of the belly of the beast! 

In the state of Maryland, the northern-most state of the U.S. south (it sits on the Mason-Dixie line), we have seen a serious spike in the amount of kidnapped people being placed behind the wall of these neo-Nazi concentration camps, otherwise known as prisons, correctional facilities, and so on. The prison population here has tripled to over 22,000, at a cost of more than $783 million dollars a year. In 2009, it cost an average of $33,000 per person to hold a person inside of a so called pretrial detention center. Last year in Maryland 23,000 people were arrested for possession of marijuana while another 13,000 were arrested for trespassing. Trespassing in this state is a catch-all law that is used to round up people suspected of committing some sort of criminal offense; it’s a modern day form of anti-black slavery law. The Baltimore City Central Booking Center easily process between 130,000 to 135,000 people each year; many of them rearrested for non-violent crimes such as drugs, loitering, petty thief and parole violation. Furthermore, parole violations are the easiest thing to be rearrested for, and not just here in Maryland, but also in other states. It is the number one thing members of the African Working Class are rearrested for in any state! Most of them are rearrested and found guilty of technical violations, such as failure to report a change of address, to meet with a probation officer or going out of state without proper notification. There were over 4,000 cases in 2010 of people violating parole in the state of Maryland alone. 

All across the capitalist-colonialist boarders of the United Snakes of Amerikkka, people are calling for a reform movement addressing the current problems of prison overcrowding and brutality that seems to plague the prison industry. While the expansion of the U.S. prison system has continued, many of these prison reform movements have not addressed the immediate concerns of Amerikkka’s vast inmate population. For any prison movement to truly be successful it must work on two fronts. The first front is inside the prisons themselves in order to address the immediate concerns of the people being held prisons. The second front must be launched on the outside by the family and friends of those currently housed inside of the vermin infested, disease ridden, overcrowded, penal institutions. Once these two aspects are brought about, there must be open, institutional communication between the two fronts of the movement that allows them to collectively develop strategy and tactics around the issues affecting those housed that are incarcerated. Along with all of the above, a national movement must be established and a united front must be formed to extend the movement as far and wide as possible. Finally, we need to make the world understand that any attack on one African is an attack on all African people and it will not be accepted or tolerated.

The prison movement must take on the issue of bringing home our political prisoners and our prisoners of war who are currently incarcerated inside of these places. Comrades like Mumia Abu Jamal, Marshall Eddie Conway and Assata Shakur, just to name a few, need to be brought home to a hero’s welcome! We then need to demand reparations and an apology from this filthy, rotten government on the way it has treated all of our brothers and sisters and for the counterinsurgency program that it waged against our comrades under the disguise of the COINTELPRO, a program that is still currently being waged under various names. 

We need to have a massive protest movement going on all over Amerikkka to call attention to the plight of African people; it needs to be waged under the ideology of Pan-African Internationalism, the correct ideology of African Liberation! Every African man, woman and child needs to be educated, organized and mobilized under the guidance of Pan-African Internationalism so that we can collective come to realize that the only freedom and independence that African people are going to get is going to come from our own hands and not anyone else! 

Comrades, Brothers, and Sisters lets “Rebuild the Revolution of the 60’s” under the ideology of Pan-African Internationalism and move to push forward the revolutionary process of true African Liberation here in the U.S. and abroad! Let’s form a principled united front that refuses to sell out the movement because Africa and her children need us all. Uhuru Sasa!

Brother-Comrade Abdul Jabbar Caliph, Chief Editor

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Prisons and the Criminal Injustice System

Every since the technical end of slavery there has been a desire and need for Imperialist Capitalism to find a way to continue to control and dominate the masses of Afrikan peoples inside the United Gates of Amerikkka. Prisons have helped to make that possible, along with the entire U.S. Criminal (In)Justice System, and are a vital tool used to accomplish the mission of neutralizing and destabilizing the majority of Afrikans in Amerikkka

In the not so distant past, just as recent as the start of 2011 there has been remarkable and courageous actions taking place across the nation behind the gates, walls and bars of federal and state prisons, detention, and correction facilities. Prisoners all over the United States have gotten together to organize a movement to demand that their voices be heard and their human rights returned and respected.

In both the states of Georgia and California this struggle for human rights has been pushed to the forefront of the overall prison movement. There is no question, no doubt, that no matter their location the conditions inside and throughout U.S. jails are poor, less then inhabitable. The protest and resistance to the policy and practices of the federal and state prison administration and officials is what has lead up to these events. Because of this resistance, circumstances and conditions inside the “belly of the beast” have certainly gone from bad to worse. Prisoners have been brave enough to come together and organize around the issues and concerns faced by all inmates. They are demanding access to quality healthcare, chances for real educational opportunities, an end to torture and humiliation techniques being used against them, abolition of the use of solitary confinement,  and an end to inmate population overcrowding, as well.   

Georgia Prisoners all across the state have made a major contribution to the Prison protest of 2011. Towards the beginning of the year the inmates initiated a work strike protest which took place across the entire state. Prisons for a very long time have relied on and profited from the exploitation of the prison labor force. I response to this exploitation, inmates across Georgia organized peaceful protest around this issue and a number of others. Yet, no matter how peaceful the demonstrations where, the resisters were still meet with the utmost force by government bureaucrats and law officials.

There has now been an ongoing round of damage control and public image responses in the state of Georgia to the protest and demonstrations in the state prisons. The governor and state congress have called for and have, ironically but not unusually, also been put in charge of creating the Prison Reform Commission, a body comprised of s big conglomerate research firm and other individuals with ties and allegiance to the ruling class and the systems and institutions which hold the current prison system together. This is an obvious hustle to give the appearance of solving the problems, while actually covering their own tracks.

Most recently the Prisoners inside the state of California have also taken the role of a vanguard in the fight for human rights. Prisoners in Pelican Bay, Corcoran, Tehachapi, Folsom and Calipatria have organized inmates around a hunger strike to protest overcrowding, little to no healthcare, and no accesses to any form of educational services of programs. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, along with all other elements of the California prison-industrial complex, have become perpetrators of torture. The CDCR has done all in their power to downplay, disrupt and break the California state prisoners’ hunger strike. Nearly 6,600 prisoners across the state have participated in the mass protest. Prisoners are demanding changes in the practice and policy of humiliation, gang classification/validation, as well as long-term and severe solitary confinement and segregation.

Theses prisoners have shown extraordinary bravery in the face of extremely hostile treatment and brutal repression. Suffering alongside many of the brave individuals are the families and friend of these courageous prisoners. The sacrifices and efforts being made behind bars cross the country from Georgia to California must serve as a call to action for all those who still have their rights and freedoms, or at least the perception of such. We must take up the struggle, for it is ours too, to check mate white power, its methods, and tools of exploitation and repression.

In whatever way we take action, we must do just that and build upon the protest and demands made by those currently engaged in this struggle for their human rights. In solidarity with the hunger-strikers, we urge each and every one of you to get involved and show your support to those brothers and sisters locked up and being held down by the prison-industrial complex. Clearly this is glaring evidence of the systematic and structural injustice perpetrated through policing and imprisonment, particularly in poor/working-class and communities of color.

The fight for the rights of prisoners and all poor and oppressed working class Afrikans are intertwined, for we are made up of and from one another and not only our enemy but also our interest are also a commonality we must realize. We stand in solidarity with the efforts, and demands made by the bruthas and sistas that are waging the struggle from the inside…. As long as there’s still one of us is locked up and held down ain't none of us FREE!

Brother-Comrade Kosse Sankofa

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