Table of Contents
Acknowledgments............. xv
Matt Meyer
Foreword............. xvii
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
Let Freedom Ring: An Introduction............. xix
Matt Meyer
Gearing Up: A Guide to This Collection............. xxv
Matt Meyer
The Real Dragons: A Brief History of Political Militancy and
Incarceration: 1960s to 2000s............. 3
Dan Berger, 2008
Section I • Putting Political
Prisoners on the Map
I.1 Political Prisoners in the U.S.?............. 49
Freedom Now!, 1989
I.2 Political Prisoners and International
Law............. 52
Research Committee on Int’l Law
and Black Freedom Fighters in the U.S., 1990
I.3 Political Prisoners: Guilty Until Proven
Innocent............. 54
Susie Day, 1989
I.4 Glasnost Abroad, Gulags at Home: Political
Prisoners in the U.S.............. 63
Matt Meyer, 1990
I.5 A Scientific Form of Genocide............. 68
Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Anthony X.
Bradshaw, Malik Dinguswa, Terry D. Long, Mark Cook, Adolfo Matos, James
Haskins, 1990
I.6 People’s Tribunal to Expose Control
Units............. 89
Committee to End the Marion
Lockdown, 1987
I.6.A Partial Transcript from the Tribunal on
Control Units............. 99
José López, Dave
Dellinger, and Jean Hughes, 1987
I.7 Strings Attached in the Age of
Authority............. 110
Bill Dunne, 2008
Section II • Int’l Tribunal on
Political Prisoners/P.O.W.’s in the U.S.A.
II.1 Introduction and Historical Context for the
Int’l Tribunal............. 127
Bob Lederer, 1991
II.2 Political Prisoners in the U.S.A.: A Year of
Consciousness-Raising Activities............. 134
Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón,
1990
II.3 International Symposium on Human Rights
Violations on Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War in the United
States............. 136
1990
II.3.A In the Final
Analysis, Prison Is a Reflection of
the Society It Is a Part Of............. 137
Pablo Marcano García,
1990
II.3.B Our Fight Is Essentially a Work of the Heart and
Spirit............. 141
Dhoruba Bin-Wahad, 1990
II.3.C Marketing War............. 147
Ninotchka Rosca, 1990
— Literary Reading to Benefit the International
Tribunal............. 148
1990
II.4 The Creative Process as a Form of
Resistance............. 149
Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón,
1990
II.5 A Call to Liberation............. 152
Interfaith Religious Summit on
Political Prisoners, 1990
II.6 Special International Tribunal on the Violation
of Human Rights of Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War in United
States Prisons and Jails............. 164
1990
II.6.A Tribunal
Indictment............. 165
1990
II.6.B Political Prisoners in the United States: The
Hidden Reality............. 177
Michael E. Deutsch and Jan
Susler, 1990
II.7.B New Afrikan/Black Political Prisoners and Prisoners
of War: Conditions of Confinement............. 191
J. Soffiyah Elijah, 1990
II.7.C Criminalization and Persecution of Opponents to the
Colonial Status of Puerto Rico Human Rights Violations............. 201
Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón,
1990
II.7.D North American Anti-Imperialists and U.S.
Government Repression............. 210
Elizabeth Fink, Esq., 1990
II.8 Verdict of the International Tribunal on
Political Prisoners/P.O.W.’s............. 213
1990
Section III • The Quincentenary:
Diss’ing the “Discovery”
III.1 Weeding............. 239
Chrystos, 2006
III.2 Conference on the Oppressed Nationalities
Within the U.S.............. 240
1991
III.3 Diss’ing the “Discovery”............. 243
Meg Starr and Barbara Zeller,
1992
III.3.A The Real
Columbus............. 245
David Gilbert, 1992
III.3.B If Columbus Had Not Come............. 248
Sundiata Acoli, 1992
III.3.C Autopsy............. 250
Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa,
1992
III.3.D In History’s Back Pages: The African/Native
American Alliances............. 250
Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa,
1992
III.3.E A Short Story Still Untitled............. 251
Alberto Rodríguez, 1992
III.3.F The Uprising............. 255
Raymond Luc Levasseur, 1992
III.3.G A Letter from Mark Cook............. 258
Mark Cook, 1992
III.3.H Prayer from the Americas............. 259
Marilyn Buck, 1988
III.3.I Rejecting White Supremacy: Thoughts from a North
American Brother............. 260
Jaan Laaman, 1992
III.3.J Maroon Tunes............. 264
Larry Giddings, 1992
III.3.K What Are We Celebrating?............. 268
Edwin Cortés, 1992
III.3.L 1992............. 270
Elizam Escobar, 1992
III.4 Freedom Now!............. 272
Matt Meyer, 1993
III.5 International Tribunal of Indigenous Peoples
and Oppressed Nations in the U.S.A.............. 276
1992
III.5.A That
Everyone Resist… That No One Stay Behind…............. 276
1990
III.5.B Indictment of the Federal Government of the United
States of America for the Commission of International
Crimes............. 280
1992
III.5.C Verdict of the International Tribunal of
Indigenous Peoples and Oppressed Nations in the United States
of America............. 287
1992
III.6 Shasta Woman: The Story of Norma Jean
Croy............. 298
B♀ (rita d. brown), 2008
III.7 United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous People............. 301
Leonard Peltier, 2004
III.8 The IITC and Indigenous Prisoners’
Struggles............. 302
III.8.A Written
Intervention to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights............. 302
International Indian Treaty
Council, 2003
III.8.B To the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Regarding
the New Restrictions of Religious Practices in State and Federal
Prisons............. 304
International Indian Treaty
Council, 2005
III.8.C Urgent Appeal to U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary
Detentions............. 306
International Indian Treaty
Council, 2005
III.8.D Letter from Leonard Peltier Defense Committee to
IITC............. 308
Leonard Peltier Defense
Committee, 2005
III.8.E Resolution on Leonard Peltier............. 309
IITC Commission on Prisoners’
Rights, 2005
Section IV • Campaigning to End
Colonialism in Puerto Rico
IV.2 Puerto Rico: The Cost of
Colonialism............. 313
IV.2.A Why Focus on
Puerto Rico?............. 314
Matt Meyer, 1992
IV.2.B The Costs of Colonialism............. 318
Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón,
1991
IV.3 Proclaim Release: A Call to Conscience and
Action for the Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners.............
322
Interfaith Prisoners of
Conscience Project, 1997
IV.4 International Call to Conscience to U.S. President William Clinton
and Attorney General Janet Reno On the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners
1996
IV.5 A Day Without the Pentagon............. 336
Resistance in Brooklyn, 1998
iv.6 The Ones Left Behind............. 339
Matt Meyer, 1999
IV.7 International Tribunal on Human Rights
Violations in Puerto Rico and Vieques by the United States of
America............. 345
2000
IV.8 More Than 25 Years: Puerto Rican Political
Prisoners............. 356
Jan Susler, 2007
IV.9 Puerto Rican Independence Movement Under Attack
in New York and San Juan............. 359
Jan Susler, 2008
Section V • Resisting
Repression: Out and Proud
V.1 After the Confiscation of Gay Community
News............. 365
Laura Whitehorn, 1992
V.2 Not Something That We Can Postpone.............
366
Dhoruba Bin-Wahad, 1991
— Kuwasi Balagoon: In Memoriam............. 370
V.3 Dykes and Fags Want to Know: Interview with
Lesbian Political Prisoners............. 372
QUISP, Linda Evans, Laura
Whitehorn, and Susan Rosenberg, 1991
V.4 Three Decades of Queer Solidarity and Radical
Struggle: A Rich History............. 385
Bob Lederer, 1999
V.5 Queer Activists Demand Liberty and New Trial for
Mumia Abu‑Jamal............. 391
Simon Nkoli Queer Crusaders in
Support of Political Prisoners, 1999
V.6 One Herstory of Out of Control: Lesbian Committee
to Support Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War,
1986-2008............. 394
B♀ (rita d. brown) and Jane
Segal, 2008
Section VI • Pulling Out the
Stops to Free Mumia Abu‑Jamal
VI.1 A Brief History/Herstory of the Movement to Free
Mumia............. 403
Suzanne Ross, 2008
VI.2 Death-Row Journalist Barred from National Public
Radio............. 413
Bob Lederer, 1994
VI.3 The Congressional Black Caucus
Letter............. 415
Suzanne Ross, 2008
VI.3.A “A Grave
Injustice Is About to Be
Committed…”............. 416
Chaka Fattah, 1995
VI.4 Art Against Death: Political Prisoners Unite for
Mumia............. 418
Laura Whitehorn, 2008
VI.4.A Mumia
Abu‑Jamal............. 422
Susie Day, 1995
VI.5 The People’s International Tribunal for Justice
for Mumia Abu‑Jamal ............. 424
1998
VI.6 An Appeal from U.S. Political Prisoners/POW’s:
Mobilize to Save Mumia Abu‑Jamal!............. 429
Herman Bell, David Gilbert,
Abdul Majid, Bill Dunne, Jihad Abdul Mumit, Marilyn Buck, Dr. Mutulu
Shakur, Jaan Laaman, Tom Manning, Richard Williams, Ray Luc Levasseur,
Linda Evans, Edward Africa, Sundiata Acoli, Chuckie Africa, Teddy Jah
Heath, Phil Africa, Larry Giddings, Robert “Seth” Hayes, Russell
“Maroon” Shoats, Yu Kikumura, Janine Africa, Janet Africa, Debbie
Africa, Juan Segarra Palmer, Oscar López Rivera, Jalil Muntaqim,
Leonard Peltier, Veronza Bowers, Nuh Washington, 1999
VI.7 Direct Action for Mumia............. 431
VI.7.A How Freedom
Rang............. 432
Matt Meyer, 1999
VI.7.B Why We Are Demonstrating at the Liberty
Bell............. 438
Ad Hoc Coalition for the
Liberty Bell Action, 1999
— An Urgent Message from Dennis Brutus and
Friends............. 440
VI.7.C Face Reality! Mumia Is One of Over 100 Political
Prisoners in the U.S.A.............. 441
Resistance in Brooklyn, 2000
VI.7.D Supreme Court and Weekend Actions United Press
Release............. 443
Free Mumia Abu‑Jamal Coalition,
2000
VI.8 Worldwide Solidarity with Mumia............. 445
Suzanne Ross, 2008
VI.8.A
Conscious of His Own Destiny............. 447
Angela Y. Davis, 2004
VI.8.B Regarding U.S. Resolutions Condemning the Naming of
a Street for Mumia Abu‑Jamal by the French City of
Saint-Denis............. 448
Patrick Braouezec, 2006
VI.8.C South African Robben Island Press
Release............. 451
Dennis Brutus, 2000
VI.9 Confronting the naacp............. 454
Suzanne Ross, 2008
VI.9.A Emergency
Resolution Reaffirming Opposition to the Death Penalty............. 455
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 2004
VI.10 This Is No Victory: Analysis of Appeals Court
Ruling on Mumia Abu‑Jamal’s Case............. 457
Linn Washington, Jr. , 2008
Section VII • John Brown and
Beyond
VII.1 Who Was John Brown?............. 465
Terry Bisson, 2000
VII.2 The Meaning of John Brown, Mumia Abu‑Jamal, and
All Political Prisoners............. 476
Jericho Movement &
Resistance in Brooklyn, 1999
VII.3 John Brown 2000: U.S. Political
Prisoner/Prisoner of War Writings on the 200th Birthday of John Brown
and Nat Turner............. 508
Jericho Movement &
Resistance in Brooklyn, 2000
VII.3.A Alliance
Building in the Next Period............. 509
Sundiata Acoli, 2000
VII.3.B A Life Lived Deliberately… and the spiritual
grandchildren of John Brown............. 510
Mumia Abu‑Jamal, 1999
VII.3.C LONG LIVE REVOLUTION!!............. 514
Janine Africa for the move 9
Prisoners, 2000
VII.3.D NEED FOR TOTAL REVOLUTION!............. 516
Phil Africa, 2000
VI.3.E Expressions of Solidarity............. 518
Oscar López Rivera, 2000
VII.3.F To the John Brown 2000 Conference............. 519
Herman Bell, 2000
VII.3.G John Brown Rises!............. 522
Marilyn Buck, 2000
VII.3.H Toward Building the Future’s History.............
525
Bill Dunne, 2000
VII.3.I The Struggle Continues............. 533
Russell “Maroon” Shoats, 2000
VII.3.J Loving to Be/Struggling to Be Free............. 534
Veronza Bowers, Jr., 2000
VII.3.K Alliance Building: Looking Forward, Looking
Back............. 536
Linda Evans, 2000
VII.3.L Mixed, Like You; Mixed, Like Me............. 541
Larry Giddings, 2000
VII.3.M Some Lessons from the 1960s............. 543
David Gilbert, 1991
VII.3.N For John Brown’s 200th Birthday, three
haiku............. 548
David Gilbert, 2000
VII.3.N Unity of Humanity… 549
Bashir Hameed, 2000
VII.3.O Reparations… 549
Jalil Muntaqim, 2000
VII.3.P About Our Commonalities............. 550
Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa,
2000
VII.3.Q To the John Brown 2000 Conference............. 552
Jaan Laaman, 2000
VII.3.R John Brown 2000............. 556
Ray Luc Levasseur, 2000
VII.3.S Honoring the People’s Struggle............. 559
Leonard Peltier, 2000
VII.3.T Reflections on John Brown............. 561
Susan Rosenberg, 2000
VII.3.V Three Poems............. 564
Nuh Washington
VII.4 The Jericho Movement: Amnesty and Freedom for
All Political Prisoners............. 566
National Jericho Movement, 2000
VII.5 Picking Up the Work: Health Care in Prison: A
Conversation with Dr. Barbara Zeller............. 569
Matt Meyer and Barbara Zeller,
2008
Section VIII • Critical
Resistance and the Prisoner Rights Movement
VIII.1 Criminalization of Poverty in Capitalist
America............. 575
Jalil Muntaqim, 1996
VIII.2 The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global
Economy............. 582
Eve Goldberg and Linda Evans,
1998
VIII.3 Capitalism and Crisis: Creating a Jailhouse
Nation............. 592
David Gilbert, 2001
VIII.4 Prison Abolition, Political Prisoners, and
the Building of Critical Resistance: An Interview with Linda
Thurston............. 598
Matt Meyer and Linda Thurston,
2008
Section IX • At War: The U.S.
Government’s Illegal and Ongoing War Against the Black Liberation
Movement
IX.1 An Interview with Assata Shakur............. 605
Matt Meyer, Meg Starr, and
Assata Shakur, 1991
IX.2 What the Corporate Media Didn’t Tell You: An
Interview with Ramona Africa............. 621
Hans Bennett and Ramona Africa,
2003
IX.3 Adding Insult to Injury: Media Bias Against
Dhoruba Bin-Wahad and Other Political Prisoners............. 631
Bob Lederer, 1992
IX.4 Life: A Political Prisoner’s Journey in the
U.S. Prison System............. 634
Jalil Muntaqim, 2005
IX.5 Human Rights in the U.S.: The Unfinished Story
of Political Prisoners and Victims of COINTELPRO............. 643
Cynthia McKinney, Nkechi Taifa,
Kathleen Cleaver, Michael Tarif Warren, Bruce Ellison, Geronimo ji
Jaga, Laura Whitehorn, 2000
IX.6 Call for cointelpro Congressional/cbc and TRC
Hearings............. 657
National Jericho Amnesty
Movement, 2007
IX.6.A Dear
Congressman Conyers...659
Herman Ferguson, National
Jericho Amnesty Movement, 2007
Section X • The Struggle
Continues
X.1 A Moment of Silence............. 663
Emmanuel Ortiz, 2002
X.2 We Will Rise Again............. 667
Alvaro Luna Hernandez, 1997
X.3 “Please Accept Our Appeal”............. 671
Release 2000 Campaign, 2000
X.4 Political Prisoners and 9/11: The Reality of
Political Prisoners in the United States: What September 11 Taught Us
About Defending Them............. 675
J. Soffiyah Elijah, 2002
X.5 Who Are the Cuban Five?............. 685
National Committee to Free the
Cuban Five, 2007
X.5.A Response
to Court Ruling on Cuban Five Appeal............. 688
International Committee for the
Freedom of the Cuban Five, 2008
X.5.B Nobel Prize Winners and World Intellectuals
Sign New Call for the Release of the Five............. 690
Granma Internacional, 2007
X.5.C Freedom for the Five Cubans Imprisoned in the
United States!............. 691
2007
X.6 The Green Scare and Eco-prisoners: A Brief
Synopsis............. 692
Brendan Story and Margie
Lincita, 2008
X.7 Analysis of Green Scare Repression: For Those
Who Came In Late............. 699
CrimethInc. Workers’
Collective, 2008
X.8 Kamau Sadiki: Injustice
Continues............. 714
Safiya Bukhari, 2002
X.9 Imam Jamil Al-Amin (the former H. Rap Brown)
Moved to the Stateside Guantánamo............. 719
International Committee to
Support Imam Jamil Al-Amin, 2008
X.10 A “Once
Upon a Time, They Called Me a Terrorist, Too”............. 722
Naji Mujahid and Ryme
Katkhouda, 2005
X.10 B Former Black Panthers Arrested and
Indicted in 1971 Homicide: Charges Based on Evidence Obtained Through
Torture............. 725
Center for Constitutional
Rights, 2007
X.10 C Interview with Richard Brown of the San
Francisco 8............. 726
Revolution Newspaper and
Richard Brown, 2007
X.10 D Joint Statement from the San Francisco
8............. 733
Herman Bell, Ray Boudreaux,
Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Richard O’Neal, Harold Taylor, Francisco
Torres, Jalil Muntaqim, 2007
X.10.E International Call on the San Francisco
8............. 737
Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, et al., 2007
X.11 U.S. Government Persecution of Arabs and
Muslims Pre- and Post-9/11............. 739
Bob Lederer and Ryme Katkhouda,
2008
X.11.A Police
State America: Sami Al-Arian’s Long
Ordeal............. 741
Stephen Lendman, 2008
X.12 A New Generation of War Resisters in Military
Jails............. 748
Matt Meyer, 2008
Afterword............. 753
Lynne Stewart
After the Afterword............. 755
Ashanti Omowali Alston
Contributor Profiles............. 759
Political Prisoner Support Organizations............. 807
Index............. 830
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Let Freedom Ring: An Introduction
Matt Meyer
“Face Reality!” The poster screams out at you. Forty-eight faces, men
and women of every racial and ethnic group, look determined and active
and strong. They stare out, they reach out, of the black-bordered
design, stark and clean, with bold white lettering proclaiming the
message. “There are political prisoners in the U.S.A.”
When the coalition known as Freedom Now! first produced that poster in
the late 1980s, many in the U.S. left were unaware of most of the names
attached to those faces and of the fact that over 100 people who could
easily be classified as political prisoners by the standards of the
Geneva Convention or the United Nations languished in U.S. jails. Even
figures who now serve as icons in the struggle against the death
penalty, such as death row journalist Mumia Abu‑Jamal, or respected
leaders of the American Indian Movement, such as Leonard Peltier—who
has had petitions calling for his release signed by literally millions
of people across the globe—were not easily recognizable amongst
progressives in their own country. Twenty years later, that situation
is somewhat improved; the existence of U.S. political prisoners is
readily accepted throughout movement circles. And, in what may be
surprising news even to ardent antiprison campaigners who face
depressing conditions every day, no fewer than 27 of the men and women
on that Face Reality poster are now out of jail, living productive
lives back in their communities. There has been progress, born of
struggle, over these two decades.
But three of those pictured are dead. Albert Nuh Washington and Richard
Williams died in prison, away from their families, of cancerous cells
and infections that ate away at their bodies with a speed indicative of
their deadly surroundings. They were denied humanitarian release, even
in the late stages of the disease—when freedom would have simply meant
the ability to lie in a nonprison hospital bed, surrounded by family
and friends. Filiberto Ojeda Riíos, also on the original poster,
did not die in prison. As is known throughout the island of Puerto
Rico, Filiberto—who had been living a quiet, clandestine life in the
years since escaping the jailer’s grasp—was gunned down at his home by
the same fbi that is largely responsible for the unjust and illegal
incarceration of his comrades. That the fbi selected to assassinate the
72-year-old Filiberto on Grito de Lares, the traditional day of
celebration of Puerto Rico’s short-lived independence from Spain
(before the U.S. Marines showed up), is further indication of the
provocative and hateful manner that U.S. authorities have dealt with
these “enemies of the state.” Nuh, Richard, and Filiberto, along with
Merle Africa, are dead, and 18 others on that critical old poster are
still imprisoned. And new faces continue to be jailed, taking the place
of some of those now free.
This book is being put together as a guide to the past 20 years of
campaigning for the release of political prisoners, prisoners of war,
and prisoners of conscience held in U.S. jails. We are doing so at this
time because we believe it to be a crucial moment to redouble our
efforts for justice for all. We want to look clearly and strategically
at some of the successes we’ve had; we do not for a moment believe that
the release of political prisoners in this past period was merely a
matter of luck or good timing, or the act of benevolent politicians. We
want to examine, without undue pride or remorse, the strengths and
weaknesses in our own movements that have helped bring about the
condition we face today. Most of all, we want to make available some of
the documents, and some of the thinking that went behind the tactics
and strategies used, that produced—in our evaluations—some of the
strongest results. We want to push the level of dialogue and work. If
you were involved, what efforts have we left out? What critiques have
we overlooked? What analysis is shaky? If you were not involved, did
you think the issue didn’t touch your own work for social justice and
peace?
"Within
every society there are people who, at great personal risk and
sacrifice, stand up and fight for the most marginalized among us. We
call these people of courage, spirit and love, our heroes and heroines.
This book is the story of the ones in our midst. It is the story of the
best we are."
asha bandele,
author of The
Prisoner’s Wife
|
Why political prisoners?
The history of the world—from before the days of Jesus of Nazareth till
long after any alleged combatant is held by the U.S. military at
Guantánamo Bay—can be rightly told by the prominent examples of
people held unjustly because of their beliefs. Many of those now
considered political prisoners are jailed because of their
participation in various movements for social change. Since the end of
World War Two, in an effort to ensure that the policies and practices
leading to and executed by the Fascists of Nazi Germany would never
again rip the heart of humankind, the international community
established regulations to serve as global guideposts. Though too often
ignored by the governments of the world, these guidelines regarding the
waging of war, the treatment of prisoners, and the rights of all
peoples nevertheless serve to remind us all of some basic standards,
internationally discussed and ratified, during the worst of times. The
definitions of who qualifies as a political prisoner may be long
debated and cause for disagreement; the International Declaration of
Human Rights may be a far from perfect document, administered unevenly
in a far from perfect world. As we campaign for a peace based upon
justice, however, it helps to hold to some standards that can be easily
communicated no matter what the date and place and time.
In contemporary world history, few would deny that much of the moral
leadership of our age has come from political prisoners. Indian
independence leader Mohandas Gandhi made going to jail a rite of
passage for those campaigning for his country’s freedom; Pan Africanist
Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana followed suit. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
wrote some of his most famous words while jailed for his political
beliefs and actions, and Malcolm X left his cell so energized, he built
a Nation upon release. Puerto Rican freedom fighter Lolita
Lebrón, one of the first 20th-century Latin American women who
took up arms for their people, found God in her prison cell and remains
today the conscience of her nation. Nonviolent human rights fighter
Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for
her work against the Burmese dictatorship, though she still remains
under house arrest for her efforts. Her Nobel Prize-winning colleague,
Nelson Mandela—African National Congress leader who spent 27 years
under lock and key for his refusal to give up his principles or his
tactical beliefs—is probably the most recognized and respected person
on the face of our planet today. Mandela spent his quarter-century in
jail for refusing to renounce the right of oppressed people to wage
armed struggle for liberation, though now is correctly viewed as a
great force of nonviolence.
The current U.S. political prisoners have received no Nobel honors and
scant little attention from the human rights community. But they share
many similarities to their above-named predecessors, playing leadership
roles for progressive social change, standing fast in their beliefs
that a better world is possible. This is true whether we are talking
about Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a proponent of New Afrikan independence in the
Black Belt south, who pioneered acupuncture techniques for intravenous
drug users in Harlem trying to free themselves from substance abuse, or
about Oscar López Rivera, a decorated Vietnam Veteran from the
Puerto Rican community of Chicago, who has found out the hard way that
one does not receive commendations for fighting for one’s own people
here at home. This is certainly true of Native elder Leonard Peltier,
whose main crime was a commitment to defend his community against fbi
military attack. This commitment, though real and undeniable, must be
understood in the light of mountains of legal evidence that suggests
that Peltier never took any action that resulted in any harm to anyone.
It is true for the many former Black Panthers, who had the audacity to
want to defend themselves against police violence, and it is true for
the Cuban 5, who may be considered terrorists simply because of the
country of their birth—and whose nonviolent actions were clearly in the
cause of peace. It is true for white activists Marilyn Buck and David
Gilbert, who wanted to demonstrate by their actions that some would
stand in solidarity when attacks were waged against the Black Panther
Party, their allies, and their offshoots. It is true for the many
Plowshares campaigners, who beat their hammers on real, not imagined,
weapons of mass destruction, and for the new wave of animal rights and
environmental defenders. It is true for the growing number of U.S.
military resisters, whose political act is refusing to fight and be
killed in a war that most would agree (now even in Congress!) is unjust
and unnecessary. Taken together, the current U.S. political prisoners
represent the heart of people’s movements, past and present. They
symbolize the unfinished legacy of recent struggles for humanity. Their
freedom represents nothing less than claiming our history with pride,
proclaiming our certainty that the struggle, indeed, does continue.
"This
extraordinary volume powerfully and eloquently brings together the
voices of so many U.S. political prisoners. Taken one at a time, the
stories, poems, communiqués, and analyses are not only
heartbreaking in
the suffering, courage and indomitable fortitude they manifest, but
also paint a clear and damning picture of routine U.S. repression. When
read as a whole, this book can do no other than inspire a new
generation of activists and revolutionaries to free these prisoners and
to bring down this whole wretched system of exploitation, theft, and
murder. Thank you to the editors and to the contributors, and thank you
most especially to the political prisoners themselves, who are giving
their lives and are teaching us by their example how to be free men and
women."
Derrick Jensen, author of Endgame
|
Why now?
When the patriot Act informed all U.S. citizens that the price of
freedom was freedom itself, Orwellian double-speak surpassed even
Reagan-era standards. With habeas corpus and the First Amendment under
attack, it was clearly time to act. When the atrocities of Abu Ghraib
sparked a public discussion about the effectiveness of torture, it was
clearly time to act. When Filiberto was murdered, six years after 11
Puerto Rican Prisoners of War were granted clemency, to provoke angry
independentistas to take actions that might lead to a new generation of
presos políticos, it was clearly a time to take action. When
governmental representatives met in guarded General Assembly quarters,
and the new Latin American radical momentum enabled the president of
Venezuela to laughingly call the president of the United States “the
devil,” there was not just time, but opportunity for us to act. When
nongovernmental representatives meet in open tents at World Social
Forums in Brazil and Venezuela, Mali and Kenya, India and Pakistan,
calling for grassroots U.S. activists to focus energy on the social
justice issues in our own backyard, there was—and is—clearly a
responsibility for us to act.
When, during the summer of 2006, five men in their fifties and
sixties—all former members or associates of the Black Panther
Party—were called before a San Francisco-based grand jury allegedly
investigating a crime committed over three decades previously, the
state threw down a gauntlet. When it became clear that the
investigations were reopening cases based on evidence obtained
primarily through torture, the message was unmistakable: Be afraid, be
very afraid, and don’t even think of fighting back. When these same men
stood strong, firm on the principle that they would not take part in a
new, government-sponsored witch hunt, they sent a counter-message on
behalf of us all: We will not allow our struggles, our communities, our
very lives to be criminalized by a corrupt and racist criminal justice
system. When, in the first weeks of 2007, indictments were handed down
for eight former Panthers—including four of the five previously
mentioned and two political prisoners, Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell,
who have already served more than 30 years behind bars—the
responsibility to speak out became that much more urgent. We must speak
out not only for the San Francisco 8 and for the movements they
symbolically represent. We speak out for ourselves, as the legacy of
those movements and the growing interest in them among younger
generations today help inform a new wave of struggle that learns from
the mistakes of the past. We speak out for tomorrow.
Enough is enough! The message we must send is a simple one: Never
again. Never again will progressive people in the U.S.—liberals and
radicals, Black, white, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous—remain divided or
inactive as government agents jail our leaders, criminalize our
movements, and terrorize the people. Never again will we allow torture,
abroad or here at home. Never again will we allow illegal wars and
immoral laws used as excuses to roll back hard-earned human rights that
are considered basic in most of the world. Never another political
prisoner; never another colony.
The means of achieving these goals are not so simple, but the task is
clear. It’s not enough to pledge that the building of empire must end;
Puerto Rico must be freed of its colonial status, and the neo-colonies
and internal colonies must be granted sovereignty as well. It’s not
enough that the members of the San Francisco 8 not yet convicted of any
crimes must be kept out of prison. Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim (and
all the political prisoners) must be immediately released and returned
to the communities they have worked so hard to enrich. The tactics and
even some of the strategies can and must be varied. Some of us must
engage in genuine, respectful, interactive meetings with those in
power; others of us will be chanting and getting arrested on the other
side of those same meetings—involved in massive and disciplined direct
actions that will demonstrate by our deeds that we are prepared to shut
the system down if our demands are not met. Many of us must hand out
petitions, send out e-mails and mailings, organize educational events,
and make telephone calls to let new people learn about our work in ways
that they are ready to hear. And all of us will have to learn that most
basic of acts of communication and dialogue; we must knock on a
neighbor’s door, introduce ourselves politely, and begin telling the
story of our buddies behind bars. Whether at our places of work or our
local schools, the place we do our laundry or the places we go to
relax, we must talk about the real people whom the U.S. government
would like to make disappear.
This book was quickly thrown together, chronologically and thematically
arranged as a resource guide for organizers. It is filled with old
documents and speeches, essays, and calls to action, from a variety of
the campaigns over the past 20 years. There are a few new pieces as
well, and joined together they give us a sense of where we’ve been,
what we’ve done, and where we might be heading. As you read through
these resources, you will find some information that is dated and some
that was written for a particular audience or event. They are included
not simply to give one a sense of the time, but to help frame the
context for certain strategies utilized in the various campaigns
described. We hope that they are all informative and inspiring. But
more than that, we hope that when put together as a whole, they can
inform our collective thinking about the movements we must build today.
They are not all-inclusive; there are examples of good work done for
the release of U.S. political prisoners that are only briefly referred
to, or not reproduced at all. We present the texts we do with an eye
toward what we consider particularly strategic. We present them for
review in reference to the next steps we feel need to be taken in
building the next broad campaign—to let freedom ring for all the
remaining U.S. political prisoners.
For many peoples, from a broad historical perspective, liberty has
never truly been won. Let us begin today, freeing those who are bound.
Support the Certain
Days Free Political Prisoners Calendar!
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After the Afterword:America Means Prison
Ashanti Omowali Alston, 2008
Dear to our hearts: the political prisoners. In fact, not just dear to
our hearts, but—in the words of New Afrikan People’s Organization
founder Ahmed Obafemi—they are the heartbeats of our movements. They
are the red ink dripping on the pages of our ongoing, unfolding stories
of liberation within the confines of this prison called the United
States of America.
Whether we are talking about Leonard Peltier of the American Indian
Movement or the Black/New Afrikan liberation fighters, the
Chicano/Atzlan liberation fighters or the independentistas of Puerto
Rico, the white anti-imperialists or the earth/animal liberation
fighters, we are essentially raising up the very foundational horrors
of the American Empire. It’s a fact that nothing can be truly done
about changing our world or creating a new one without acknowledging
and joining with these representatives who stood up to resist.
Land? “Free Leonard!” is also about coming to terms with the theft of
this land and continuing genocide of the Indigenous peoples. ”Free the
San Francisco 8!” is also about coming to terms with the kidnapping,
enslavement, and continuing judicial and social mass confinement of
people of African descent. “Free Alvaro Luna Hernandez!” is also about
coming to terms with the U.S. war on Mexico, the theft and
incorporation of Mexican lands into the present-day U.S. You’ve heard
the slogan: “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us!”
“Free Oscar López Rivera!” is about coming to terms with the
1898 U.S. war with Spain, taking as its spoils the islands of Puerto
Rico—still a colony to this very day. “Free Marilyn Buck!” is about
coming to terms with revolutionary white folks who are not only
post-modern-day Jane and John Browns giving unconditional support to
folks of color liberation struggles, but who totally understand that
their own humanity and liberation is tied to their frontline
sacrifices. And “Free the shac 7!” is about coming to terms with new
generations of folks who link their vision for nonoppressive,
liberatory relations between human beings with all living things and
the very planet. We have here the most ancient messages and wisdoms.
Think of this, these political prisoners and their visions—their
political vision quests—in light of all that is going on in the U.S.
and the world empire today. In spite of how bad it looks, folks come
forward to act. How can we not support them and work for their total
freedom from judicial confinement?
Movements today extend from our political prisoners. Antiwar activists,
do you know David Gilbert and the Vieques political prisoners?
Environmental and animal rights activists, do you know Rod Coronado and
Lauren Gazzola? Do you know the move 9? Cop-watch activists, do you
know Abdul Majid and Bashir Hameed, the Queens Two? Do you know Chip
Fitzgerald? International solidarity supporters, do you know Leonard
Peltier? You, who feed the hungry, demand housing for the homeless, and
work for the best and free treatments for those with hiv/aids, do you
know who came before you?
The political prisoners tell us by their very presence that the Empire
will not disappear or give in. It will not even compromise. Whatever it
offers as a solution will only “fix it” to last a little longer. Those
crumbs will solve or resolve nothing. Yet the political prisoners say
that “Power to all the Peoples” is the only solution. And victories,
real victories, can only happen when those who came before us are put
on the top of our agendas. We cannot just fight for the future. We must
fight for the past, present, and future.
We must figure out how to bring it all together. This issue is not just
about freedom for the confined revolutionaries. It is about freedom
with dignity for all of us that can only come about through rejuvenated
struggle. Freedom for the political prisoners can only come about when
grassroots movements are organized for our lives and use the act of
putting political prisoners on the top of our agendas as a momentous
and monumental seizing of hearts from judicial confinement. This issue
is for communities and for the people’s institutions in our
communities. It is for the revival of dignity amongst the Elders. It is
for nurturing a dignified and righteous anger amongst the young. At the
bottom line, we are at war!
We are at war, and they are closing in on us. They are using all the
mechanisms at their disposal: the prison-industrial complex, the
continued segregation and militarization of the police, the increased
police occupation and murder of our communities, the underground drug
economy’s use as mass social control, and the increasing distance put
between people and formal mechanisms of power. We are living under a
system that has no more need for Black, Asian, Latin@, and Indigenous
peoples and poor Whites. It is a system that criminalizes youth,
hip-hop culture, attempting to unravel any hope for self-determination.
It is a system that uses the “drug war,” the “war against terrorism,”
and the patriot Act to stimulate fear of so-called dangerous people. It
is obvious that one key function of the democratic fascist state is to
pre-empt revolutionary consciousness and organizing from gaining any
ground. And one key to turn this back has to be free all political
prisoners.
Free those whose armed points-of-entry into the brain of the Monster in
the 1960s and 1970s led directly to their political confinement. They
gave their all to struggle, to glorious revolution, to (as the
Indigenous Elders would say) the next seven generations still unborn.
We must fight aggressively for their total freedom, as powerful,
organized grassroots movements!
In asking you to join us, we are asking you also to reclaim the honor
of the phrase “revolutionary” for yourself. We must join together as
revolutionaries who still believe in the dreams of our peoples. Our
peoples… with many dreams flowing like rivers. We are asking that you
not only be able to envision wonderful “after” scenarios, but that you
also envision ourselves as daring to take on this Monster empire more
assertively, more daringly. We are about reclaiming our lives,
reclaiming the desire to live dignified lives. We are diverse peoples,
respectful of each other and all living things. That’s all, that’s all.
But to be willing to resist like a Geronimo, Harriet Tubman, John
Brown, Brad Will, Richard Williams, Nuh Washington, Safiya Bukhari,
Judi Bari, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos is a way of honoring those who
sacrificed so much to prepare the way. To be willing to sacrifice like
an Assata Shakur is a way of preparing your way, preparing our ways.
Thus we say that revolution ain’t over, that no empire is invincible,
and that the final determinator of all social dreams is the people, all
the people.
FREE THE POLITICAL PRISONERS,
BECAUSE WE WANT OUR HEARTS BACK.
FREE ALL THE POLITICAL PRISONERS,
BECAUSE WE WANT TO NOURISH OUR DREAMS.
FREE ALL THE POLITICAL PRISONERS,
BECAUSE WE ARE STILL EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW WORLDS.
WE WILL CREATE ON THE ASHES OF IMPERIAL EVIL.
THE STORY CONTINUES… WE WILL WIN!
"As
a convicted felon, I have been prevented from visiting many people in
prison today. But none of us should be stopped from the vital work of
prison abolition and freeing the many who the U.S. holds for political
reasons. Let Freedom Ring helps
make their voices heard, and presents strategies to help win their
release."
Daniel Berrigan
SJ,
former
Plowshares political prisoner
and
member of the FBI Ten Most Wanted List
|
Support the Certain
Days Free Political Prisoners Calendar!
Buy 1 Copy of Let
Freedom Ring, and Receive a Free Copy of Certain Days 2009!
For $37.95 +
$15 postage to the u.s. or canada; bulk rates also available, email info@kersplebedeb.com for more
details, or to order now via paypal:
|
by Elspeth Meyer
|
