David Gilbert, Political Prisoner
David Gilbert is a North American political prisoner. The Civil
Rights struggle of the 60s exposed David to the sham of US democracy
and embodied the beauty of collective struggle. In 1965 he started the
Vietnam Committee at Columbia University in NY and became a founding
member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) there. In 1967, David
authored the first SDS pamphlet on US Imperialism and participated in the
Columbia Strike of 1968. After about 5 years of organizing in the above
ground movement, David joined the revolutionary underground, spending a
total of 10 years living clandestinely, actively resisting imperialism
with arms. On October 20, 1981, he and other comrades were captured at
Nyack, NY during an attempted expropriation by a unit of the Black Liberation
Army working with white revolutionaries (known as the Revolutionary Armed
Task Force- RATF). During the expropriation attempt, 3 officers were killed.
Charged and convicted of felony murder, David is serving a 75 year (minimum)
to life sentence.
While in prison, David has been actively involved in the struggle against AIDS, and has remained a staunch opponent of oppression still dedicated to human liberation. He is also a longtime advisor and collaborator in the annual Certain Days Free Political Prisoners Calendar project.
Incomplete List of Writings by David Gilbert
Abu Ghraib and the Logic on Conquest - a brief reaction to the war on Iraq, the abuse at Abu Ghraib, tying it all together with imperialist aggression on the people of Haiti, Palestine and Venezuela. Written July 16th 2004.After Election, Need for Independent Anti-war Movement - brief commentary on 2004 U.S. elections.
AIDS Conspiracy? Track the Real Genocide - available in pamphlet form from Kersplebedeb. To read a review of this pamphlet by the highly caffeinated if somewhat wacky Maoist International Movement (MIM), click here . This pamphlet has also been reviewed by numerous revolutionaries - reviews you can read by clicking here .
Born on Sunday - a tribute to fallen freedom fighter Kuwasi Balagoon, published in Hauling Up The Morning (for more on Kuwasi Balagoon, click here )
Capitalism and Crisis, Creating a Jailhouse
Nation, a review of Christian Parenti's book Lockdown Nation , published in Monthly Review March 2001. Available on the internet athttp://www.monthlyreview.org/301gilb.htm
Decentering Whiteness and Understanding Nationalism - a letter to Onward! newspaper Volume 3 #1.
Looking at the White Working Class Historically - a more in-depth look at the question of what social base revolutionary left-wing politics has amongst white people in North America.
New World Dis-Order - a review of the book Night-Vision: Illuminating War and Class on the Neo-Colonial Terrain.
No Surrender and the Losses of 10/20/81 - written in late 2004, on the deaths and fallout of the Brinks action David is imprisoned for.9-11-01: The Terrorism that Terrorism
has Wrought
SDS/WUO - alook at Students For A Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground Organization (WUO), two important political organizations in the history of the American white left that David was involved with. These pieces point out their contributions while not glossing over their mistakes and weaknesses. Includes WUO communiqués and a SDS/WUO chronology.
The Vortex - published in Hauling Up The Morning
David, along with political prisoners Marilyn Buck and Laura Whitehorn, has also been interviewed by comrades from the Resistance in Brooklyn group. These interviews were all published in the booklet Enemies of the State , available from Kersplebedeb. Click here for more information.
There is an interview with David that was done in April, 1985, accessible
on the internet at http://apa.online.free.fr/Etats%20Unis/Antimperialist/Gilbert/Interview1985.html
In June 2004 David's book Never Surrender was published
by Abraham Guillen Press. It is available from AK Press - click here to
order this book (while Kersplebedeb does not stock this book, you
can order it from AK Press by clicking on the link). This is an important
book for radicals to read and discuss. The following are reviews of Never
Surrender available online on this site:
- Michael Novick in Turning the Tide Fall 2004
- J. Sakai in 8th route readers club bulletin
- Chris Crass
- Inspiration from Behind the Walls, by Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review V. 56 #9
- Doing Time for Political Crime, by Peter Linebaugh Counterpunch August 5th 2004
