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<font size=3><br>
</font><font size=4>TO: Open Letter to All Progressives<br><br>
FR: Jalil A. Muntaqim<br><br>
RE: The State of U.S. Political Prisoners Support Movement<br><br>
DT: May 1, 2009 (May Day)<br><br>
It is obvious to the majority of U.S. political prisoners that the
movement in support of them, for the exception of Jericho Amnesty
Movement and individuals support committees, is impotent and nearly
non-existent. There is no national determination or initiative that
captures the imagination or represents opposition to the overwhelming
bleak condition the majority of U.S. political prisoners suffers.
This is especially true for those who were direct victims of COINTELPRO
and have languished in prison 25-40 years.<br><br>
In late 1976, I initiated the U.S. Prisoners National Campaign to
Petition the United Nations; by 1977, the campaign organized a signature
petition gathering 2500 signatures from prisoners across the
country. In fact, the campaign had affiliated cadres in state and
federal prisons in 25 U.S. states, with communications with prisoners in
parts of Europe.<br><br>
In 1977, an attorney presented our petition and complaint to a special
subcommittee of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. This
being the first time U.S. political prisoners had a petition submitted
and recorded at a United Nations subcommittee pertaining to racism and
the conditions of political prisoners in the U.S. penal system. (See:
U.N. document E/CN.4/Sub.2/NGO/75). During the course of organizing
the petition campaign, Comrade Sundiata Acoli, then in New Jersey, agreed
to assist by organizing a march in support of the petition to the United
Nations. The march and demonstration was held in front of the
Harlem State Office Building. This campaign was responsible for the
firing of then U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young from his post at the U.N. by
President Jimmy Carter. When, in 1978, then, Ambassador Andrew
Young was in Paris for a U.N. event, I suggested a reporter we had
communications with ask Ambassador Andrew Young the single question, “Are
there political prisoners in the United States?” When Andrew Young
answered, “…perhaps thousands…”, rightwing political forces and the media
in the United States had a field day rebuking and attacking him,
eventually resulting in Jimmy Carter firing him from his U.N. post.
<br><br>
In the course of the heightened political focus on U.S. political
prisoners, an initiative was made to secure a political prisoners
exchange with prisoners held in Cuba. Contact and dialogue with
Cuba’s representatives at the United Nations was initiated and the Cuban
government shared their interest in support of an exchange of
prisoners. To ensure this possibility, in 1977, President Fidel
Castro at the ‘Peoples National Assembly’ at Monaco publicly announced a
willingness to accept U.S. Black political prisoners in a prisoner’s
exchange. Unfortunately, as a result of political wrangling and
miscues here in the U.S., perhaps as a result of FBI interference, the
exchange was never made – a lost opportunity! Nonetheless, because
of this campaign in 1979, members of the International Jurist toured the
U.S. visiting political prisoners and reported to a United Nations
special committee that political prisoners in fact exist in the United
States.<br><br>
Fast forward to 1996 when I called for the Jericho March to the White
House, that Baba Herman Ferguson and our beloved late Sista Safiya
Bukhari organized, and in 1998, 6,000 activists from across the country,
as far away as Hawaii, traveled to Washington, D.C. and participated in a
march and rally in support of recognition of U.S. political
prisoners. Since then, the Jericho Amnesty Movement has organized
cadres and support groups across the country and overseas, continuing to
broaden understanding of the existence of U.S. political prisoners.
In 2008, Jericho Amnesty Movement had its tenth anniversary with a march
and rally NYC organized by Ashanti Alston and Kazi Toure. Despite a
decade of ebbs and flow, highs and lows throughout the progressive
movement, Jericho remains the noted national representative of U.S.
political prisoners. <br><br>
Throughout the Jericho Amnesty Movement existence, it has consistently
called for the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings. In the last 20
years, there have been several national forums on COINTELPRO; the
International Tribunals in 1990 at Hunter College, and in 2000, reopening
of COINTELPRO hearings was discussed by a panel conducted by then
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. In late 2007, the San Francisco 8,
issued a joint statement again calling for a national determination
demanding the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings.[1]<br><br>
In light of repressive laws subject to the Patriot Act and subsequent
White House enactments, it is time for a national outcry raising and
demanding the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings. Therefore, I am
urging all progressive forces to establish a committee specifically for
this purpose and begin the process of educating the general public why
reopening COINTELPRO hearings is a necessary important first step to free
imprisoned COINTELPRO victims, and the ultimate liberation of all U.S.
political prisoners. It is imperative to raise this issue unto the
national debate, especially now that the FBI and CIA are under scrutiny
for forensic evidence violations, torture interrogations, and
overreaching wiretapping and electronic surveillances of the
public. It is essential to explain that such government misconduct
is not new, the assassination of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark is just one
of many important past examples.<br><br>
I am also calling on those in academia, the progressive intelligentsia to
also discuss how best to pose this concern to the Obama
administration. It is high time for the broader progressive
academic community to join in the overall struggle as it pertains to the
existence of U.S. political prisoners. There are a new generation
of scholars, many of whom only read/studied about the movements of the
1960’s and 1970’s, having been divorced from any empirical knowledge of
revolutionary engagement or struggles for civil and human rights.
Yet, some of these new scholars have written excellent books analyzing
and explaining that era of struggle for civil and human rights,
preserving those struggles in literature for future study. However,
even for them comes a time to put theory into practice, to test their
knowledge in doing the work left undone. The progressive academic
community can be an important component in this determination, and I am
personally asking them to join, to get in where they fit in.
Specifically, for progressive academics to forge a national committee of
academics to jointly propose the reopening of COINTELPRO
hearings.<br><br>
I am now making this call for action because too many of our imprisoned
COINTELPRO victims in the last 25-40 years suffer illnesses that could
prove terminal. Several have died in prison, and the reality is
many more will if the progressive movements fail to take action.
There is a new historical era on the horizon where dialogue and exchange
between the U.S. and Cuba could result in the termination of a four
decades old embargo. Here, today, there is a need for a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, since there cannot be any healing without
revealing, to sort out the war imposed on the Black Panther Party and
other liberation forces by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, and various police
agencies. Therefore, the time to seriously unite and rebuild a
durable and sustainable freedom movement for U.S. political prisoners is
NOW! Remember: WE ARE OUR OWN LIBERATORS!!
<br><br>
Jalil A. Muntaqim<br>
===========<br><br>
<b>Aunt Doe<br><br>
</b>Like an angry cat furiously pawing and unfurling a<br>
ball of gray yarn, the seams of her mind unwind.<br><br>
In an unrelenting battle resembling the Sun battering<br>
holes in an overcast sky, intermittingly warming pastures <br>
of names, places and things, her memory struggles to defy <br>
the deadly diminishing of its existence.<br><br>
Blinding rain of dementia dims her thoughts as she stares <br>
into space, her mind screaming to remember but hearing <br>
only the echoing pitter-patter of deafening silence demanding <br>
an umbrella of medications to cast fading shadows that harks <br>
back to life’s successes, the pain of lost opportunities, and <br>
pleasures of having loved and been loved.<br><br>
Old age have captured the beauty of her youth and callously<br>
jostles her, as she stumbles absent signposts or directions, <br>
though a mental maze toward the terminal dark gallows of time. <br><br>
And, yet, we remember and love the whole of her!<br><br>
April 22, 2009<br><br>
Jalil
<br>
[Dedicated to my beloved Aunt Dorothy Phillips suffering
Alzheimer]<br><br>
[1] For detail information on these and other struggles on the issue of
U.S. political prisoners read: “Let Freedom Ring – A Collection of
Documents from the Movement to Free U.S. Political Prisoners”, Edited by
Matt Meyer.<br><br>
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