"Police in California, New York and Florida arrested eight former Black Panthers earlier this week on charges related to the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer"... "James Bevel, one of the undisputed giants of the civil rights movement, organizer of the Freedom Rides and the 1963 March on Washington, who led thousands of school chidlren in the Children's Crusade of 1963 and the various marches in Selma was convicted in a case that alledegly occured over 18 years ago"... and then there is Jamil Al Amin the former H. Rap Brown a fire brand and fearless warrior who was was convicted in STATE court but now is in FEDERAL Prison in Colorado under 23 hour lockdown. They hold a long list and possess a long memory of the architects of our freedom and it is their goal to bring them down and imprison them one by one. Two by two.
Of course we often fail to see the bigger picture. We still on "maybe he was guilty", "let's see what happens", "I cant support them I might lose my job", "i read in the paper that...". My only response to that is remember Tawana Brawley that's the 16 year old who was found unconscious in a garbage bag of feces and KKK carved into her stomace... Remember the Central Park Jogger case the case that gave rise to the word "wilding" and saw NYC teens being accused and coerced into admitting rape...only to find out after close to a collective 20 years in prison that her boyfriend confessed... Remember the case of Attorney Alton Maddox who represented Tawana Brawley's family, one of the members in the central park jogger case and so many high profile cases and yet sits now 20 years later without a license to practise law due to his zealous representation which brought a record of convictions...Remember Mumia, Remember Mutulu Shakir (a fundraiser will be held in his honor November 26th at the Five Spot), Remember the case of Chokwe Lumumba. Do the research. Remember...remember...remember...
Why is this happening. Certainly we can blame it on the reality that our enemies have long memories; they have the supposed power, they control the courts. Blah Blah Blah. Or we can look at the reality. The only reason they are able to do what they are doing; changing the rules at will; is because we let them. Our silence, our absence on jurys, our lack of support in the courtroom during these cases, our refusal to offer financial support, and most importantly our lack of organizations that will train, prepare and be ready to act when these cases rise. And they will arise. They will increase.
Troy Davis comes before the Court Of Appeals on December 9th at 1pm. The son of Wanique Shabazz is scheduled to stand before the grand jury in the next couple week with a possible charge of felony murder pending. There will be a fundraiser for this case on Wednesday, December 10th at Return To Royalty Banquet Hall featuring Attorney Alton Maddox, Jr.
We must begin to see all these cases not so much as individual or personal but as the cases that will determine and shape the perception of our community in this time and in decades to come. As the system methodically rounds up, arrests and jails our architects of liberation let us not stand idly by as armchair revolutionaries. Let us use what we have, each other, to make a difference when history recalls...
Karen Mason
HR ~ Honor.Respect
