Prison conditions worsen for Al-Amin

Among the hundreds if not thousands of political activists who have been railroaded into prisons across the U.S. after being harassed, spied on and threatened by government and police agencies for their opposition to racism and the oppression of their people is Imam Jamil Al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown), convicted on murder charges in 2002 in Atlanta.

Brown became the leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1967 following his often dangerous work of organizing voting rights and other civil rights campaigns in rural parts of the South. His experiences, growing up in Louisiana during Jim Crow segregation and facing Ku Klux Klan violence while registering Black people to vote, brought him to a revolutionary perspective. He quickly was identified by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI as a threat to the system and accumulated more than 44,000 pages of surveillance notes in his government file.

Brown survived assassination attempts, constant police harassment and arrest, and prison time.

While in Attica Prison in New York, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin.

In the late 1970s, he moved to Atlanta’s West End, opened a store that serviced a poor neighborhood and became an imam at the Community Mosque.

Under his leadership, residents of the area organized against drug trafficking and prostitution and developed sports, educational and arts programs for youth. He became well-known nationally in Muslim associations for his religious scholarship and teaching.

Nevertheless, Al-Amin remained in the sights of police agencies, including the FBI.

On March 16, 2000, two Fulton County deputies came at 10 p.m. at night to serve a warrant on Al-Amin on charges that he thought had been dismissed. Out on the street, a shoot-out took place. One deputy died and the other was wounded. The injured deputy reported that the shooter was 5’6” with grey eyes and that he was also wounded.

Nevertheless, the search was on for Al-Amin, who stands a slender 6’5’’ tall and has brown eyes. When Al-Amin was arrested four days later, he had no signs of having been shot.

This inconsistency was repeated during the trial. Yet despite 911 (emergency police) calls from people that reported a bleeding man running away from the scene on the night of the killing, Al-Amin was convicted on 13 charges including the murder of the deputy. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Since his arrival at Reidsville Prison in 2002, Al-Amin has been held in administrative segregation. He spends at least 23 hours alone in his cell daily, let out only for a shower and exercise. He has been denied the practice of his religion. His dietary requirements are not met. His legal mail is tampered with. He suffers harsh treatment from the guards.

Just recently, Al-Amin was transferred to an even more restricted area of the prison after filing a complaint against a guard for misconduct. This section houses mentally ill inmates whose conditions are even more intolerable.

The International Committee to Support Iman Jamil Al-Amin requests that those who want to express concern for Al-Amin’s safety, send letters to the Board of Corrections, 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta, GA 30334.

On July 20, there will be a rally held adjacent to the Community Mosque at 3:30 p.m. to continue to raise support for political prisoner Imam Jamil Al-Amin.

For more information, go to www.icsija.tk or e-mail communitymosque@yahoo.com

The writer, who is scheduled to speak at the July 20 rally, is the Atlanta coordinator of the International Action Center, which has been a consistent supporter of efforts to defend Jamil Al-Amin.