Workers World Feb. 17, 2000: Albert Nuh Washington<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="true" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../ui/styles/top.css" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="../../ui/script/ie5.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.workers.org/ui/script/DropDownMenuX.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> window.onload = function() { var ddmx = new DropDownMenuX("menu1"); ddmx.type = "horizontal"; ddmx.delay.show = 0; ddmx.delay.hide = 400; ddmx.position.level1.top = 0; ddmx.position.level1.left = 0; ddmx.position.levelX.top = 0; ddmx.position.levelX.left = 0; ddmx.fixIeSelectBoxBug = true; ddmx.zIndex.visible = 500; ddmx.zIndex.hidden = -1; ddmx.init(); } </script> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#483d8b" vlink="#2f4f4f" alink="#a52a2a">  <table width="65%" border="0" cellpadding="10" align="center"> <tr> <td height="911" align="left" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td colspan="2"> <a href="http://www.workers.org/"><img src="../../images/wwlogo.png" alt="Workers.org" width="600" height="58" border="0" /></a></td> </tr> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="menu1" class="ddmx"> <tr> <td> <a class="item1" href="http://www.workers.org/">Home</a></td> <td> <a class="item1" href="javascript:void(0)">Books</a> <div class="section"> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/index.html">Selected works of Sam Marcy</a> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/sambol/index.htm">Bolsheviks and War</a> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/samtech/index.htm">High Tech, Low Pay</a> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/samsoc/index.htm">Soviet Socialism: Utopian or Scientific</a> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/indonesia/index.html">Indonesia 1965</a> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/cm/empire.html">Expanding Empire</a> </div></td> <td><a class="item1" href="javascript:void(0)">Subscribe</a> <div class="section"><a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/email.php">Email list</a> <a class="item2" href="http://www.workers.org/orders/index.php">Print edition</a> </div></td> <td> <a class="item1" href="http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php">Donate </a></td> <td> <a class="item3" href="http://www.workers.org/mo/index.html">Noticias en Español</a> </td> </tr> </table> <print> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3"><tr> <td width="19%" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#E2E2E2"> <p class="caption">Support<br /> anti-war,<br /> anti-racist<br /> news </p> <p class="caption"><a href="http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php">:: Donate now ::</a></p> <hr /> <p class="caption"><print><a href="http://www.workers.org/cgi-bin/mailww/mailww.cgi"><img src="http://www.workers.org/graphics/email.gif" width="21" height="20" border="0" alt="Email this article" />Email this article</a> </print></p> <p class="caption"><print><a href="/print.php"><img src="http://www.workers.org/graphics/printer.gif" width="21" height="20" border="0" alt="Print this page" />Printable page</a></print></p> <hr /> <p class="caption"><a href="mailto:letters@workers.org">Email the editor</a></p> <form method="get" action="http://www.workers.org/cgi-bin/search/search.pl"> <input name="Terms" id="fdse_TermsEx" size="12" maxlength="255" class="email" /> <input type="submit" value="Search" style="align: center; padding: 1px 2px 1px 2px; background: #DCDCDC; color: darkslategray; font-size: 9px; border: solid #696969 1px;" /> </form> <p class="caption"> </p></td> <td width="81%"> <blockquote> <div align="right" class="translate"><a href="http://www.faganfinder.com/translate/ref.php?from=en" title="click here to translate this page into any language, using the Fagan Finder Translation Wizard" target="new" hreflang="en">Translate this page</a></div>  <h1>'I am a political prisoner'</h1> <h4>Statement from Albert Nuh Washington after cancer diagnosis</h4> <P><b>By Leslie Feinberg</b></P> <P>Black freedom fighter and political prisoner Albert Nuh Washington has recently been diagnosed with liver cancer, and is expected to live from 3 to 10 more months.</P><P>Nuh, one of the New York 3 defendants, has served 28 years of a 25-to-life sentence. The New York 3--Albert Nuh Washington, Anthony Jalil Bottom and Herman Bell--were victims of the U.S. government's ongoing war against the Black liberation movement. </P><P>Although the three were tried and convicted in a New York state court for the murder of two New York City police officers, the orchestration of this case was designed in the White House with the help of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. </P><P>The three continuously contended that they were being set up and framed, but were not allowed to raise this during trial because they had no evidence. </P><P>It wasn't until after the Church Commission hearings on the FBI's covert domestic operations known as COINTELPRO were held that the frame up was confirmed. Ballistic evidence that had been under wraps was revealed. Lies told by police officers were uncovered. </P><P>Yet the state has continued to hold the New York 3 behind bars.</P><P>A concerted effort is underway to get Nuh released on grounds of terminal illness, despite the fact that New York State does not allow "mercy release" for those serving life sentences. </P><P>In a message sent on Jan. 26, political prisoner Sundiata Acoli urges those in the movement to "demand that New York Governor Pataki sees that Nuh is released. Also urge your pastors, church members, Imams, Mosque members, family, friends and comrades to do the same. </P><P>"Nuh is most beloved by all of us PP/POWs, and he's highly respected. I sincerely urge everyone to do all that's possible to get Nuh released."</P><P>Arrangements for a Muslim funeral are underway. Donations toward a cemetery plot and headstone would be appreciated. Checks clearly marked "For Nuh Washington's Headstone" can be sent to Jericho Amnesty Movement, P.O. Box 650, N.Y., N.Y. 10009.</P><P>Messages to Nuh can be sent to: Albert Nuh Washington #77A1528, Great Meadows Correctional Facility, Box 51, Comstock, NY 12821.</P><P>Nuh sent an eloquent statement from prison to the movement. Following are excerpts:</P><P>"My name is Albert Washington. I am a political prisoner. I am called Nuh (Noah), and like a handful of others, I am one of the longest held political prisoners in this country.</P><P>"As a member of the Black Panther Party, I worked to raise the political consciousness of Black people and teach them self-defense. The government-sponsored COINTELPRO created situations that led to the split in the Black Panther Party and forced many of us underground. </P><P>"Underground we became the Black Liberation Army and engaged in active self-defense. In defending the Black community in San Francisco, I was shot and captured along with Jalil Abdul Muntaquin. Later I was charged with killing two New York City police officers with Jalil and Herman Bell.</P><P>"The State has conceded that I have committed no act but that I taught political education classes. For that I have been sentenced to life imprisonment and subjected to the tightest security, not only in the states of California and New York, but in the country as well.</P><P>"I am a political prisoner because I spoke out against racism and oppression."</P><P><b>'Still I am in command of my politics'</b></P><P>"My family instilled in me values and a sense of pride in myself, family, and people. They were always there. I am not allowed family reunion visits because I am considered a high-security escape risk, while others, who have escaped, can get them. It is now harder for my mother to visit me. My friends must make plans to get here. I have not held my wife in a long time.</P><P>"I tell jokes and educate my fellow prisoners, which is why I am transferred a lot. The Black Panther Party is physically gone but the spirit lives in a lot of us. Just recently a brother asked me for the goals and rules of the Black Panther Party, and a few people wish to be part of it again.</P><P>"After 20+ years as a prisoner, the memory of being with the people still brings a smile to my face and it is something I share with my fellow prisoners: The concept of unity, movement, and love.</P><P>"I am a Prisoner of War as well as a Political Prisoner because of the historical and contemporary acts of war carried out against Blacks/New Afrikan people inside and outside these United States by the government and those who believe in white supremacy.</P><P>"There is very little in here of me yet it is all me. I am kind to my fellow prisoners and I feel for others. I would like to take a walk at night and hug my baby. I'd like to do all the things that people take for granted in their so-called freedom. </P><P>"Not being able to touch and share special moments with another makes one generalize. I tell myself I am all right. But who can be all right after all these years under these conditions? </P><P>"Still I am in command of my politics. I can laugh and love, so the damage is not that bad. Whatever strength I have comes from the knowledge that I am a political prisoner and the things we stand for were/are correct."</P>  <p>This article is copyright under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">Creative Commons License</a>.   <br /> Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011<br> Email: <a href="MAILTO:ww@workers.org">ww@workers.org</a><br> Subscribe <a href="MAILTO:wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net">wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net</a><br> Support independent news <a href="http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php">http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php</a>)  </p> <p class="caption"><a href="http://www.workers.org/">HOME</a> :: <a href="http://www.workers.org/us/">U.S. NEWS</a> :: <a href="http://www.workers.org/world/">WORLD NEWS</a> :: <a href="http://www.workers.org/editorials/">EDITORIALS</a> :: <a href="http://www.workers.org/orders/">SUBSCRIBE</a> :: <a href="http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php">DONATE</a></p> </blockquote> </body> </html>