WHY REPARATIONS?
A look inside U.S. prisons
By Greg Butterfield
"In order for capitalism to continue to rule, any action
that threatens the right of a few individuals to own and
control public property must be prohibited and curtailed,
whatever the cost in resources, whatever the cost in
blood."
--George Jackson,
"Blood in My Eye"
What's the relationship between the growing struggle for
Black reparations and the plight of African American political
prisoners and others in U.S. jails?
What about the more than 1,000 Arab and South Asian people
detained after Sept. 11? Many of them were deported without
trial or disappeared into the U.S. prison system. Do they have
a connection to the reparations struggle?
The continued persecution of political prisoners shows
concretely how the U.S. capitalist ruling class and government
continue to deny the basic demands for Black freedom, and
repress people who give voice to those demands.
Today the movement for reparations is targeting monopoly
capitalists whose fortunes were built on the unpaid labor of
African slaves. A generation ago, movements of Black people and
other people of color challenged the capitalist system and its
right to go on robbing and oppressing those whose ancestors
built this country.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s the FBI used Cointelpro--the
Counter Intelligence Program--to spy on, divide and smash
civil-rights, Black liberation and other progressive
movements.
Cointelpro was responsible for frame-ups, false testimony
and snitching against supporters of these movements. It was
responsible for jailing many of those identified as political
prisoners today.
Under other names, this program has continued to the present
day. It was strengthened by the "USA Patriot Act" passed in the
aftermath of Sept. 11.
It's not just a case of the government keeping those it has
held for 20 or 30 years under lock and key. Political frame-ups
are still going on--like the recent murder conviction of Imam
Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown) in Atlanta.
The Jericho Movement, established by former political
prisoners to fight for the freedom of those still behind the
walls, currently lists 54 known political prisoners on its Web
site. Many were members of groups like the Black Panther Party,
the Black Liberation Army, the Young Lords Party and the
American Indian Movement.
There are also thousands more who became political activists
after being jailed, just as Malcolm X and George Jackson once
did. The bloated Texas death row is a source of many political
prisoners of this type. Those who become politicized in prison
often pay the price of being denied parole or face new,
trumped-up charges.
Many argue that all poor and working-class people in U.S.
jails are really political prisoners of this racist and
class-divided system.
The growth of the highly profitable prison-industrial
complex gives even more weight to this broad definition. As
other areas of the economy contract, it becomes a matter of
economic and political urgency to jail more and more people for
crimes of survival, or for no crime at all.
Evidence or politics?
Mumia Abu-Jamal is probably the best-known U.S. political
prisoner. This former Black Panther leader from Philadelphia
became a renowned activist-journalist, but never stopped being
a target for the FBI and local police. He was framed for the
murder of a white cop in 1981 and sent to death row.
If it were simply a matter of law or evidence, Abu-Jamal
would be walking free today. His trial was an unconstitutional
sham. The evidence of his innocence, and of police tampering
and intimidation of witnesses, has grown year by year.
For the rich and powerful beneficiaries of capitalism and
white supremacy, Abu-Jamal's case isn't about guilt or
innocence. It's about setting an example. If you resist, they
are saying, we could put you on death row next.
But if their plan was to use Abu-Jamal's case to spread fear
and passivity, they've failed miserably.
Far from being demoralized, Abu-Jamal has continued to
resist every threat against his life and every petty harassment
by his jailers. His articles and statements have played a
pivotal role in educating a whole generation of activists about
the nature of U.S. prisons, racism, imperialism and the right
to fight back.
Abu-Jamal and his supporters have used his case to spotlight
abuses of the legal system. He has helped make the United
States an international pariah for its racist use of the death
penalty.
Last December a federal judge struck down Abu-Jamal's death
sentence--but not his conviction--on a technicality. The judge
refused to consider the overwhelming evidence of his innocence.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision cast doubts over that
ruling, and Abu-Jamal has not been removed from death row.
In July, two longtime political prisoners--Black activist
Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom) of the New York 3 and ailing
Native warrior Leonard Peltier--were denied parole.
Six Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war
remain in U.S. jails for the "crime" of demanding independence
and reparations for their homeland, the world's last official
colony.
The MOVE 9, two of the Angola 3, Sundiata Acoli, Marilyn
Buck, Marshall Eddie Conway, Mutulu Shakur, Eddie Hatcher, and
dozens more remain imprisoned, though their spirits of struggle
are unbroken.
Long campaigns have won some significant victories in recent
years. In 1999, 11 Puerto Rican activists were finally
released. Black Panther Geronimo Ji jaga Pratt was freed in
1997 after more than a quarter-century in jail.
But for every Ramona Africa or Safiya Bukhari who has won
her freedom, there are also casualties like Albert Nuh
Washington and Merle Africa, who died still fighting for
justice behind bars. Others are forced to live in exile, like
Assata Shakur.
Among the recent detainees of Arab and South Asian descent
are Palestinian political activists like the recently released
Jaoudat Abouazza. A U.S. citizen, Abdullah al Muhajir (Jose
Padilla), has been held for months without charges.
What will happen if the United States goes to war with Iraq?
If parents whose children--Black, Latin, white, etc.--have been
sent off to war dare to protest, will Bush and Ashcroft start
rounding them up?
The struggles for reparations and political prisoners are
really one and the same. Both are struggles against the
national oppression and class exploitation engendered by
capitalism. The intersection and unity of these movements will
strengthen them and help them to grow.
To learn more about political prisoners, visit the Web sites
www.millions4mumia.org,
www.jerichomovement.com
and www.freepeltier.org.
Reprinted from the Aug. 22, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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