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Black August And Black Liberation: ‘Study, Fast, Train, Fight.’

August 7, 2020 By BAP National Coordinating Committee, Black Agenda Report. , ,
Each August since 1979, the surviving sectors of the Black Liberation Movement, our supporters, and the new entrants into the ranks of resistors to the ongoing oppression against the African/Black masses and colonized peoples of this territory now called the United States and its settler state, have paid homage to our fallen freedom fighters and those incarcerated for decades in the cages of this country. The struggle for African/Black freedom in the United States began with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to this territory in 1619. The tradition of resistance to the settler state is different from the tradition celebrated by the elites of this country in response to the death of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). Our positionality, first as an enslaved people and after the formal period of slavery as a nationally oppressed people, had forged for us a different interpretation of U.S. history and our relationship to this state.  For the Black Liberation Movement, reconciliation with the settler state toward a “more perfect union” was not only an impossibility because white-supremacist settler power has been crystallized into the state.

The Fight For Black Power Requires The Immediate Release Of All Political Prisoners!

July 24, 2020 the Black Is Back Coalition. , , ,
The month of August is recognized as “Black August” by many militants associated with the prison movement. This is due in part to the impact of George Jackson, imprisoned revolutionary and Field Marshal of the Black Panther Party, who was killed in San Quentin prison on August 21, 1971. Jackson was murdered by prison guards one year after his 17-year-old brother, Jonathan, was killed escaping from a Marin County courthouse siege after taking three people hostage and demanding the liberation of black political prisoners known as the Soledad Brothers. The 2020 Annual Conference of the Black is Back Coalition will focus on the issue of political prisoners and Black Power. It is a theme that speaks to this moment in history when the resistance of African people threatens to derail the imperialist locomotive that has enslaved and dominated Africans and the world’s peoples for the last few hundred years.

Released At Last: Welcome Home, Move 9 Member Chuck Africa!

February 13, 2020 Betsey Piette , Workers.org , ,
Imprisoned since he was only 18, Charles Sims Africa was finally released from Pennsylvania’s SCI Fayette on Feb. 7. The youngest and the last of the MOVE 9 to be paroled, Chuck, now 59 and recovering from cancer, was first eligible for parole in 2008 — after 30 years of incarceration.

Free All Political Prisoners –- Including Julian Assange And Chelsea Manning

February 13, 2020 Glen Ford,  Blackagendareport.com , , ,
All of our fates are entwined with that of Julian Assange, a political prisoner of the global imperial state. Assange, an Australian currently held in solitary confinement in Britain’s Belmarsh prison, faces 175 years behind bars if extradited to the United States, the imperial power whose international crimes and domestic machinations have been severely compromised by Wikileaks, the journalism operation Assange founded.

Visiting Britain’s Political Prisoner

December 2, 2019 By John Pilger, Consortiumnews.com ,
I set out at dawn. Her Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh is in the flat hinterland of south east London, a ribbon of walls and wire with no horizon. At what is called the visitors centre, I surrendered my passport, wallet, credit cards, medical cards, money, phone, keys, comb, pen, paper. I need two pairs of glasses. I had to choose which pair stayed behind. I left my reading glasses. From here on, I couldn’t read, just as Julian couldn’t read for the first few weeks of his incarceration. His glasses were sent to him, but inexplicably took months to arrive.

Thanksgiving Statement From Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier

November 26, 2019 Leonard Peltier, Liberationnews.org , ,
The year of 2019 is coming to a close and with it, comes the day most Americans set aside as a day for Thanksgiving. As I let my mind wander beyond the steel bars and concrete walls, I try to imagine what the people who live outside the prison gates are doing, and what they are thinking. Do they ever think of the Indigenous people who were forced from their homelands? Do they understand that with every step they take, no matter the direction, that they are walking on stolen land?

Free Honduran Political Prisoners, Stop Criminalization Of Social Movements

October 23, 2019 Honduras Solidarity Network. , ,
On October 18th, 2019, Antonio “Tony” Hernández, brother of Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty of drug trafficking charges by a jury in the Southern District Court of New York. While the evidence and testimony of the trial implicate the Honduran president and other high officials of the Honduran government in “state-sponsored drug trafficking”, obstruction of justice, severe abuses of power, and violence, the Honduran regime has criminalized activists and everyone that is opposed to Juan Orlando’s administration.  The continued criminalization of activists in Honduras has led to 10 political prisoners being held pre-trial in prison and at least 173 people who face prosecution for their participation in protests or their opposition to the regime.

No Escape from Guantánamo: Former Child Prisoner Boycotts Broken Review Process, Calls It “Hopeless”

October 11, 2019 Staff, Andyworthington.co.uk , ,
It’s now nearly ten years since a high-level government review process established by President Obama — the Guantánamo Review Task Force — issued its recommendations about what to do with the prisoners inherited from George W. Bush. The task force recommended that 156 men should be released, that 36 men should be prosecuted, and that 48 others should continue to be held without charge or trial — on the basis that they were regarded as “too dangerous to transfer but not feasible for prosecution” (a self-evidently dubious designation...

In Response To Latest Mumia Appeal, Philly Cops Lash Out At District Attorney

October 1, 2019 By Ted Kelly, Workers.org , ,
In the face of mounting legal victories and an energized movement in the streets to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police is now attacking District Attorney Larry Krasner for failing to challenge a request by Abu-Jamal’s attorneys for a new evidentiary hearing. Maureen Faulkner, widow of slain police officer Daniel Faulkner, has been enlisted by the FOP to attack Krasner, despite his initial efforts to help her perpetuate Abu-Jamal’s unjust imprisonment.

18-Month Struggle To Free Honduran Political Prisoner

August 22, 2019 By Erika Engel, Collingwoodtoday.ca ,
In an apartment in Honduras’ capital city Tegucigalpa, a husband and wife played chess together for the first time. It might seem an ordinary scene - boring even - but it’s an experience both feared would never happen. Edwin Espinal has been separated from his wife since they were married, after becoming a prisoner in a maximum-security detention centre in Honduras. His life has been threatened by criminals and he has battled disease, infection, and malnutrition. He was charged with inciting terrorism - a charge so loosely defined in Honduran law, it has been condemned by the United Nations.

A Rare Court Victory Offers Hope For Guantánamo’s “Forever Prisoners”

July 3, 2019 Andy Worthington, Closeguantanamo.org , ,
If you can, please make a donation to support our work in 2019. If you can become a monthly sustainer, that will be particularly appreciated. Tick the box marked, "Make this a monthly donation," and insert the amount you wish to donate. Anyone who has been following the alleged legal basis for the ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial of prisoners at Guantánamo should be encouraged by a ruling on June 21, 2019 by a three-judge panel — consisting of Judges Patricia A. Millett, Cornelia T. L. Pillard, and Harry T. Edwards — in the D.C. Circuit Court...

Chelsea Manning’s Legal Team Files Motion To Reconsider Sanctions

June 1, 2019 Staff, Sparrowmedia.net , , ,
Alexandria, VA — Today, Chelsea Manning and her legal team filed a Motion to Reconsider Sanctions, in which they ask Judge Anthony Trenga to release Chelsea from confinement, and ask that he modify the fines he imposed on her. During the May 16th contempt hearing, Judge Trenga found Ms. Manning in contempt of court and ordered her confined for the term of the grand jury. Judge Trenga also imposed graduated fines to be assessed at $500 per day starting after 30 days of confinement, and jumping to $1,000 per day after 60 days, for as long as she refuses to comply with the court’s order to answer questions before the grand jury.

Janet And Janine Africa Are Paroled After Forty Years Of Incarceration!!!

May 27, 2019 Staff, Abolitionistlawcenter.org ,
The Abolitionist Law Center and the People’s Law Office are proud to share that Janet Holloway Africa and Janine Phillips Africa of the MOVE 9 have been released from state custody after more than forty years of incarceration. Earlier this morning, the MOVE sisters were finally released on parole from SCI Cambridge Springs and are now with family and friends. The sisters have been battling for their freedom after being consistently denied parole for a decade despite an impeccable disciplinary record and extensive record of mentorship and community service during their time in prison.

Former US Government Analyst Faces 50 Years In Prison For Allegedly Leaking Classified Drone Warfare Documents

May 10, 2019 Victoria Gagliardo-Silver, Independent.co.uk , ,
Daniel Hale, 31, is accused of leaking classified documents to an unnamed media outlet. In the latest crackdown against government leaks by the Trump Administration, a former National Security Agency official has been charged with giving classified documents on drone warfare to a journalist. Daniel Hale, 31, is accused of leaking classified documents to an unnamed media outlet. It has been reported that the files described appear to match those published by The Intercept.

Trump Pardons Soldier Convicted Of Murder As Julian Assange Rots In Prison For Journalism

May 9, 2019 By Matt Agorist, Activistpost.com ,
Ali Mansur Mohamed was shot and killed in 2008. The man who killed him, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, was found guilty of unpremeditated murder for Mansur’s death and sentenced to 25 years in 2009. Now, years later, president Donald Trump has issued Behenna a full pardon. After taking Mansur in for questioning over a roadside bombing in Iraq in 2008, the U.S. Army decided that they did not have enough evidence to tie Mansur to any crime, so he was released after being held for ten days.
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