{"id":176417772,"date":"2013-05-03T22:43:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-04T03:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/?p=176417772"},"modified":"2013-05-04T00:36:13","modified_gmt":"2013-05-04T05:36:13","slug":"a-luta-continua-video-audio-assata-speaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/2013\/05\/03\/a-luta-continua-video-audio-assata-speaks\/","title":{"rendered":"A LUTA CONTINUA + VIDEO + AUDIO: Assata Speaks"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-05.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-176417774\" alt=\"assata 05\" src=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-05.jpg\" width=\"554\" height=\"860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-05.jpg 554w, https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-05-193x300.jpg 193w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 554px) 100vw, 554px\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\n<h1 itemprop=\"name\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: xx-large;\"><strong>Angela Davis and <\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 itemprop=\"name\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: xx-large;\"><strong>Assata Shakur\u2019s Lawyer <\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 itemprop=\"name\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: xx-large;\"><strong>Denounce FBI\u2019s Adding of <\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 itemprop=\"name\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: xx-large;\"><strong>Exiled Activist to Terrorists List<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2><iframe width=\"400\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/embed\/story\/2013\/5\/3\/angela_davis_and_assata_shakurs_lawyer\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">One day after the exiled former Black Panther Assata Shakur became the first woman named to the FBI\u2019s Most Wanted Terrorists list, we\u2019re joined by another legendary African-American activist, Angela Davis, as well as Shakur\u2019s longtime attorney, Lennox Hinds. Davis, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is the subject of the recent film, &#8220;Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.&#8221; She argues that the FBI\u2019s latest move, much like its initial targeting of Shakur and other Black Panthers four decades ago, is politically motivated. &#8220;It seems to me that this act incorporates or reflects the very logic of terrorism,&#8221; Davis says. &#8220;I can\u2019t help but think that it\u2019s designed to frighten people who are involved in struggles today. Forty years ago seems like it was a long time ago. In the beginning of the 21st century, we\u2019re still fighting around the very same issues \u2014 police violence, healthcare, education, people in prison.&#8221; A professor of criminal justice at Rutgers University, Hinds has represented Shakur since 1973. &#8220;This is a political act pushed by the state of New Jersey, by some members of Congress from Miami, and with the intent of putting pressure on the Cuban government and to inflame public opinion,&#8221; Hinds says. &#8220;There is no way to appeal someone being put on the terrorists list.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&gt;via:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2013\/5\/3\/angela_davis_and_assata_shakurs_lawyer\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2013\/5\/3\/angela_davis_and_assata_shakurs_lawyer<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: large;\"><strong>__________________________<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a title=\"An Open Letter From\u00a0Assata\" href=\"http:\/\/revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/03\/an-open-letter-from-assata\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">An Open Letter From\u00a0Assata<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<div>Posted on\u00a0May 3, 2013\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>by reed<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><em><strong>My name is Assata Shakur, and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government\u2019s policy towards people of color. I am an ex-political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" id=\"irc_mi\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/25.media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_m9fx5sTgqE1qdx7dko1_500.jpg\" width=\"287\" height=\"318\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one. In the 1960s, I participated in various struggles: the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. I joined the Black Panther Party. By 1969 the Black Panther Party had become the number one organization targeted by the FBI\u2019s COINTELPRO program. Because the Black Panther Party demanded the total liberation of black people, J. Edgar Hoover called it \u201cgreatest threat to the internal security of the country\u201d and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">In 1978, my case was one of many cases bought before the United Nations Organization in a petition filed by the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, exposing the existence of political prisoners in the United States, their political persecution, and the cruel and inhuman treatment they receive in US prisons. According to the report:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><em>\u2018The FBI and the New York Police Department in particular, charged and accused Assata Shakur of participating in attacks on law enforcement personnel and widely circulated such charges and accusations among police agencies and units. The FBI and the NYPD further charged her as being a leader of the Black Liberation Army which the government and its respective agencies described as an organization engaged in the shooting of police officers. This description of the Black Liberation Army and the accusation of Assata Shakur\u2019s relationship to it was widely circulated by government agents among police agencies and units. As a result of these activities by the government, Ms. Shakur became a hunted person; posters in police precincts and banks described her as being involved in serious criminal activities; she was highlighted on the FBI\u2019s most wanted list; and to police at all levels she became a \u2018shoot-to-kill\u2019 target.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" id=\"irc_mi\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.freedomarchives.org\/images\/Assata_Shakur.jpg\" width=\"288\" height=\"344\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I was falsely accused in six different \u201ccriminal cases\u201d and in all six of these cases I was eventually acquitted or the charges were dismissed. The fact that I was acquitted or that the charges were dismissed, did not mean that I received justice in the courts, that was certainly not the case. It only meant that the \u201cevidence\u201d presented against me was so flimsy and false that my innocence became evident. This political persecution was part and parcel of the government\u2019s policy of eliminating political opponents by charging them with crimes and arresting them with no regard to the factual basis of such charges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">On May 2, 1973 I, along with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike, supposedly for a \u201cfaulty tail light.\u201d Sundiata Acoli got out of the car to determine why we were stopped. Zayd and I remained in the car. State trooper Harper then came to the car, opened the door and began to question us. Because we were black, and riding in a car with Vermont license plates, he claimed he became \u201csuspicious.\u201d He then drew his gun, pointed it at us, and told us to put our hands up in the air, in front of us, where he could see them. I complied and in a split second, there was a sound that came from outside the car, there was a sudden movement, and I was shot once with my arms held up in the air, and then once again from the back. Zayd Malik Shakur was later killed, trooper Werner Foerster was killed, and even though trooper Harper admitted that he shot and killed Zayd Malik Shakur, under the New Jersey felony murder law, I was charged with killing both Zayd Malik Shakur, who was my closest friend and comrade, and charged in the death of trooper Forester. Never in my life have I felt such grief. Zayd had vowed to protect me, and to help me to get to a safe place, and it was clear that he had lost his life, trying to protect both me and Sundiata. Although he was also unarmed, and the gun that killed trooper Foerster was found under Zayd\u2019s leg, Sundiata Acoli, who was captured later, was also charged with both deaths. Neither Sundiata Acoli nor I ever received a fair trial We were both convicted in the news media way before our trials. No news media was ever permitted to interview us, although the New Jersey police and the FBI fed stories to the press on a daily basis. In 1977, I was convicted by an all- white jury and sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison. In 1979, fearing that I would be murdered in prison, and knowing that I would never receive any justice, I was liberated from prison, aided by committed comrades who understood the depths of the injustices in my case, and who were also extremely fearful for my life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">The U.S. Senate\u2019s 1976 Church Commission report on intelligence operations inside the USA, revealed that \u201cThe FBI has attempted covertly to influence the public\u2019s perception of persons and organizations by disseminating derogatory information to the press, either anonymously or through \u201cfriendly\u201d news contacts.\u201d This same policy is evidently still very much in effect today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">On December 24, 1997, The New Jersey State called a press conference to announce that New Jersey State Police had written a letter to Pope John Paul II asking him to intervene on their behalf and to aid in having me extradited back to New Jersey prisons. The New Jersey State Police refused to make their letter public. Knowing that they had probably totally distort the facts, and attempted to get the Pope to do the devils work in the name of religion, I decided to write the Pope to inform him about the reality of\u2019 \u201cjustice\u201d for black people in the State of New Jersey and in the United States. (See attached Letter to the Pope).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" id=\"irc_mi\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/24.media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_m5eb4cefET1qhumtwo1_500.png\" width=\"397\" height=\"271\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">In January of 1998, during the pope\u2019s visit to Cuba, I agreed to do an interview with NBC journalist Ralph Penza around my letter to the Pope, about my experiences in New Jersey court system, and about the changes I saw in the United States and it\u2019s treatment of Black people in the last 25 years. I agreed to do this interview because I saw this secret letter to the Pope as a vicious, vulgar, publicity maneuver on the part of the New Jersey State Police, and as a cynical attempt to manipulate Pope John Paul II. I have lived in Cuba for many years, and was completely out of touch with the sensationalist, dishonest, nature of the establishment media today. It is worse today than it was 30 years ago. After years of being victimized by the \u201cestablishment\u201d media it was naive of me to hope that I might finally get the opportunity to tell \u201cmy side of the story.\u201d Instead of an interview with me, what took place was a \u201cstaged media event\u201d in three parts, full of distortions, inaccuracies and outright lies. NBC purposely misrepresented the facts. Not only did NBC spend thousands of dollars promoting this \u201cexclusive interview series\u201d on NBC, they also spent a great deal of money advertising this \u201cexclusive interview\u201d on black radio stations and also placed notices in local newspapers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0. . .<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Like most poor and oppressed people in the United States, I do not have a voice. Black people, poor people in the U.S. have no real freedom of speech, no real freedom of expression and very little freedom of the press. The black press and the progressive media has historically played an essential role in the struggle for social justice. We need to continue and to expand that tradition. We need to create media outlets that help to educate our people and our children, and not annihilate their minds. I am only one woman. I own no TV stations, or Radio Stations or Newspapers. But I feel that people need to be educated as to what is going on, and to understand the connection between the news media and the instruments of repression in Amerika. All I have is my voice, my spirit and the will to tell the truth. But I sincerely ask, those of you in the Black media, those of you in the progressive media, those of you who believe in truth freedom, To publish this statement and to let people know what is happening. We have no voice, so you must be the voice of the voiceless.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Free all Political Prisoners, I send you Love and Revolutionary Greetings From Cuba, One of the Largest, Most Resistant and Most Courageous Palenques (Maroon Camps) That has ever existed on the Face of this Planet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>Assata Shakur\u00a0Havana, Cuba<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Below is a clip of Assata Sakur\u2019s Documentary\u00a0<em>\u201cEyes of the Rainbow: Assata Shakur Documentary\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BKnJT-ne62k?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" height=\"294\" width=\"468\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><em><strong>\u201cI am a Black revolutionary woman, and because of this i have been charged with and accused of every alleged crime in which a woman was believed to have participated. The alleged crimes in which only men were supposedly involved, i have been accused of planning. They have plastered pictures alleged to be me in post offices, airports, hotels, police cars, subways, banks, television, and newspapers. They have offered \u2026 rewards for my capture and they have issued orders to shoot on sight and shoot to kill.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Assata Shakur<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><em><strong>\u201cPeople get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">\u2015 Assata Shakur,\u00a0<i>Assata: An Autobiography<\/i><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"jp-post-flair\">&gt;via:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/03\/an-open-letter-from-assata\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/03\/an-open-letter-from-assata\/<\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: large;\">__________________________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-07.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-176417778\" alt=\"assata 07\" src=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-07.jpg\" width=\"462\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-07.jpg 462w, https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/assata-07-198x300.jpg 198w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: small;\">MAY 02, 2013<\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/blog\/2013\/5\/2\/pregnant_anti_war_soldier_sent_to_prison\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Former Black Panther <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/blog\/2013\/5\/2\/pregnant_anti_war_soldier_sent_to_prison\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Assata Shakur <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/blog\/2013\/5\/2\/pregnant_anti_war_soldier_sent_to_prison\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Added to FBI\u2019s <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: xx-large; color: #000000;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/blog\/2013\/5\/2\/pregnant_anti_war_soldier_sent_to_prison\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Most Wanted Terrorist List<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"blog_wrapper\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Blog\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"photos\">\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Freedomfighter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/images\/blog_posts\/36\/22936\/medium\/freedomfighter.jpg?3_0\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">The\u00a0FBI\u00a0added Assata Shakur to its Most Wanted Terrorist List today. In addition, the state of New Jersey announced it was adding $1 million to the FBI\u2019s $1 million reward for her capture. Shakur becomes the first woman ever to make the list and only the second domestic terrorist to be added to the list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Assata Shakur, the former Joanne Chesimard, was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. She was convicted in the May 2, 1973 killing of a New Jersey police officer during a shoot-out that left one of her fellow activists dead. She was shot twice by police during the incident. In 1979, she managed to escape from jail. Shakur fled to Cuba where she received political asylum. She once wrote, &#8220;I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the U.S. government\u2019s policy towards people of color.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">In 1998, Democracy Now! aired Shakur reading an open letter to Pope John Paul II during his trip to Cuba. She wrote the message after New Jersey state troopers sent the Pope a letter asking him to call for her extradition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F90468975\" height=\"166\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>RUSH\u00a0TRANSCRIPT<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I hope this letter finds you in good health, in good disposition, and enveloped with the spirit of goodness. I must confess that it had never occurred to me before to write you, and I find myself overwhelmed and moved to have this opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Although circumstances have compelled me to reach out to you, I am glad to have this occasion to try and cross the boundaries that would otherwise tend to separate us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I understand that the New Jersey State Police have written to you and asked you to intervene and to help facilitate my extradition back to the United States. I believe that their request is unprecedented in history. Since they have refused to make their letter to you public, although they have not hesitated to publicize their request, I am completely uninformed as to the accusations they are making against me. Why, I wonder, do I warrant such attention? What do I represent that is such a threat?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Please let me take a moment to tell you about myself. My name is Assata Shakur and I was born and raised in the United States. I am a descendant of Africans who were kidnapped and brought to the Americas as slaves. I spent my early childhood in the racist segregated South. I later moved to the northern part of the country, where I realized that Black people were equally victimized by racism and oppression.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I grew up and became a political activist, participating in student struggles, the anti-war movement, and, most of all, in the movement for the liberation of African Americans in the United States. I later joined the Black Panther Party, an organization that was targeted by the\u00a0COINTELPRO\u00a0program, a program that was set up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to eliminate all political opposition to the U.S. government\u2019s policies, to destroy the Black Liberation Movement in the United States, to discredit activists and to eliminate potential leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Under the\u00a0COINTELPRO\u00a0program, many political activists were harassed, imprisoned, murdered or otherwise neutralized. As a result of being targeted by\u00a0COINTELPRO, I, like many other young people, was faced with the threat of prison, underground, exile or death. The\u00a0FBI, with the help of local police agencies, systematically fed false accusations and fake news articles to the press accusing me and other activists of crimes we did not commit. Although in my case the charges were eventually dropped or I was eventually acquitted, the national and local police agencies created a situation where, based on their false accusations against me, any police officer could shoot me on sight. It was not until the Freedom of Information Act was passed in the mid-&#8217;70s that we began to see the scope of the United States government&#8217;s persecution of political activists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">At this point, I think that it is important to make one thing very clear. I have advocated and I still advocate revolutionary changes in the structure and in the principles that govern the United States. I advocate self-determination for my people and for all oppressed inside the United States. I advocate an end to capitalist exploitation, the abolition of racist policies, the eradication of sexism, and the elimination of political repression. If that is a crime, then I am totally guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">To make a long story short, I was captured in New Jersey in 1973, after being shot with both arms held in the air, and then shot again from the back. I was left on the ground to die and when I did not, I was taken to a local hospital where I was threatened, beaten and tortured. In 1977 I was convicted in a trial that can only be described as a legal lynching.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">In 1979 I was able to escape with the aid of some of my fellow comrades. I saw this as a necessary step, not only because I was innocent of the charges against me, but because I knew that in the racist legal system in the United States I would receive no justice. I was also afraid that I would be murdered in prison. I later arrived in Cuba where I am currently living in exile as a political refugee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">The New Jersey State Police and other law enforcement officials say they want to see me brought to &#8220;justice.&#8221; But I would like to know what they mean by &#8220;justice.&#8221; Is torture justice? I was kept in solitary confinement for more than two years, mostly in men\u2019s prisons. Is that justice? My lawyers were threatened with imprisonment and imprisoned. Is that justice? I was tried by an all-white jury, without even the pretext of impartiality, and then sentenced to life in prison plus 33 years. Is that justice?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Let me emphasize that justice for me is not the issue I am addressing here; it is justice for my people that is at stake. When my people receive justice, I am sure that I will receive it, too. I know that Your Holiness will reach your own conclusions, but I feel compelled to present the circumstances surrounding the application of so-called &#8220;justice&#8221; in New Jersey. I am not the first or the last person to be victimized by the New Jersey system of &#8220;justice.&#8221; The New Jersey State Police are infamous for their racism and brutality. Many legal actions have been filed against them and just recently, in a class action legal proceeding, the New Jersey State Police were found guilty of having an, quote, &#8220;officially sanctioned, de facto policy of targeting minorities for investigation and arrest,&#8221; unquote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Although New Jersey\u2019s population is more than 78 percent white, more than 75 percent of the prison population is made up of Blacks and Latinos. Eighty percent of women in New Jersey prisons are women of color. There are 15 people on death row in the state and seven of them are Black. A 1987 study found that New Jersey prosecutors sought the death penalty in 50 percent of cases involving a Black defendant and a white victim, but only 28 percent of cases involving a Black defendant and a Black victim.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Unfortunately, the situation in New Jersey is not unique, but reflects the racism that permeates the entire country. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. There are more than 1.7 million people in U.S. prisons. This number does not include the more than 500,000 people in city and county jails, nor does it include the alarming number of children in juvenile institutions. The vast majority of those behind bars are people of color and virtually all of those behind bars are poor. The result of this reality is devastating. One third of Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are either in prison or under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Prisons are big business in the United States, and the building, running, and supplying of prisons has become the fastest growing industry in the country. Factories are being moved into the prisons and prisoners are being forced to work for slave wages. This super-exploitation of human beings has meant the institutionalization of a new form of slavery. Those who cannot find work on the streets are forced to work in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Not only are the prisons used as instruments of economic exploitation, they also serve as instruments of political repression. There are more than 100 political prisoners in the United States. They are African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, Native Americans, Asians, and progressive white people who oppose the policies of the United States government. Many of those targeted by theCOINTELPRO\u00a0program have been in prison since the early 1970s.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Although the situation in the prisons is an indication of human rights violations inside the United States, there are other, more deadly indicators.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">There are currently 3,365 people now on death row, and more than 50 percent of those awaiting death are people of color. Black people make up only 13 percent of the population, but we make up 41.01 percent of persons who have received the death penalty. The number of state assassinations has increased drastically. In 1997 alone, 71 people were executed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">A special rapporteur appointed by the United Nations organization found serious human rights violations in the United States, especially those related to the death penalty. According to his findings, people who were mentally ill were sentenced to death, people with severe mental and learning disabilities, as well as minors under 18. Serious racial bias was found on the part of judges and prosecutors. Specifically mentioned in the report was the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the only political prisoner on death row, who was sentenced to death because of his political beliefs and because of his work as a journalist, exposing police brutality in the city of Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I believe that some people spell God with one &#8220;O&#8221; while others spell it with two. What we call God is unimportant, as long as we do God\u2019s work. There are those who want to see God\u2019s wrath fall on the oppressed and not on the oppressors. I believe that the time has ended when slavery, colonialism, and oppression can be carried out in the name of religion. It was in the dungeons of prison that I felt the presence of God up close, and it has been my belief in God, and in the goodness of human beings that has helped me to survive. I am not ashamed of having been in prison, and I am certainly not ashamed of having been a political prisoner. I believe that Jesus was a political prisoner who was executed because he fought against the evils of the Roman Empire, because he fought against the greed of the money changers in the temple, because he fought against the sins and injustices of his time. As a true child of God, Jesus spoke up for the poor, for the meek, for the sick, and the oppressed. The early Christians were thrown into lions\u2019 dens. I will try and follow the example of so many who have stood up in the face of overwhelming oppression.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I am not writing to ask you to intercede on my behalf. I ask nothing for myself. I only ask you to examine the social reality of the United States and to speak out against the human rights violations that are taking place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">On this day, the birthday of Martin Luther King, I am reminded of all those who gave their lives for freedom. Most of the people who live on this planet are still not free. I ask only that you continue to work and pray to end oppression and political repression. It is my heartfelt belief that all the people on this earth deserve justice: social justice, political justice, and economic justice. I believe it is the only way we will ever achieve peace and prosperity on this earth. I hope that you enjoy your visit to Cuba. This is not a country that is rich in material wealth, but it is a country that is rich in human wealth, spiritual wealth and moral wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Respectfully yours,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Assata Shakur<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Havana, Cuba<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&gt;via:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/blog\/2013\/5\/2\/ex_black_panther_assata_shakur_added_to_fbis_most_wanted_terrorist_list\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/blog\/2013\/5\/2\/ex_black_panther_assata_shakur_added_to_fbis_most_wanted_terrorist_list<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Angela Davis and Assata Shakur\u2019s Lawyer Denounce FBI\u2019s Adding of Exiled Activist to Terrorists List One day after the exiled former Black Panther Assata Shakur became the first woman named to the FBI\u2019s Most Wanted Terrorists list, we\u2019re joined by another legendary African-American activist, Angela Davis, as well as Shakur\u2019s longtime attorney, Lennox Hinds. Davis, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[4,12,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176417772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176417772"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176417772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176417833,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176417772\/revisions\/176417833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176417772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176417772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176417772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}