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Monday, February 22, 2010
ARC Blogs
 The "Prison Industrial Complex" Slavery in the 21st Century (Part 2): "Political Prisoners"
and the Deception of the US Government
By: Yasir Khalid
In my last blog, I focused on the "prison industrial complex" in terms of its
overall infrastructure. In this blog, I will attempt to unveil the hard facts about the political prisoners
held captive within the prison industrial complex. The first question that might come to one’s mind
is “What is the difference between political prisoners and prisoners in general?” There is a significant difference,
although both are, in many instances, victims of racism and "legal lynching".
What is the definition of a political prisoner? Sociologists
and criminal psychologists have been debating over this term or condition for eons of time. The argument
is indiscriminate, like a charge of buckshot. Polemically, the term is almost indefinitely extensible. Classically
it refers to someone who is prosecuted or jailed, not for crimes in the ordinary sense of the word, but for harboring or expressing
opinions that are antagonistic to an established order of government.
There is no question that the US government has a long and dishonorable
history of persecuting its citizens who have held views and opinions that ran counter to those of the "system".
It is against this backdrop that I will attempt to deduce some of what the US government has done and continues
to do in order to put down any uprisings from the oppressed population it is supposed to govern.
The US government has historically waged war against those
who would dare to speak out against the racism and injustice that it perpetuates. The government to this
very second will put you on a black list to be spied on, harassed, jailed or even murdered, if your views and ideas run counter
to those ideologies that it tries to deceive the masses of people with. Recently, in November of this year,
a well respected leader in Detroit, Imam Luqman A. Abdullah, was set up, shot and killed by the FBI. He
was shot 21 times: An autopsy revealed that one bullet entered through his back. When his body was delivered
to the coroner’s office he was in handcuffs. Imam Luqman was known for speaking out against this
thug racist system.
The US government with the passage of the 1st amendment to the constitution, allegedly
gave or guaranteed its citizens the right to freedom of speech. However, freedom of speech has been shackled
and enslaved by the same government that issued the document. America, with its repressive laws and its
hypocritical legal system, in my opinion, borderlines Fascism. The first amendment to the US Constitution
is supposed to protect the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression of its citizens from government interference.
Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government
for redress of grievances and the implied rights and beliefs. I'm aware of the fact that in order for the government to protect its citizens that it
needs a security system in place that helps to maintain law and order. I know that, although a person has
freedom of speech, that doesn't entitle him to shout fire in a crowded theater, without a valid reason. The
problem I have is that why are "Americans", especially Black and poor ones, are profiled when they try to make the
system work.
In
America we should know that there are special interest groups. These groups are usually composed of powerful
men and women. They are usually White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). People of this
ilk can usually say what they want and be heard without any repercussions. They usually control the politicians
and politics that affect what happens in America in general and to the Black and poor communities in particular.
What causes "civil disobedience"?
What causes people to speak out or lash out against the government? Usually people speak
out against the government when the government fails in upholding its duty. When the US government starts
a war in Vietnam or Iraq for no other reason than benefiting the "Military Industrial Complex" and private interests
such as Dick Cheny and Halliburton, who speaks out? Do you think it's a crime to speak out against the
actions of your government? When Dr. Martin Luther King spoke out against the Vietnam War, and lead a campaign
against it, he was accused of "civil disobedience" he was harassed and ultimately assassinated.
Don Imus can insult the entire
black population in America by calling African-American women on the Rutgers University Basketball team "nappy-headed
hos" without any serious repercussions. Imus still is on the public airways: How can this happen?
This can happen because of the white power structure. Pat Robertson, recently made a
very racist and insensitive statement on the heels of the devastation that happened in Haiti, when it was hit with an earthquake.
The latest count of the dead at this writing was over two-hundred thousand. Pat Robertson
suggested that the reason the quake hit Haiti was because Haiti had made a "pact with the devil". I
don't know whether or not he made this statement because of dismay about the Slave Revolt in Haiti. Haiti
gained its freedom when the slaves of Haiti kicked Pat Robertson’s European brothers, the French, out of Haiti. Good
old Pat can make a racist statement like the one he made and not be investigated or scrutinized by the US government. Why
can he get away with this behavior? Because Pat is a devil, and the US government is greatly influenced by Satan. And
Pat has a right wing Christian power base that shapes public policies.
If you have no power in America, and speak out against American
policies, as I stated earlier, you will become an open enemy and target of this Government. Political Prisoners
have been willing to made these sacrifices, many have traded in a life of comfort and pleasure, and have spoken truth to power.
Almost all known and unknown revolutionaries that stood up and spoke out have either been jailed or killed.
Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X, all stood up. The things that all three had in
common were that they were all killed, and they did not live to see their fortieth birthday. Was that a
tragic coincidence? Or was it a plan by the US government? I'm leaning toward the latter.
To discourage any efforts by would be revolutionaries, the government tried and tries to use fear tactics. The
government has a history of framing leaders, It sends in informants to infiltrate groups, these plants get close to the most
influential people in the group, and they try to set them up. The FBI framed Geronimo Pratt, who was a
member of the Black Panther Party. Pratt was falsely accused of murder, he was tried and convicted on circumstantial
evidence at best. Pratt remained in prison for over twenty years before his innocence was proven. Pratt
was Minster of Defense for The Black Panther Party.
The setting up of Pratt was used as a scare tactic to try and quell the activities of other revolutionaries
who might stand up. It was reminiscent of what the slave masters use to do to the rebellious slaves.
They would gather the slaves at the downtown square, or on the grounds of the church, and they would invite other members
of their community and church to witness the hanging of a nigger. The spectators would have a "picnic"
which means to pick a nigger.
In the 1960's groups like SNCC, The Black Panthers, The Nation of Islam, SCLC, and The NAACP, to name a few were all
targeted and put under surveillance by the FBI. The FBI is an interesting group. I recently
found out that the FBI had Michael Jackson under surveillance, and had hundreds of pages of documents on his "private
life". The black groups listed above along with other groups were signaled out and tagged as being
a threat to national security. Many of their leaders and members of these groups were either jailed or
killed, for simply speaking truth to the powers that be. Fred Hampton and Mark Clark who were leaders of
The Chicago Chapter of The Black Panther Party were killed in a predawn raid in Chicago. They city of Chicago,
who set the hold thing up, along with the FBI, later had to pay a settlement to the families of Hampton and Clark, for unlawful
murder.
Have you ever heard of COINTELPRO? COINTELPRO
was a monster created by the notorious thug and serial killer J. Edgar Hoover, who was the first director of the FBI. COINTELPRO
was created for the sole purpose of destroying groups that were opposed to the racist and unjust policies of the US government.
On March 4, 1968 Hoover expanded the "Black Hate Groups" offices of the FBI from twenty-three
to forty-one. He also announced to the field officers the long-range goals for the COINTELPRO. The
main objective of COINTELPRO was the prevention of the unification of "Black Nationalist" groups, and the
possible rise of a "Black Messiah," neutralization of potential “trouble makers”, discrediting black
groups as a whole in the eyes of the black community, and the recruitment of youth.  Almost immediately, Hoover issued another
memo, which stated "The Negro youth and moderates must be made to understand that if they succumb to revolutionary teachings,
they will be dead revolutionaries". COINTELPRO was exposed in 1971 after secret files from the FBI's offices were removed
and released to the media. The FBI disclosed six different politically active sectors of the American population
between 1956 and 1971. One of these was "Black Nationalist Hate Groups." COINTELPRO used three
ways to achieve its goals of political destruction and neutralization: dissent-infiltration, deception, and harassment. By
using infiltration, agents and informers not only spied on political activists, but also discredited them and disrupted their
activities. This attack took place in the form of publishing false publications and forging letters. They
used tactics of harassment including eviction, job loss, break-ins, vandalism, grand jury subpoenas, false arrests, frame
ups, and physical violence. In the case of African-Americans and Native American Movements, these assaults
included outright political assassinations. COINTELPRO tactics worked in many instances. A
number of the most committed members from grassroots organizations were arrested, depriving their activist circles of much
needed leadership.
I
will now introduce to many of you an individual who has been a victim of the US government and COINTELPRO for over three decades.
I'm speaking of Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin formerly known as H. Rap Brown. Imam Jamil
is currently locked-up in solitary confinement in a Super Max Prison in Colorado. There are many, many
more political prisoners in this country, far too many to cover in one article, however, in future articles I intend on keeping
you informed on as many of brothers and sisters as I can. One thing I must mention before mentioning Imam
Jamil, is the recent decision by the criminals that sit on the "Supreme Court". The Supreme
Court overturned a lower court decision that had gotten our brother Mumia Abu-Jamal off of death row. The Supreme Court decision
will most likely place the brother back on death row. Mumia has been a political prisoner for over twenty
years. Mumia was charged with the killing of a police officer in Philadelphia, his case gained international press. He
was tried and convicted. I encourage readers to check out his case in detail. My next blog will go
into further details on his case.
The name of Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, is synonymous with the Black Power movement
of the 1960's. He was always on the front line, fighting for the justice and liberation for the millions of black slaves held
captive on the American plantation. COINTELPRO targeted him for annihilation starting back in the 1960's, and he is still
being victimized by the US government in 2010. Why has the US government targeted Imam Jamil for so long?
Imam Jamil (as I will refer to him in this article) was a member of not one, but two organizations that
were on Hoover's hit list: The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and The Black Panther
Party. He joined SNCC in the mid-1960's. In May 1967, at age 23, H. Rap Brown was elected
the group’s chairman. By 1968 much of SNCC leadership had merged into the Black Panther Party for
Self Defense. The Black Panther Party was organized in Oakland, Ca. by Hewy P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
Imam Jamil became minister of justice for the Panthers.
The year 1968 was also when FBI director Hoover declared the
Black Panther Party to be "the single greatest threat to the internal security of the United States”, and pledged
to use any means necessary to eliminate the party and its members. The Black Panthers came under attack
at a time when their work included free food and health care programs, as well as community control over schools and police.
What gave them the tag of "militant" in the eyes of the country's law enforcement was their call
for African-Americans to take up arms and defend themselves against violence. The FBI and COINTELPRO successfully
destroyed the Black Panther Party and the lives of its members. According to Elaine Brown, a former chairperson
of the party, COINTEPRO directed violent raids on party offices, executed assassinations of members and otherwise destroyed
the lives of party members and their families. She added that H. Rap Brown was the target of a crusade
to discredit and destroy him orchestrated by then Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew, who later became Vice-President of the US.
Congress passed a notorious law,
The Rap Brown Amendment, "specifically aimed at stopping Brown and “radical” activists like him from organizing
resistance among the people”. Brown was neutralized from activism by being charged with inciting a riot in Maryland. He was eventually sentenced
to a mandatory five years in a federal penitentiary, where he accepted Islam. After being released from
prison Imam Jamil moved to Atlanta Ga. He became the Imam (leader) of the community mosque in the west
end of Atlanta. I personally have spent time in “the west end” with the Imam, and he always
presented himself as a wise and morally upright human being. The west end at one time was known as a drug
haven. Senior citizens were afraid to walk to the store, they feared being robbed, or getting in the crossfire
of gun battles between drug dealers. When the Imam moved in, he almost immediately organized an effort
clean up the community. The community became a safe place under his leadership. One
thing I will always remember about the Imam is he would always ask, “Do you need anything?" Despite the Imam being
an outstanding example, the government considered him a threat and continued to monitor and harass him. In August 1995, Imam
Jamil, while driving his son to school, was stopped and arrested for a shooting incident that took place in July of that same
year. After the arrest, the police interrogated his seven-year-old son for six hours before notifying someone
to pick the child up.
The
brother that initially accused Imam Jamil of shooting him later recanted his statement, and said that he was coerced by the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to falsely accuse Imam Jamil of shooting him. All charges
surrounding this case were dropped. In 1999, Imam Jamil was stopped while driving, by a Cobb County police
in Georgia. During the stop the officer asked Imam Jamil for proof of insurance for the vehicle he was
driving. Imam Jamil had a valid driver's license, however he had no insurance. According
to Imam Jamil when he opened his wallet to show his license, an officer spotted a metal badge. Imam Jamil
informed the officer that he was issued the badge by the mayor of White Hall Alabama, and that he was an auxiliary police
officer. "At no time did the Imam represent himself as an Atlanta police officer", according
to professor Natsu Taylor Saito, professor of law at Georgia State University. During this stop, the Cobb County policeman ran a check on the car Imam Jamil was driving
and their record showed that the car had been stolen. Imam Jamil provided the authorities with a bill of
sales for the car, nevertheless the police arrested Imam Jamil for receiving stolen property. He was also
charged with driving without insurance and impersonating a police officer. According to professor Saito,
Jamil attempted to seek legal representation to have the charges dropped. He wanted to avoid a public trial
and the intended publicity. He offered to cop a plea for a reduction in charges and a fine along with community services.
However, the DA initially insisted on a minimum sentence of two years in prison, never offering a settlement
without jail time. Imam Jamil missed a court appearance in January 2000, in connection with these charges. A
bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
On March 16th, 2000 the day in which Muslims from around world were celebrating one of
the two annual holy days, Eid Al Adha, two deputy sheriffs came to Imam Jamil's store in the west end to  serve the warrant. The City of Atlanta police and the Fulton County police wrongly told the media
that the warrant was for aggravated assault. The City of
Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department later admitted that the information they had put out was false, according to a report
in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. On March 16th 2000, as the sun declined in the west, and in the west
end, the shades of darkness, was the setting where fury broke out in Atlanta's west end. When the deputy sheriff's show up
with an arrest warrant for Imam Jamil, a gun battle ensued leaving one sheriff dead, and one wounded. The
person that one of the deputies was reported to have shot escaped without ever being seen again. It was
first reported in the news that Imam Jamil had been shot: That was another false report. I
was in Mecca in Saudi Arabia when the story broke. The newspaper I read stated that Imam Jamil had been
wounded. The officer that survived the melee said that he wounded someone in the shootout. The
details of this whole incident, in my opinion, are sketchy at best.
What we do know is, Imam Jamil was not wounded, and that he
was arrested, tried and convicted of murdering a deputy sheriff. Imam Jamil was sentenced to life in prison
without the possibility of parole. We know that Atlanta’s former mayor, Andrew Young, and the late
Coretta Scott King both spoke on Imam Jamil's behalf at the sentence hearing. We know that after the trial,
a person by the name of Otis Jackson confessed that he was the lone gunmen that killed the deputy. And although he was given
a lie detectors test that he passed with flying colors, his confession was rejected. All the information
I'm providing in this article is public information. Since his incarceration, Imam Jamil has been on twenty-three hour a day lock down. He has been strip-searched in front
of female guards, he has been poisoned on at least two occasions, and he has been denied his right to practice his religion.
The following is a statement made by Imam Jamil at his trial:
"My name is Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the former H.
Rap Brown. I am a devoted servant of Allah, and an unwavering devotee to his cause. For more than 30 years
I have been tormented and persecuted by my enemies for reasons of race and belief. I seek the truth over
a lie, I seek justice over injustice, I seek righteousness over the rewards of evil doers, and I love Allah more than I love
the state. I have been maliciously maligned, scandalized and vilified in the press and by the establishment
before the court of world opinion even before I was charged with any crime. They have sought to marginalize my humanity and
humiliate my family. They have done their level best to reduce me to a one-dimensional monster that is
a composite of a Black Panther with a negative connotation, a cop killer, and a fictional character of the Godfather. I
am no monster. I am a human being created by Allah, and I am an instrument of his purpose". Those
were Imam Jamil's statements before the judge and jury.
The following is a statement from Imam Jamil's son:
"My father, Imam Jamil Al-Amin AKA H. Rap Brown, was under
23 hour lockdown in the Super Max Prison in Colorado until recently when he was placed in the "Hole."
He was strip-searched, his Quran and all of his personal belongings were seized, and he has been placed in a cell with
no bed, no control over the lights, and no shower. We are appealing to you to please, fax or call the warden
of the prison, Ron Wiley, inquiring about my father's current situation."
Sincerely
Karim
Al-Amin
Warden Ron Riley
USP Florence ADMAX US Penitenary
P.O.
Box 8500
Florence
CO.
81226
Phone: 719-784-9404
Fax: 719-784-9505
When
we examine how the power elite has the capacity and the means to silence our leaders, I think we need to look within and ask
ourselves what we are doing to fight this system that upholds institutional injustices and racism. This
is a challenge, this is not an indictment. Black people must play an active role in dismantling a culture that endorses subversive
and clandestine operations that are designed to bring about our demise. We must expose racism and injustice
wherever we find it. We must study our history and the relationships we've had and continue to have with
the decision makers, the rulers on this plantation. ARC is committed to making the public aware of issues
that impact Africans and African-Americans and the oppressed of the world. We invite you to contact us and let us know the
issues that we might not be aware of. Remember, if one of us is oppressed, we are all oppressed.
Yasir
ARC
Note:
Be sure to check out lectures from all of our Black Scholars @ Alkebulan
Reference Center (www.ancient-knowledge-breakthrough.net)
_________________________
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State of
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Kalculated Killers (KKK), The New Klu Klux Klan
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The
"Prison Industrial Complex" Slavery in the 21st Century: The Black Holocaust
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Robert Mugabe a Hero for Black Nationalism
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