As we build our Black Future, we will not leave Black political prisoners behind.
Fam,
As we come together during Black Futures Month to imagine the world we’re building for Black people, in the fight for a free Black future we cannot forget those who have been locked away in cages to languish in the violence of white supremacy.
To dissuade the Black liberation movement, the government, including local officials, targets and vilifies Black organizers and activists. Many of us have lost our freedoms for speaking out and taking action against white supremacy and state violence. Some leaders who fought hard for a future in defense of Black lives have spent decades in prison. We are not deterred in our efforts to achieve Black power and liberation, but as we continue the fight to free ourselves, we must uplift our comrades’ sacrifice and struggle.
For so many of our powerful leaders, incarceration is not only a loss of time, but an active daily battle for survival. Our incarcerated comrades experience significant harm while in prison: isolation, abuse, indignities, grief for their time lost, and so much more. In honoring our comrades, we must acknowledge and act on the abuses and injustices they — especially women and transgender, gender-nonconforming, and intersex (TGNCI) people — are facing. We as a community must show our love and support for incarcerated comrades who have fought so hard and sacrificed so much for our movement.
Join us in supporting the following Black political prisoners currently experiencing the indignity and harm of incarceration:
Sundiata Acoli
Please sign and share this petition demanding New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy commute the sentence of 84-year-old Sundiata Acoli. Sundiata is a grandfather, poet, mathematician, and profoundly talented visual artist. Last May marked 48 years of his incarceration. Sundiata’s health is deteriorating in his late stage of life. Currently, he is suffering from advanced dementia, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, emphysema, post–COVID-19 symptoms, and glaucoma. Sundiata must be released before his health is further compromised. Please also consider donating to support the campaign for Sundiata through NAABPP. It’s past time to #BringSundiataHome.
Ruchell Magee
Ruchell “Cinque” Magee is the longest-held political prisoner in the United States. Ruchell was unjustly captured in 1963 on trumped-up charges related to a marijuana deal. He is now 82 years old, forced to suffer mentally and physically due to the poor conditions inside California’s prison camps. As the COVID-19 crisis rages on, Ruchell needs your support and action so that he can be released, spend time with his loved ones, and better his community. After 58 years of injustice, enough is enough. Free Ruchell Magee now! Sign the petition demanding Governor Newsom release Ruchell. Please donate here to support the Coalition to Free Ruchell Magee.
Ashley Diamond
Ashley Diamond is a Black trans woman and prisoners’ rights activist. She made national headlines in 2016 for her landmark victory against the Georgia Department of Corrections. Ashley has since been re-imprisoned because of a technical parole violation and is currently incarcerated at Coastal State Prison in Garden City, Georgia. Her situation is urgent. She has faced repeated sexual assault and denial of health care, which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sign the petition demanding that Ashley be immediately transferred to a women’s facility with vital access to the health care she needs, and that she be given an expedited parole date given the violence she has experienced during imprisonment. Please also donate to further support her in this fight.
Veronza Bowers
Veronza Bowers Jr. is a former Black Panther Party member framed for the murder of a U.S. Park Ranger. He is being unjustly and arguably illegally held past his 30-year mandatory release date, making him one of the longest-held political prisoners in U.S. history. Despite letters of support from prominent attorneys, former high-ranking representatives of regional commissions, prison officials, and a member of the U.S. Congress, Veronza has continually been denied release due to intervention by the U.S. Parole Commission. A recent decision by the regional federal parole commission to grant his release was overturned by the National Commission. A group of family, friends, and supporters are trying to raise money to pay the legal bills necessary to get Veronza the justice he deserves. Donate to the Veronza Bowers, Jr. Legal Defense Fund via Paypal using the following email address: veronzalegalfund@yahoo.com
Dr. Mutulu Shakur
Dr. Mutulu Shakur is a father, grandfather, healer, and human-rights activist who has been in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for more than 35 years. He is now 70 years old and has suffered two strokes, glaucoma, and stage 3 bone-marrow cancer for the last 2 ½ years. Dr. Shakur was sentenced to 60 years in prison because of actions based on his political beliefs. He was targeted and victimized by the now-infamous Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) as early as 1968. Sign this petition to call on President Biden to release Dr. Shakur, a Black elder who has spent his life advocating for our community. Donate to support Dr. Shakur’s fight for freedom here.
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an internationally celebrated black writer and radio journalist, author of six books and hundreds of columns and articles, organizer and inspiration for the prison lawyers movement, former leader of the Black Panther Party, and supporter of Philadelphia’s radical MOVE organization who has spent the last 30 years in prison, almost all of it in solitary confinement on Pennsylvania’s Death Row. His case is widely regarded as an unfair trial, and his demand for a new trial and freedom is supported by leaders, activists, and public figures across the globe. Donate here to support Mumia in his fight for freedom.
Reverend Joy Powell
Rev. Joy is a pastor and an activist against police brutality, violence, and oppression in her community. That work made her a target for the Rochester police, leading to false charges against her. After a flagrantly corrupt trial process, Rev. Joy is facing a lifetime in prison. As she seeks an appeal to overturn this cruel sentence, donate to help sustain and support her during her incarceration.
Kamau Sadiki
Kamau Sadiki is a father and a grandfather. As an original member of the Black Panther Party, he worked out of the Jamaica, Queens office. Kamau promoted the Ten-Point Program, worked in the Free Breakfast Program, sold the Black Panther newspaper, worked on community-education programs, organized tenants, and helped mothers in need. He was targeted by the FBI’s COINTELPRO efforts to stop these social programs and the popularity they earned the Black Panther Party. Kamau Sadiki is a loved and loving family man. Kamau’s two daughters and grandchildren are devastated by the absence of their loving, hard-working father, and are active in efforts to release him. Donate here to support their efforts to free him.
Imam Jamil Al Amin
Imam Jamil Al Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, a Black revolutionary, civil-rights icon, and human-rights activist, has been wrongfully imprisoned for the past 21 years. Imam Jamil was the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Minister of Justice for the Black Panther Party during the civil-rights movement. Imam Jamil was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for a crime he did not commit. Another man has since confessed to the crime, but this and other evidence have been left out of trials. Imam Jamil has been intentionally targeted for his powerful revolutionary work, deemed as a threat to the establishment. With a new district attorney, Imam Jamil has a new opportunity for justice and needs our urgent help for a new legal defense. Donate here to support his legal defense fund, then email key members of Congress with these easy templates to demand his transfer back to Atlanta.
Josh Williams
Josh Williams is the only remaining political prisoner from the Ferguson/St. Louis uprisings. He was an on-the-ground activist and protester who helped lead one of the largest movements against police violence in modern history. A few months after his 19th birthday, he was convicted and sentenced to a crime with almost no evidence. His unjust and harsh sentence was an attempt to intimidate the movement and make an example out of him. Josh has continued to speak truth to power and use his voice to unify communities against oppression. Donate to sustain Josh in prison through Jpay (instructions found here). Keep up to date on Josh’s status and ways you can help by signing up here.
Comrade Alyssa
Alyssa is a Black trans woman who has been incarcerated in Maryland for more than a decade. She’s a writer and an avid reader, with books serving as her only company while she is regularly faced with solitary confinement, especially during the pandemic. Her pen pal and friend has become her advocate outside of prison, fundraising for Alyssa to receive more books and other support she needs. Donate to support this fund now, and provide Alyssa with what is needed to sustain her during her incarceration.
We will one day tear down the cages that have imprisoned our comrades for so long. But for now, we will do all we can to ensure that our love and support help sustain them in this fight. Join us in bringing them love. Join us in bringing them justice.
In solidarity,
Movement for Black Lives
The Movement for Black Lives is a national network of more than 150 leaders and organizations creating a broad political home for Black people to learn, organize and take action. M4BL includes activists, organizers, academics, lawyers, educators, health workers, artists and more, all unified in a radical vision for Black liberation and working for equity, justice and healing.
