She Died Slowly in Prison so Assata Shakur Could Live!

Book Review of Poetry by Marilyn Buck


"do not sit idle, your path streams before you.

bank the raging fires and light laurel branches against the cold."

Sometimes, I used to blame my parents for forcing me to be born in this conflicted country when I could have had a normal life surrounded by cousins overseas. But once in a while I remember why I stayed in this country. I could have left. It probably had to do with hearing Ramona Africa speak in Detroit around 1990. I think it had to do with the movement in its many fragmented forms, one of the most powerful of which is poetry. Nobody in Detroit had any money, so our idea of a good time was to drink coffee and recite our poetry for one another. I don't know if such times have died, but I cherish the memory of artists, professors, homeless, seekers and rebels making sense of the world together. When I opened this book, I knew I was dealing with somebody very, very special and important to the history of America. I am proud to hope that when I die, my body would be buried anywhere near the same dirt as this great person.

I did not learn of her until she died, but thankfully I did learn of Marilyn Buck. Her political writing is beyond compare, as was her sacrifice. But I had not read her poetry before, until I decided to cruise Amazon one late night, and snagged the last available copy of 'Inside/Out.' I have never ever been moved so deeply by a book before. I hate poetry (other than my own)! I don't read books normally. But this woman's purity is so powerful that I kept having to put the book down just to calm down. Marilyn Buck is one of the top ten women who ever lived, and I include the Virgin Mary on that list. She gave her life for a friend, and she accepted the deep pain willingly. She held no grudge, she felt no anger. Though she was forced to live her life in prison, she continued to develop as a person of great station that few people are privileged to attain.

NAMES 

my movement led to a clandestine world where Marilyn spoken mustn't evoke even a startled eye... I collected other names sometimes more than one at once... like scarves draped over shoulders decorative concealing on capture an FBI man uttered Marilyn a question a victory shout named I had no option but Marilyn scarves stripped by howling winds of retribution

Marilyn Buck was imprisoned for her participation in the 1979 prison escape of Assata Shakur, the 1981 Brink's robbery and the 1983 U.S. Senate bombing. Buck received an 80-year sentence in federal prison. She died at home in Brooklyn on August 3, 2010, after friends campaigned for her compassionate release from the Federal Medical Center, Carswell due to uterine cancer.

"I went off to college, escaped my father's thunderstorms Berkeley. Rebellion. Exhilaration! the Vietnam war, Black Power, Che took me to Chicago... on to California, driving at 3:00 in the morning in the mountains I got it: what self-determination means a daunting task for a young white woman, I was humbled practice is concrete... harder than crystal-dream concepts San Francisco, on the front steps at Fulton Street smoking reefer, drinking "bitterdog" with Black Panthers and white hippie radicals, talking about when the revolution comes the revolution did not come... but later there was Assata's freedom smile then I was captured, locked into a cell of sewer water spirit deflated. I survived, carried on, glad to be like a weed, a wild red poppy rooted in life"

There are no words to describe the depth of gratitude our people owe to this woman who gave her life for Assata's freedom smile. It is completely incomprehensible what she did for us.

LOSS 

"my mother died at 74 I believed she would no, should live till 80 she was supposed to live till 80 so I could live till 80 so I would make it out of prison alive... my mother's anger swam in blue-water eyes a grief she did not want to bear her daughter imprisoned an enemy of the state she could not save me from vengeful-suited men nor from myself..."

Marilyn dedicated this book of poetry to her mother Virginia Grace, "without whom I would not have the grace to embrace life as it comes" and to Mtyari Shabaka and Kuwasi Balagoon: "embracers of life, fearless before death." According to wikipedia, Balagoon was a Black Panther involved in the Black Liberation Army Brinks robbery, who died in prison of pneumonia at age 39 in 1986. I wish I knew who the other person was.

Her description of incarceration is so accurate. "no grass no trees no children throwing stones into puddles no laughter no tears no peace no silence no world of colors no sun no moon no weather at all Living without blowing winds gentle rains day or night my internal clock is deprived of nature's power: There is only the beat of my heart."

While in prison, Marilyn earned a Masters Degree in Poetics from the New College of California. She wrote to her teacher David Meltzer:

"I feel the pain of every single day here. I regret and miss the simple things - family, children, a lover, comrades, and involvement in political struggle. But after each nightmare of a day passes, it is history and I look forward to what is to come." 

2015-11-08 Sun 

Abductions, Mysterious Prison Deaths

TMO 

Editor’s Note: Karin Friedemann is a TMO columnist. The views expressed here are her own.

A courtroom sketch shows Nazih al-Ragye known by the alias Abu Anas al-Liby as he appears in Manhattan Federal Court for an arraignment in New York, October 15, 2013. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/Files

Two mysterious deaths of political activists occurred inside U.S. prisons this month. One of the deceased was Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai’i, popularly known as Abu Anas al-Libi, a Libyan who fought with al Qaeda in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. He later joined an Islamic fighting group seeking to depose Qaddafi, but he never took up arms against America. He and his family lived in England without event for many years before returning to Libya in 2011 because of a general amnesty offer by Qaddafi’s son.

Al-Libi was kidnapped on October 5, 2013 in front of his home in Tripoli by a team of US military, CIA and FBI agents, who then rendered him to a Navy ship for torture. Intelligence officials interrogated him for a week aboard the USS San Antonio, all the while floating in the Mediterranean to avoid having to follow U.S. laws. Al-Libi was then officially indicted for involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and transferred to a prison in New York City.

He pled not guilty to these charges on October 15, 2014. He was supposed to go to court on January 12, 2015 to defend himself against the government’s accusations. Instead, he died in prison on January 2, 2015. He was buried January 10 in Libya at a well-attended funeral. What was that all about?

The other prisoner who ‘suddenly died’ was Phil Africa, imprisoned for life as a member of the American Black revolutionary group, MOVE, which had connections to the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army of the 70’s and 80’s. On August 8, 1978, Philadelphia police brutally raided their communal home and arrested nine people including Phil Africa. The MOVE house was later aerial bombed in Philadelphia by the U.S. government on May 13, 1985. Two of his children died in the fire.

On Sunday, January 4th, 2015, Phil Africa was secretly transported from his Dallas, Pennsylvania prison to Wilkes Barre General Hospital at the same time as MOVE members were attempting to visit him. At the hospital, he was held in isolation for five days and not even allowed to call his wife of 44 years, Janine Africa.

The hospital and prison received hundreds of phone calls in support of Phil, and on January 8, he was finally allowed to call his wife. She reported on the website of the MOVE organization, that he was heavily drugged, incoherent and couldn’t even hold the phone to talk to her.

On January 9, Phil was sent back to the prison infirmary. The next day, Ramona and Carlos Africa were granted permission to visit Phil in the prison infirmary. When they reached him, he was incoherent and couldn’t talk or move his head to look at them. An hour after they left, they got a call that Phil passed away.

“Inmates in the infirmary and others in the prison were shocked when they heard the news. They had witnessed his vigorous health for decades in the prisons, had just seen him stretching and doing jumping jacks six days earlier,” wrote Ramona Africa.

“The fact that Phil was isolated for the six days before he passed, that the prison even refused to acknowledge that he was in the hospital is beyond suspicious.”

“When Merle Africa died in prison on March 13th, 1998 the conditions were very similar. She had been one way in the prison, but within hours of being forced to go to an outside hospital she was dead,” Ramona Africa further stated.

What these terrible cases have in common is that both al-Libi and Africa, whose adopted names demonstrate idealistic dedication to their land of origin, were members of now-defunct revolutionary groups. Al-Libi’s wife, Umm Abdul Rahman told the Daily Beast, “My husband was affiliated with al-Qaeda a long time ago. But he was never a senior leader in al-Qaeda.”

Al-Qaeda at the height of its glory had not more than a few hundred soldiers, while the same is true of the Black Panther Party. These relatively obscure revolutionaries are now old men. They are considered social justice activists by those who support them, and retired terrorists by those who don’t. The U.S. government’s policy to emotionally destroy political prisoners by deliberately separating them from their loved ones at the time of death seems vindictive.

“It’s this system’s intention for MOVE people to die in prison,” stated Ramona Africa.

“The MOVE 9 never should have been imprisoned at all, and according to their sentence they should have been paroled over six years ago,” she insisted. “The death of Merle and Phil Africa rests directly at the feet of this government!”

Likewise, al-Libi’s son Ahmed Nazeeh al Ruqai’i railed against the U.S. government.

“We will not forget. Neither will we get over what happened at the hands of the Americans, who prevented us from visiting our father and deprived us from seeing him” he said in a statement.

A quiet death in prison, reported to be of natural causes, means that the only people who understand what happened are the person’s closest supporters – not the general public.

These deaths clearly demonstrate that torture rendition against Muslims and against African American civil rights activists is alive and well under the Obama administration.

Two Important Activists 'Died' in US Custody This Month: Abu Anas al-Libi & Phil Africa

Our America: Two major, latest, crimes of our government.
http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1585.htm


Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i, popularly known as Abu Anas al-Libi, died in US custody on January 2, 2015 - just 3 months after he was kidnapped in Libya in front of his Tripoli home by a team of US military, CIA and FBI agents [video: YouTube.com/watch?v=vY_TCwWg_aA ].

First, al-Libi was taken to a Navy ship for torture. Intelligence officials interrogated him for a week after his capture aboard the USS San Antonio in the Mediterranean, according to the Guardian. He was then indicted and transferred to a prison in New York City. Reports have surfaced that the US obtained evidence against him via a plea bargain from Ali Mohamed, a former Egyptian army major who worked for the CIA and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.In 2000, Mohamed received a life sentence without parole after he pled guilty to five terrorist charges in connection with the embassy bombings.

Al-Libi pled not guilty in October 2014 to involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. He was supposed to go to court on January 12, 2015 to defend himself against the accusations. Instead, he was buried January 10 in Libya at a well-attended funeral.

'Adel Al-Masry, who was incarcerated alongside him in America said that our beloved father was maltreated from the moment he set foot in prison and was denied medical care, causing his health to rapidly deteriorate," stated his son, Ahmed Nazeeh al Ruqai'y .

A document filed in court by the Department of Justice said al-Libi "was taken from the Metropolitan Correctional Center to a New York hospital due to sudden complications arising out of his long-standing medical problems." Despite the care provided at the hospital, the government claimed, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he passed away Friday evening. They mention an imam was present with him at the hospital. Could this imam lend more insight into what happened at the hospital? There is no question that foul play could have been involved.

A similar though unrelated mysterious death occurred in another US prison hospital the same week. On Sunday, January 4th, 2015, Phil Africa was secretly transported from his Dallas, Pennsylvania prison to Wilkes Barre General Hospital at the same time as MOVE members were attempting to visit him. At the hospital, he was held in isolation for 5 days and not even allowed to call his wife of 44 years, Janine Africa. Due to the hospital and prison receiving hundreds of phone calls in support from around the world, Phil was finally allowed to call Janine on Thursday, January 8th. She reported that he was heavily drugged, incoherent and couldn't even hold the phone to talk to her. On Friday, January 9th Phil was sent back to the prison infirmary. On Saturday, January 10th Ramona and Carlos Africa were granted permission to visit Phil in the prison infirmary. When they reached him he was incoherent and couldn't talk or move his head to look at them. An hour after they left, they got a call that Phil passed away.

"Inmates in the infirmary and others in the prison were shocked when they heard the news. They had witnessed his vigorous health for decades in the prisons, had just seen him stretching and doing jumping jacks six days earlier," reads a statement written by the family. "When Merle Africa died in prison on March 13th, 1998 the conditions were very similar. She had been one way in the prison, but within hours of being forced to go to an outside hospital she was dead."

Phil Africa was a member of the Black revolutionary group, MOVE, whose home was bombed in Philadelphia by the US government on May 13, 1985. Two of Phil's children died in the fire.

Al-Libi also lost one of his sons in the Libyan independence struggle. (Details unknown).

Al-Libi's wife, Umm Abdul Rahman, didn't deny that her husband had been an al-Qaeda member, who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. "My husband was affiliated with al-Qaeda a long time ago. But he was never a senior leader in al-Qaeda," she said. Later on he got involved with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, she said. "They had a common vision, a common cause, a common enemy, which was the Gaddafi regime and they wanted to overthrow this regime."

His commitment to the ousting of Libya's longtime dictator resulted in several years of imprisonment in poor conditions in Iran after the family fled Afghanistan.

Al-Libi was given asylum by the UK but was nevertheless frequently harassed by British police. His family home was raided many times, but he was never charged with any crime. A close friend, quoted by the Associated Press, said al-Libi's family had returned to Libya around 2011 under a policy introduced by Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, to promote reconciliation with regime opponents who gave up violence.

Disgracing the concept of due process, U.S. President Barack Obama asserted at a press conference in Washington DC that al-Libi was behind the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. He "helped plan and execute plots that killed hundreds of people, a whole lot of Americans. We have strong evidence of that."US Secretary of State John Kerry boasted that "members of al-Qaeda ... literally can run but they can't hide." American lawmakers praised the military operation of the man's kidnapping.

His son Ahmed Nazeeh al Ruqai'y stated: "We will not forget. Neither will we get over what happened at the hands of the Americans, who prevented us from visiting our father and deprived us from seeing him."