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 

American Torture: American Justice

African Americans & Puerto Ricans often not treated as "human beings." 
http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1633.htm

BOSTON, MA: On Saturday December 12, 2015, a workshop was held at Roxbury Community College entitled "American Torture: American Justice: Human Rights American Style," organized by the City School and Jericho Boston in commemoration of International Human Rights Day. The date also coincided with the 66th birthday of Arnold King, who has been in prison since he was 18 and has not been released on parole after 42 years despite the unanimous recommendation of the parole board. His brother, Kazi Toure chaired the event, saying, "With whatever gains Black and Brown people may feel were earned during the civil rights movement, equality was not one of them. Until Black people, people of African descent are viewed as "human beings," equality and full citizenship are an illusion."

Some very high profile people were represented in the panel discussions. During the lunch break, the speakers were all available to anyone that wanted to talk to them personally. Two of them, Fred Hampton Jr. and Luis Rosa expressed interest in speaking before a Muslim audience if invited, to counteract racism and to create links between our communities.

Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. of Black Panther Cubs and Prisoners of Conscience, whose father Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party, was murdered by the Chicago police and FBI, spoke about the need to heighten consciousness, to be able to distinguish between what is normal and what is abnormal. He said the first step towards political freedom is like the first step of Alcoholics Anonymous: Recognize that you have a problem. "It's embarrassing to be oppressed. It's embarrassing to admit your father is in prison." Mental colonization hurts. People get involved in a people's revolution because of Inspiration, Aspiration, or Desperation. He said the masses are intelligent. They may not have a fancy term for it, but if they hear that a police officer shot a man 16 times in the back, they will say without hesitation, "They wrong."

Luis Rosa, a former Puerto Rican prisoner who was given amnesty by President Clinton, spoke of how sad he was to leave his comrade, Oscar Lopez Rivera behind in prison. Rivera, 72, is the longest-held political prisoner in Puerto Rican history, for his participation in the Puerto Rican independence movement. Rosa spoke of how he was freed despite a 100 year sentence for "seditious conspiracy." Take nothing for granted, he advised supporters of prisoners. In order to free Rosa, the Puerto Rican activists had three people inside the White House pushing for his freedom, Nobel Prize winners requesting his release, the Japanese Congress inquired about the political prisoners. "Don't neglect the religious community." Learn how to articulate and know your audience so that you can ask them to support the release of political prisoners. "We need to have dossiers ready. Know their cases and be able to speak about their history and current status.

Rosa recommended organizing regular contact between one penpal and one prisoner. Then, the penpals would have regular meetings in which they update each other on all the prisoners. This would maximize prisoner outreach while providing socialization for the activists, which will encourage them to continue. To build community we need love and unity.

"Fight for those who fight for us!" Rosa said. "They are not criminals or terrorists. They fought for what our communities enjoy. They are part of us and we are part of them. Engrave those names in your mind and heart."

Marquette Peltier, daughter of imprisoned American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier spoke of her father's tireless efforts for the sake of his community. "If he didn't do it, who would?" she said. "If he can get up and shower every day, we have to get up every day and do what we have to do." Peltier has been in prison for 38 years, accused of shooting an FBI officer during a raid on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Please download letters to support his release at WhoIsLeonardPeltier.info 
It is hoped that President Obama will grant him clemency because as a Senator, Obama promised to help. "Show me the support," he had said to the small group of activists. Maybe now it is time for American Indians to lead us.

Ray Luc Levasseur, who spent 20 years in solitary confinement for his involvement with a leftist anti-war group said it's easy to get discouraged. Behind bars, you can wonder, "Was my sacrifice worth it?" He spoke of a coral reef. Countless tiny creatures give their lives, and in so doing, create an ecosystem which has the power to change the course of the ocean.

Levasseur mentioned his comrade Tom Manning, who is serving a life sentence for bombing an IBM office to protest apartheid in South Africa, as well as returning fire and killing a police officer. "Everything that goes on in client states is exported from here. We've seen it all." Manning was body slammed, breaking his hip. He has been beaten in handcuffs, breaking his shoulders. He has been repeatedly stun gunned, denied medication and surgery, tear gassed, stripped naked while his cell is wrecked, his genitals threatened by a German Shepherd. Now an old man, he is in a wheelchair in solitary confinement at Coleman with an untreated leg infection.

Dr. Lana Habash, who is Palestinian, updated the status of Palestinian activist Amer Jibran, who was well known in Boston for participating in protests against Israel, gathering the ire of the Zionists, who targeted the young student for prosecution. After being arrested then released in Boston, he was deported then re-arrested in Jordan and sentenced to ten years. Habash linked Black Lives Matter movement to the Palestinian struggle by mentioning that police are sent to Israel for training in how to respond to the American public as an enemy population.

Also speaking was Russel Maroon Shoaz, Jr., whose father was a Black Panther Party activist, who has been held in isolation for over 23 years. Shoaz is dedicated to raising awareness about his father. The son of Herman Bell, a former Black Panther who is serving a life sentence for killing two police officers, sang an inspiring song for the audience. Herman Bell has spent the past 42 years in prison. He is going to the New York state parole board in February 2016.

Please email freehermanbell@gmail.com with a message of support for his release, with Subject Line: Herman Bell, 79C-0262.

Kazi Toure: A warrior retires

Non-Muslim Political Prisoners Suffered Much before Muslims Became the Targets
African-American, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans Suffered US "Justice" 

http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1593.htm

On Friday March 13, 2015 former Black Panther and political prisoner Kazi Toure celebrated his 65th birthday in a cozy gathering at First Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. He looked very sharp wearing a silky black jacket with a red Chinese dragon on the back and a leather top hat over his long dreadlocks. Many young children of activists were in attendance at the event, as well as some old timers related to the struggle for liberation including Jimmy Barrett. The walls were covered with posters of liberation icons like Ramona Africa. 

The gathering began with an African celebration called a “libation.” A young woman poured water from a glass into a dish below, while mentioning the names of ancestors and role models whose spiritual energy they wanted to invite into this gathering. People around the room also invoked names such as Harriet Tubman and Leonard Peltier. This set the mood for a very meaningful evening.

The first speaker was Eddie Cortez, a Puerto Rican former political prisoner who spent many years in the penitentiary for “seditious conspiracy.” He spoke about Oscar Lopez Rivera, the longest serving Puerto Rican political prisoner, who has served 35 years. Obama freed the Cuban 5. Why won’t he free Oscar Lopez Rivera? On December 14, 2014, for the first time, the Puerto Rican governor came to visit Rivera in Terre Haute. But nothing further has happened. No US Congress has ever addressed the issue of Puerto Rico as a Commonwealth vs. as a free country, even though every Puerto Rican church and political party supports freedom.

He mentioned Leonard Peltier, who has served 36 years, Sundiata Acoli, who has been in prison for 40 years, and Jaan Laaman, Kazi Toure’s co-defendant. In 1979 he and Kazi Toure helped to organize the Amandla Festival of Unity to support an end to apartheid in Southern Africa, which featured musician Bob Marley. Laaman was sentenced to 53 years in 1984 for bombing government buildings.

“How much punishment is enough?” Cortez asked. He then told a cute story about how prisoners managed to smuggle in birthday cakes by organizing a group to distract the guards.

“We need to change the face of America,” he said. “We need our own system, not socialism or communism. What we need is creativity in the face of oppression.”

Next, Palestinian activist Dr. Lana Habash spoke about the need for clarity against Zionist hasbara within current political activist movements. “It’s not complicated, it’s just wrong.”

She spoke about Amer Jibran, who was very active locally in Boston against Zionism against US wars of aggression. He led a high profile confrontation against the yearly Israeli Independence Day celebration, which used to draw 10,000 people. He was deported in 2004 but remained politically active in Jordan. In 2014 the Mukhabarat, Jordanian intelligence, used ropes to enter his home and kidnap him. He was held for two months without charge. Then in August 2014 the Jordanian State Security Court charged him with a list of terror offenses related to Hezbollah, which basically amounted to speech and were based on forced confessions.

“Amer’s writings were never against Jordan but against Israel and US wars,” Lana said. “We must reject definitions of terrorism. The political prisoner is our oxygen. They represent who we are, who we must be, and the task ahead. We must carry on the struggles they went to prison for.”

Next spoke Ray Levasseure, another of Kazi’s co-defendants. He said he met Kazi when our country was at war with South America and there was the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Both of them were “packing,” he said. They meant serious business. He said he was surprised to be here today, especially looking at 65 in the rear view mirror. He was underground sometime already when Kazi started getting his feet wet. He spent 20 years in ADX prison for activities related to the United Freedom Front (UFF). 13 of those years were spent in solitary.

Governor Deval Patrick denounced UMass for letting Ray give a talk. The police lobbied against him and prevented his speech about Black Panther Party related political prisoners in America.

Born of French-Canadian immigrants, Ray was imprisoned for an anti-apartheid bombing of a South African office in New York City. Nobody was hurt because that was not the intention. He noted that the government is more concerned about property destruction against military installations than they are about bloodshed.

Ray mentioned Tom Manning, another of their co-defendants, who is still in prison for bombing US military installations for UFF. He also knew Oscar Lopez Riveras from prison. Tom is having a lot of medical problems and as a result cannot walk. Medical problems are devastating to anyone, but when experienced in the Supermax segregation unit, the suffering is incomparable. Tom has had many surgeries. He needs to use a walker but could not do so because of problems with his shoulders. Dr. Lana Habash led a campaign for him to get shoulder replacement surgery, which happened 2 months ago. He is now in the early steps of rehab. If all heals well, he will be out of his wheelchair and onto crutches for the first time in six years. Tom suffered many brutal beatings in prison. Ray talked about how important it is to send a letter, make a phone call, especially for professionals like Dr. Habash to step in and do something. 

He mentioned a long-time prisoner, who has been forgotten. He just needed a couple magazine subscriptions. He is now serving time with Imam Jamil al-Amin. Ray met him during his pre-trial detention decades ago. They were given one hour a day out of their cages to walk up and down the tier. The prisoners began to befriend each other. It was an amazing time because so many revolutionary movements were going on. During these tier walks, Ray met members of the Irish Republican Army, Palestinian and Mexican groups, Puerto Rican, Black Panthers, etc. Kazi has told me similar prison friendship stories.

There are so many disparate groups, each with their own little defense committee. Everybody knows about Mumia but they don’t know about Kojo Bomani or Grayling Brown. Inside of the prison, these political prisoners bonded and watched each others’ back, but on the street supporters can’t get along because of too many different agendas. Filiberto, who was murdered by the FBI in his home in Puerto Rico, issued a call for a conference for all political prisoners but Freedom Now collapsed and the Jericho Movement has not achieved what Filiberto had in mind. We need to work for a larger sense of unity, Ray concluded.

Musical entertainment from a rapper called Optimist then ensued, with a band called Foundation Movement.

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."