The Ziyad Yaghi case

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Our guests tonight on Political Prisoner radio are Laila Yaghi and Siraj Davis. Laila is the mother of Ziyad Yaghi, a young U.S. citizen of Palestinian heritage who is accused of being part of a terrorist conspiracy. Laila and her supporters, including Siraj Davis, are fighting to prove that Ziyad is completely innocent of any crime.

Sign the Petition on behalf of Ziyad Yaghi

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Ziyad Yaghi is a 24 year old American citizen, from Jordan originally, who has lived in the U.S. since the age of two. He has been accused of attempting to commit terrorism abroad in an indictment which infers that trips abroad by a Muslim are part of a terrorist conspiracy. Ziyad visited Jordan in 2006, the country of his birth. Unfortunately the US Indictment appears to have misinterpreted this intention, and states instead that he was seeking armed conflict. In 2007, Ziyad and his friend Omar sought to visit the west bank and Masjid al-aqsa, one of Islams most famous and revered sites and one which holds particular appeal for Ziyad as he is from Palestinian heritage.

On July 27, 2009, dozens of heavily armed Swat and hostage rescue team members arrested seven North Carolina men on terrorist-related charges, even though Department of Justice (DOJ) officials said the men weren't serious threats to US domestic or foreign interests and no evidence suggested ties to Al Qaeda or other militant groups.

Ziyad's mother and supporters are fighting to prove that he was just a young Muslim man who traveled as millions of young people do, seeking different cultures and experiences. It is discriminatory to assume that if a Muslim man engages in a trip to the Middle East that it is seditious conspiracy, yet if a non Muslim man were to do the same then it is soul-searching and adventure.

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Political Prisoner Radio w/ Kazi Toure

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Kazi Toure is a former U.S. political prisoner and has been a longtime community organizer and freedom fighter against oppression. He is said to be the Black person convicted of seditious conspiracy. He served nearly ten years in prison from 1982-1991. He has served as co-chair of the National Jericho Movement and worked for Amnesty for Political Prisoners in the United States 2005-2009. He was a Co-chair of the American Friends Service Committee's Prison Program, 1997-2005.

Mr. Torue was also a A.N.C. Delegate of the South African Truth and Reconcilation Committee in 1996. He was a N.G.O. Delegate to the United Nations Conference on Racism, 2001. Currently he works as trial consultant/paralegal, Law Office of Attorney Barry P. Wilson and he continually struggles for the liberation of all oppressed people.

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Political Prisoner Radio w/ Claude Marks

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Our guest tonight for the 12/13/2012 edition of Political Prisoner Radio on Black Talk Radio Network is former Political Prisoner and the director of The Freedom Archives, Claude Marks. The Freedom Archives contains over 10,000 hours of audio and video tapes that date from the late-60s to the mid-90s and chronicle the progressive history of the Bay Area, the United States, and international solidarity movements.

They have also created the multiple awarding documentary COINTELPRO 101, which introduces viewers new to this history to the basics and directs them to other resources where they can learn more.

More info is available at http://www.freedomarchives.org/Cointelpro.html!

Free All Political Prisoners!

Political Prisoner Radio w/ Linda Evans

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This Thursday, former Weather Underground member and political prisoner Linda Evans joins the broadcast. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison for allegedly by guns with a fake id that many legal analysts called “excessive”. She spent 16 years incarcerated for her political activities before President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence. Current Attorney General Eric Holder worked in the pardons office at the time.

According to the organization she works with now, LSPC, Linda Evans is co-author of the booklet, “The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy". Linda received her B.A. and M.A. in Humanities while she was in prison.
Since her release, she has been active in several moments and work concerning the children of Political Prisoners & POW. She also has been working in the Occupy Movement and was part of the Occupy San Quentin movement. We will ask her to explain her role in the people’s revolution of the 60’s and 70’s and what can oppressed people do to meet today’s challenges.

Free All Political Prisoners!

Help restore the AFSC Friend of a Friend project in Maryland - 8:00pm est

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Dominque Stevenson is the Baltimore Director of American Friends Service Committee and helps to implement their Friend of a Friend mentoring project which operates in three sites in Maryland. This program has been highly spoken of by Political prisoner Marshall "Eddie" Conway the former Black Panther who has served more than 40 years in prison after being framed by the FBI’s COINTEL program that sought to eliminate Black Panther leadership by means which included false criminal charges and even assassination of Panther members.

The Maryland Secretary of Public Safety & Correctional Services Gary D. Maynard unfairly suspended the FOF project reportedly over a harmless incident involving a floppy disk and their reasoning does not make much sense at all so hopefully Ms. Stevenson can help us understand what is going on and what we can do to help.
Sign the Petition!
Visit: American Friends Service Committee @ https://afsc.org/program/friend-friend-program

Free All Political Prisoners!

Political Prisoner Radio w/ Sis Dylcia Pagan

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Join us as we discuss the issue of political prisoners and P.O.W's in the United States. Sis Dylcia Pagan like others dared agitatate for the freedom of the U.S. held colony of Puerto Rico and were imprisoned for their efforts. She is a warrior, poet, artist, film maker and survivor of the U.S. war on colonized people.
Visit: http://dylciapagan.com

UPDATE on health crisis involving Brother Mondo We Langa

Monda We Langa

Alumni member of the Black Panther Party

Framed by J Edgar Hoover in 1970

The Jericho Community  helped express concern for our brother and made it clear that people across the country are interested in Mondo and co-defendant Ed Poindexter’s case and in their well-being. Thank YOU! Your voices helped.  Further correspondence with the prison (diane.sabatka-rine@nebraska.gov) should indicate that the schedule changes and especially the inordinate number of hours in cells with limited opportunities for circulation put undue stress on Mondo and other senior prisoners complicating their health issues.We continue to request that the senior prisoners be given an alternate schedule and special attention to their health needs. The Warden’s number is 402-479-3216. Her email is diane.sabatka-rine@nebraska.gov.

The Nebraska Jericho met with Mondo We Langa (formerly David Rice) of the Omaha Two on November 4^th, 2012. Mondo had been vesting the infirmary for two weeks for breathing treatments. At that time Mondo was too sick and weak to eat in the lunch hall. He was thinner than ever certainly not over 100 lbs.

 Mondo related:A lockdown began on August 2^nd as a result of fighting between some of the younger guys. The administration put the entire prison system (the Penn at Lincoln as well as at Tecumseh) on a modified schedule. Mondo said that means 22 hours per day in the cells with time out only for meals.  After a couple of months another hour of out-of-cell time was for day room or recreation.  Mondo said he has had several attacks during where he could not get his breath at all. He said that at times the air-condition system did not work and mold grew in his unit. After several trips to the infirmary he was diagnosed with COPD. He said the extremely long lockdown of the prison has either caused or exacerbated his problem breathing.  

The next morning the Nebraska Jericho contacted the following persons: Mondo’s local Attorney Tim Ashford who said he would go into the Prison; Nebraska State Senator Chambers who has a long record of defending prisoner’s rights at that institution; James Davis in the State Ombudsman’s office. Davis agreed to go and see Mondo and try and investigate and support Mondo’s request for an outside physician to examine him. Anne Else who acts as a paralegal for Mondo’s long time attorney Lennox Hinds helped create a list of persons who could call in and check on Mondo.  Several members of the National Jericho Staff and other activists made calls to the prison last week. These calls are much appreciated and the Prison staff is aware of the concern for Mondo’s health.  

On Thursday, November 8, Nebraska Jericho spoke again with the Prison Administration and with public relations officer Win Barber, who wants email communications describing our complaint about the lengthy lockdown and the disproportionate impact upon the older prisoners.  This may help to create an alternate schedule for the more senior people and those who are ill. .. We are now told that the situation at the prison is no longer a lockdown but rather “Movement by Unit.”  So that units are allowed out in the yard one group at a time.  We will follow up to find out what the new conditions are for getting out of the cells…We were able to speak with the prison physician Dr. Cole (402-479-5931). 

We learned that Mondo is still be treated for problems breathing and that he will remain in the infirmary this time until his condition improves and stabilizes. He also will take meals there in order to regain his strength.Dr. Cole said that Lennox had requested an outside physician, or second opinion and the institution was awaiting the name of that person. We spoke to Anne today and learned that the University of Nebraska Medical Center or Creighton University Med. Center will likely supply the physician.




To Learn More about the Omaha Two (Mondo and Ed’s Case) See:

NebraskansforJustice.Com / Political Prisoners in North America / Facebook Political Prisoners in North America / The JerichoMovement.com / Check out recent podcast on the case



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Free the Omaha Two w/ Paulette Dauteil & Tekla Agbala

Tonight's program will update a recent call for medical support for Omaha Two PP Mondo we Langa who for the first time in 30 years mentioned to Tekla Agbala that he had been repeatedly going to the infirmary for COPD.

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Our very special guests will be Paulette Dauteil, Co-Chair Jericho & Office coordinator for Leonard Peltier Offense-Defense Comm. and Tekla Agbala, Nebraska Jericho.

Jericho asked for calls to the warden and demand Mondo's transfer to a regular hospital outside of the prison (the prison is notorious for horrible care). Warden is: Diane Sabatka-rine 402-471-3161 or 402-479-3216. Diane.sabatka-rine@nebraska.gov

More info on the Omaha Two @ http://sfbayview.com/2011/the-story-of-the-omaha-two-2/

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Free Oso Blanco & Leonard Peltier update

Tonight we are joined by the Bro Joseph who is the foster son of political prisoner Oso Blanco. Oso was sentenced to 80 years in prison for expropriating money from banksters for the Zapatista indigenous movements of Mexico and poor people in the so-called hood hence the "Robin the Hood" name given to him by FBI agents.


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We are also joined by political prisoner Leonard Peltier's cousin Aaron Mirmalek who will give us a case update and discuss some of the projects regarding political prisoners he has going on. We will also discuss the transition of Russell Means.

Related Videos:

Free the Claudio Brothers & Russell Means Tribute

Tonight we will review the cases and provide updates on Puerto Rican Freedom Fighters the Claudio brothers Avelino & Norberto. We also remember American Indian freedom activist Russell Means who passed away recently and was active in working with the American Indian Movement...Indigenous/First Nations Rights.

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Last year representatives of Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela sponsored a resolution before the UN Special Committee on Decolonization of Puerto Rico which was approved by consensus. Cuban UN Ambassador Pedro Núñez Mosquera said that Puerto Rico remains unable to exercise their right to self determination as it remains colonized by the United States. He said, “The United States of America, the colonial power, maintains its economic, political, and social domination over this sister Latin American and Caribbean nation, which has its own national and cultural identity.”

 In relation to their struggle for Puerto Rican independence, the Claudio brothers are currently serving time in US prisons.

 Guest: Vagabond Beaumont is a Brooklyn born and borough raised artist, writer, producer and director, best known for working on independent Black films such as Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", the documentary "Ricanstructing Vieques", and helping found the Ricanstruction Netwerk, a politically radical artist collective. His first feature film, "MACHETERO", won many awards worldwide and much more is in progress.

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal case update

Please tune in for this extraordinary episode of Political Prisoner Radio featuring Prof. Johanna Fernandez, Atty Rachel Wolkenstein, and Dr Suzanne Ross. Our guests will be presenting crucial updates on Political Prisoner and Human Rights Activist Mumia Abu-Jamal.


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They will discuss recent legal developments. We will also hear about an amazing book that details the police abuse of witness Sis. Veronica Jones, a new film called Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal and the international support Bro. Mumia has in France and Venezuela and much more.

Political Prisoner Radio w/ Bro Jihad Abdulmumit

Tonight on Political Prisoner Radio we will speak with the Co-Chair of the National Jericho Movement.

Bro. Jihad Abdulmumit who is a former Black Panther Party member and spent 22 years behind bars for standing up in defense of the oppressed.

 
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 As Co-Chair of the Jericho Movement national organization, he is dedicated to the freedom of domestic Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War here in the United States and works to challenge other pressing issues such as mass incarceration, the Prison Industrial Complex, horrid prison conditions and lack of medical care provided to prisoners. Bro. Jihad is currently working to introduce the Jericho Movement organization to the Richmond, VA area on Oct 27, 2012.

 Featured Political Prisoner

Veronza Bowers Jr. is a former member of the Black Panther Party and joined as a young man after he was inspired to help address the social ills affecting many Black and poor people. He would later be framed for the killing of a U.S. Park Ranger. He has served far past his original sentence of 30 years making him one of the longest held political prisoners. It is possible he could have been released earlier but refuses to lie just to get out and therefore has maintained his innocence. Bro. Veronza told one supporter, "I have been here for 35 years. If the only way I can get out is to lie and say I am guilty, then my whole life is a sham. I will rot here in prison before I will do that." Veronza Bowers, Jr. #35316-136 U.S. Penitentiary - Atlanta P.O. Box 150160 Atlanta, GA 30315

Robert "Seth" Hayes Update w/ Sheila Hayes

Revisiting the case of Robert Seth Hayes was active as a Black Panther party member and volunteered for many of its humanitarian programs in the community. We last spoke to his daughter Crystal Hayes but tonight will speak with his wife Mrs. Sheila Hayes. She joins us at the 30 minute mark.

 
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I want to also examine the current social conditions and compare them to the social conditions that inspired Mr. Hayes in his youth to do something to help improve the plight of Black people during the sixties and seventies. Many law enforcement agencies systematically oppose the release of all political prisoners like Robert Seth Hayes. People incarcerated for resisting racism and oppression of Jim Crow throughout the nation. Like many of the millions of people incarcerated on one of America's prison plantation, medical care is neglectful or non-existence and takes lots of effort and pressure from family and lawyers to get these medical needs met.

Mr. Hayes has Type II diabetes and Hepatitis C and has recently been extremely ill so we hope to get an update about his current state of health. Mr. Hayes has been a model citizen despite the conditions and environment He participates in various civic activities and served as a pre-release advisor. What possible reason could there be other than political oppression for the continued imprisonment of Mr. Robert Seth Hayes.

You can write him at, Hayes, Robert Seth #74-A-2280 Sullivan Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 116, Fallsburg, NY 12733-0116

Political Prisoner George BaBa Eng w/ Sis. Karima Amin

Our guest tonight is Sis. Karima Amin who is the Founder/Director of Prisoners Are People Too, Inc. and as Co-Chairperson of the Erie County Prisoners Rights Coalition, serves as a dedicated advocate for prisoners and their families and for formerly incarcerated people.

 
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Prisoners Are People Too, Inc. educates the community about issues surrounding criminal justice, prison reform and the challenges of reentry. It provides networking opportunities, referrals to service providers, and encouragement for community building, by redirecting civil, social, and legal barriers. Karima has received numerous awards for her work in education, the arts, community service, and social justice. Please visit and support at http://www.prp2.org/

Featured Political Prisoner

George BaBa Eng is a 64-year old father, grandfather, educator, writer, counselor, and mentor, who killed a man in 1977 for pulling a gun on his wife. He is a reformed offender, imprisoned in New York State for 36 years and is a prisoner of conscience who is determined to be an asset to his community. Baba has been consistently active in the academic and political education of his family, fellow prisoners, and himself. He has taught about Ancient Afrikan Civilizations, African American History, the Politics of Liberation, and the Life of the Prophet Muhammad. He has organized youth assistance programs and has served as chapter president of the NAACP. He has trained teachers’ aides and has held classes on racism and its effects on the values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of the people subjected to it. Baba has received numerous certificates and awards for his work, including the NAACP's prestigious Thalheimer Award for "exemplary program development." Baba is well known for his ideas regarding "restorative justice."

In 2003, a scholarly paper he wrote on the subject was accepted for presentation at a national conference on criminal injustice by the Department of Africana Studies at Columbia University. As with political prisoners who are tormented for having fought against the system outside the prison walls, George BaBa Eng is a prisoner of conscience who withstands many of the same torments for coming to consciousness and exposing and fighting this system from behind the walls. He is currently confined at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, NJ. June 2011 BaBa had brain surgery, something he had been trying to avoid while incarcerated. Recovery has been slow but he is doing well. He will go before the NJ Parole Board in the Spring of 2013. Despite his confinement, he is on the board of Prisoners Are People Too, Inc. He is Program Director.

Former Political Prisoner Larry Pinkney

Larry Pinkney is a former member of the Black Panther Party and the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa. He is a former political prisoner and said to be the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He has also been active in the Occupy Movement and continues his activism and is an accomplished writer. He shares his insights into the problems our political prisoners are facing.

 
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US Prisoners & Human Rights w/ Bonnie Kerness

Political Prisoner Radio takes a look at the torture of US held prisoners, juvenile sentencing and detention, immigrant detention and the prison industry and more with our guest Bonnie Kerness.

 
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 Anti-racist human rights activist Bonnie Kerness speaks widely on the behalf of men, women and children in prison about US human rights violations of the UN Convention Against Torture. She has been quoted in many articles, books and other publications on prison related subjects and considered an expert on the issue.

Free Chip Fitzgerald w/ Jenn Laskin & Matt Hart

Guest Speakers

Jenn Laskin & Matt Hart

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Romaine Chip Fitzgerald is described as the longest held political prisoner who belonged to the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. Chip as he is known, experienced trouble as a teenager but upon his release from the Youth Authority in early 1969, he joined the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party. 

http://freechip.org

After joining the Panthers he became an assest to the community instead of a liability working in the Panther's community based programs like the "Party’s Free Breakfast Program, the tutorial program, selling Panther papers, political education classes and other projects." Chip was also well liked by those in the communities he served. Unfortunately, Chip like so many others in the Panthers became a victim of the illegal CoIntelPro program run the well known racist criminal heading the FBI.

Chip Fitzgerald has served 40 years for his alleged crimes against a racist state and should be set free on time served.

Former POW Masai Ehehosi

Our featured speaker tonight is Bro. Masai Ehehosi. He is a citizen of Republic of New Afrika and a long time activist in the New Afrikan Independence Movement. A former POW who, along with Sis Safiya Bukhari, was captured in 1975 and held on Virginia plantation for working with the Black Liberation Army.


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 He is currently working on efforts in support of political prisoner Imam Jamil Al-Amin aka H rap Brown and others being held by the United States of Corporate America. He is also a member of Critical Resistance, an organization committed to abolishing the Prison Industrial Complex. Topics Sis. Safiya Bukhari (PBUH), his former co-defendant and a horrific incident they both suffered in VA when police brutally murdered one of their comrades right in front of them. Let's "Gang-Up" On Oppression: Youth Organizations And The Struggle For Power In Oppressed Communities Political Prisoners Brother Abdul Maumin Khabir is accused by the u.s. government of being an El Rukn general and "terrorist." Bro. Maumin spent about 9 years traveling, spending some time in Islamic and other countries outside of U.S. borders.

A blatant miscarriage of justice took place when five men were convicted in federal court based on their alleged association w/an alleged 'street gang' the El Rukns, not because of any criminal activity. Maumin Khabir was initially offered a 30 year plea bargain, with a promise of no further indictments, if he would plead guilty to a charge of committing "terrorist" acts for the Libyan government. He refused because of his innocence. Bro. Abdullah Malik Ka'bah (aka Jeff Fort) assembled a coalition of 21 gang leaders or 'generals' with about 5,000 members in the mid-1960's under a governing body called the "Main 21". He used his leadership ability to solve disputes and form alliances between different gangs and directed their activities toward community and political activism. Street organizations in Chicago had involved themselves with the Civil Rights and the Black Power/Nationalist movements and made great strides to become part of the revolutionary nationalist thrust of our people in the 1960s and early 1970s.

 During the 1980's Bro. Ka'bah and members of the El Rukns organization were involved in a process of political transformation and each had engaged in actions which directly challenged U.S. interests, on local and/or international levels. In 1987, Fort was tried and convicted for conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic violence against the United States. Ka'bah, Abdullah Malik (aka Jeff Fort) #92298-024 USP Florence ADMAX, P.O. Box 8500, Florence, CO 81226 Birthday: February 20, 1947 Khabir, Maumin (aka Melvin Mayes) #09891-000 MCFP Springfield, P.O. Box 4000, Springfield, MO 65801 Birthday: September 15

Free Ruchell Cinque Magee w/ Curtis Mullins

Ruchell Magee was found innocent in two separate trials by two separate juries yet he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. He is considered the oldest held political prisoner in the United States. Introduction to the case By Curtis Mullins. "Ruchell Cinque Magee is the longest held political prisoner in the world, he has been in jail for more than 45 years, his captives hold him in violation of the law and the Constitution.

 
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 His is the classic case of fraud and corruption at the highest levels of government, and involves the intelligence community, executive, legislative and judicial branches of Government in a mind boggling conspiracy to hide the truth, and deny him due process and habeas corpus. This false democratic Government has committed fraud to cover up two not guilty verdicts by two different juries in two different trials. Ruchell has been beaten by guards in the Court room in front of a jury, as Judge Herbert V. Walker sat, watched and did nothing.

Judge Walker instructed the jury that they had to find Ruchell either guilty or insane; Ruchell called a 'moron' by Federal Judge Sam Conti. Judge Conti created false documents in furtherance of the conspiracy; denied Ruchell self-representation; prevented Ruchell from meeting with the media (international dope dealers are permitted media visits); denied due process and habeas corpus and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for crimes he did not commit and was found not guilty of, these are the facts." 

Free Dr. Mutulu Shakur w/ Bro. BILAL SUNNI-ALI

Dr. Mutulu Shakur was born on August 8, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland Since the age of 16, Dr. Shakur has been a part of the New Afrikan Independence Movement. As a part of this movement Dr. Shakur has been a target of (COINTELPRO).

 
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For more info visit http://mutulushakur.com/site/

 During the late sixties Dr. Shakur worked with the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika, and the Black Panther Party. In 1970 Dr. Shakur was employed by the Lincoln Detox (detoxification) Community (addiction treatment) Program and became certified and licensed to practice counseling and treatment of withdrawal symptoms with acupuncture, later becoming the Program’s Assistant Director and remained associated with the program until 1978.

From 1978 to 1982, Dr. Shakur was the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA) and the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture. Where, at Lincoln, Dr. Shakur had managed a detox program recognized as the largest and most effective of its kind by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Acupuncture Research Society and the World Academic Society of Acupuncture, at BAAANA he continued his remarkable work and also treated thousands of poor and elderly patients who would otherwise have no access to treatment of this type. Many community leaders, political activists, lawyers and doctors were served by BAAANA and over one hundred medical students were trained in the discipline of acupuncture. Dr. Shakur’s work in acupuncture and drug detoxification was both nationally and internationally known and he lectured on his work at many medical conferences, and was invited to the People’s Republic of China. Dr. Shakur was the founding member of the National Committee to Free Political Prisoners. He has been a leader in the struggle against the illegal U.S. law enforcement programs designed to destroy the Black movement in America and has worked to expose and to stop the secret war against its Black colony.

In March 1982, Dr. Shakur was charged with conspiracy and participation in eight incidents of actual and attempted expropriations from several banks. In addition he was charged with participation in the 1979 prison escape of Assata Shakur. After five years underground, Dr. Shakur was arrested on February 12, 1986. Dr. Shakur is the father of six children and his son, Tupac, was assassinated in 1996. Guest Speaker Bro. BILAL SUNNI-ALI is a musician, performer, composer, educator, community activist and advocate. He has performed live, on stage with Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, Doug Carn, Stevie Wonder, Wynton Marsaillis, American Symphony Orchestra, Jimmi Hopps-Esspirit, Earl Turbinton, Pharoah Saunders, and many, many more. He was also a Black Panther who was a co-defendant in the United States vs. Dr. Mutulu Shakur case.

Free Robert "Seth" Hayes w/ Crystal Hayes & Nate Buckley

Robert Seth Hayes was born in Harlem, New York in October 1947. Growing up in New York City, first in Harlem, later in the Bronx and Queens, Mr. Hayes saw one Black neighborhood after another suffering from neglect, despair, anger and defeat. At the same time, he recalls witnessing over the years a birth of hope and determination to overcome these conditions.


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Upon returning to the United States from Vietnam, Seth was swept up in the Black Liberation movement and joined the Black Panther Party. He worked in the free breakfast for children program and began dedicating his life to the betterment of Black people. His knowledge of the effects of racism on the Black community convinced him that the Black Panthers’ program of community service ad community self-defense was what was needed.

His work, like that of so many others, was disrupted by COINTELPRO. Fearing further attacks, he went underground, believing it a better way to protect the work of the Black Panther Party and the Black movement in general. Robert Seth Hayes had two children prior to his arrest and imprisonment, and he has remained closely involved their lives and upbringing, despite the difficulties presented by his long incarceration.

Bro. Seth has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He has been extremely ill and had great difficulty procuring the necessary healthcare and has needed the help of his lawyers and some state political leaders in order to get adequate treatment. He also suffers from Hepatitis C. While in prison, Seth continues to work for the betterment of the community in which he lives. He has participated in programs with the NAACP, the Jaycees and other organizations and has worked as a librarian, pre-release advisor and AIDS counsellor. Whenever possible, he has taken college courses. He is also a longtime advisor and collaborator in the annual Free Political Prisoners Calendar project. He is dedicated to continuing to work for social justice when he gets out of prison.

Guests

I will be joined by Crystal Hayes, Seth's daughter and Nate Buckley who is a political prisoner supporter of Seth Hayes and co-founder of Burning Books bookstore in Buffalo, NY.

You can write Brother Seth at Hayes, Robert Seth #74-A-2280 Sullivan Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 116, Fallsburg, NY 12733-0116 

Free The Cuban Five w/ Gloria LaRiva

The Cuban Five are Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Rene González Sehwerert, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort. They are sons, husbands, brothers, poets, pilots, college graduates and artists. Three of the Cuban Five were born in Cuba and two were born in the United States. Also three of them fought in Angola, during the war against apartheid. They are currently serving long prison sentences in the United States.


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Since 1959, Cuba has been subjected to threats, sanctions, invasions, sabotage, and violent attacks on its soil, resulting in 3,478 deaths and another 2,099 wounded. It has thus developed vigilance against foreign attacks. In 1976, 73 people died when a bomb exploded aboard a commercial Cuban airliner, destroying the plane in mid-air. The masterminds behind the attack were two men of Cuban-origin, Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles, former CIA operatives currently living in Miami. In the early 90s, following the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba was trying to establish a tourism industry.

Soon after, the right-wing exile groups in Miami started a violent campaign targeting tourist hotels and resorts, buses, airports and other facilities to discourage foreigners from visiting the island nation. In 1997, as part of that campaign, a bomb exploded in the lobby of Havana’s Hotel Copacabana, killing Fabio DeCelmo, an Italian tourist. The Cuban authorities arrested Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon, a native of El Salvador who confessed to having been paid thousands of dollars by anti-Castro exile groups based in Miami to plant the bomb. Due to the lack of response from the FBI to stop such attacks, Cuba sent the Cuban Five to Miami to monitor the organizations perpetrating these acts of violence. The idea was to gather information about similar acts that were in the planning stages in order to derail them before they were carried out. The Five were able to establish evidence implicating specific Miami exile groups and individuals in the attacks.

The government of Cuban sent a representative to Washington, DC in hopes that the U.S. government would help stop the acts of terror and turned over evidence implicating Cuban exile groups. Instead the FBI arrested the Cuban Five who were given kangaroo trials and convicted on trumped up charges. On June 8, 2001, the Cuban Five were sentenced to maximum prison terms. Gerardo Hernandez received a double life sentence plus 15 year. Antonio Guerrero received life sentences plus 10 years and Ramon Labañino received life sentences plus 18 years. The remaining two, Fernando Gonzalez and René Gonzalez, received 19 and 15 years respectively.

 Guests

Gloria LaRiva - Sign Petition to Free Cuban Five

Political Prisoner Radio w/ Baba Herman Ferguson

Tonight we focus on the case of Political Prisoner Abdul Majid who is a native of Queens, New York and has been imprisoned on a U.S. plantation for two decades. In the 1960s, he worked in the Grass Roots Advisory Council which is an anti-poverty program. In the late 60s he joined the Black Panther Party for Self Defense and the Republic of New Afrika.


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Abdul was involved in many of the community-based programs of the BPP including the free health clinic, free breakfast program for children and efforts to decentralize the public schools and the police department. Abdul was targeted by the FBI COINTELPRO program for his activities of uplifting and empowering the Black community. He was charged and convicted of murder and attempted murder. He and his co-defendant, Bashir Hameec were tried more than three times on the same charges. The first trial ended in a hung jury divided along racial lines. The second trial was declared a mistrial by the judge immediately after the jury rendered a decision that acquitted Bashir on the murder charge. At a third trial, they were eventually convicted for murder. Brother Abdul Majid was sentenced to 33 years to life and is still a political prisoner of the corrupt system that targeted him and others who stood up to oppression.

Guest Speaker:

Baba Herman Ferguson was one the founding members of Malcolm X’s Organization of Afro-American Unity. He also helped to organize the Republic of New Afrika and was a member of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM). As a member of RAM, Herman was arrested for conspiracy. As a result, Herman was sentenced to 3 1/2 – 7 years, but he fled the country and surfaced in Guyana where he lived and worked for the next 19 years. In 1989 he returned to the United States where he was promptly arrested and imprisoned for seven years. Since his release he has served as a co-chair of the Jericho Movement, and as the chair of the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee. 90 Years young, his autobiography is titled "The Unlikely Warrior".

Political Prisoner Radio w/ Fred Hampton Jr.

In Chicago during the early morning hours of December 4, 1969, a special police unit (organized by both the Chicago Police Department and the FBI) stormed the Monroe Street Apartment of Fred Hampton, Sr., Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. Hampton, Sr. lay asleep in bed next to his pregnant girlfriend, Akua Njeri (formerly Deborah Johnson).


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Though, Hampton, Sr., Njeri, and Defense Captain Mark Clark among others were sleeping at the time of the raid, gunshots quickly ripped through the house, and both Hampton, Sr. and Clark were killed. Mark Clark could only shoot off a single round in his defense before he was killed, and it would be the only shot the Panthers fired. Hampton, Sr. was shot point blank while still in his bed. Three and a half weeks later, on December 29th, Njeri gave birth to Fred Hampton, Jr.

Hampton, Jr. was immersed in the struggle even before his birth, and he did not let the murder of his father deter him. Nor did he fall back on his father's accomplishments. Instead, he became an active community organizer himself, making sure that his father's legacy did not die with the man. In 1990 he became President of the National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, an organization founded to defend the democratic rights of the African community. For this activism he too became a police target, and in 1992 he was incarcerated for two charges of aggravated arson. Hampton, Jr. spent almost 9 years behind bars before being released on September 14th, 2001. Both during his time locked up and after his release, Hampton, Jr. remained as active as ever. He is currently President and Chair of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC). Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr. is living testament to the reality that the struggle continues.

Free Lynne Stewart w/ Ralph Poynter

Human Rights activist Lynne Stewart is a former attorney who represented poor, and often unpopular defendants. Several members of Harlem CORE, both 'nationalists' and 'civil rights' types, have spoken very highly of her.


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She was convicted on trumped up charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists in 2005 and sentenced to 28 months in prison. She was convicted of helping pass messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who many say was convicted on trumped up charges related planning terror attacks, to his followers in al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Secretary of State.

After the brutal Dictator and American puppet Hosni Mubarack was dethroned and jailed by the popular uprising in Egypt, the new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in a speech to supporters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Saturday June 30, 2012, he said to a cheering crowd that he would work to free Omar Abdel-Rahman. Unhappy with the 28 month sentence given to Lynne Stewart, the prosecutor appealed the sentence and secured a politically motivated 10 year sentence against Stewart.

We will be joined by her husband Harlem Core member Ralph Poynter who is described as the 'hero' of the public school protests Harlem CORE led during the late 1960's.

Free The Angola 3

Examining the horrific and tortuous case of the Angola 3 with special guest and former Angola 3 political prisoner, Bro. Robert King.


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Bro. Robert writes: "My name is Robert H. King, a.k.a. Robert King Wilkerson. I am the only freed member of the Angola 3. Along with my comrades Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace we were targeted for our activism as members of the Black Panther Party.

After 31 years in Angola prison in Louisiana, 29 spent years in solitary confinement, I was released in February 2001. Since that time I have been described as an author, a candy maker, a former political prisoner and an activist. However, I just see myself as a person trying to make a difference. My life’s focus is to campaign against abuses in the criminal justice system and for the freedom of Herman and Albert, who are now serving their 40th year in solitary confinement. I may be free from Angola, but Angola will never be free of me…". 40 years ago, deep in rural Louisiana, three young black men were silenced for trying to expose continued segregation, systematic corruption, and horrific abuse in the biggest prison in the US, an 18,000 acre former slave plantation called Angola.

These men are known as the Angola 3, Robert Hillary King (born Robert King Wilkerson), Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace. While inside prison, contact with members of the Black Panthers led to the creation of a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1971. The men then organized prisoners to build a movement within the walls to desegregate the prison, to end systematic rape and violence, for better living conditions, and worked as jailhouse lawyers helping prisoners file legal papers. They organized multiple strikes and sit-ins and called for investigations into a host of inhumane practices commonplace in what was then the “bloodiest prison in the South.” Eager to put an end to outside scrutiny, prison officials began punishing inmates they saw as troublemakers. At the height of this unprecedented institutional chaos, Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox, and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown into 6x9 foot solitary cells.

Herman and Albert remain in solitary, continuing to fight for their freedom, over 40 years later. Both men, whose sentences for their original crimes have long since passed, suffer from a range of different medical issues. Amnesty International is calling on the Louisiana authorities to end the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Woodfox and Wallace, and to remove them immediately from solitary confinement.
Please go to http://www.kingsfreelines.com/ and http://angola3news.blogspot.com/ to take action and receive ongoing updates on supporting the release of these political prisoners.