From behind California State Prison enemy lines - from within the Belly
of the Beast that is the Amerikan Injustice System - I greet you! I call
to your attention the annual commemoration of Black August and invite
you - prisoners and your families - throughout Amerika - to join in
honoring our beloved martyrs with fasting, study, sharing Panther Love
and knowledge of our history of struggle against oppression and for
justice, and renewal of commitment to struggle for a brighter future for
humanity. In particular, Black August 2010 commemorates the martyrdom of
our brothers Sean Bell and Gus Rugley, and our comrades Hasan Shakur,
NABPP-PC Minister of Human Rights, Jonathan Jackson, and Comrade George
Jackson, Field Marshall of the Black Panther Party Prison Chapter.
We must also remember January 1, 2009 police handcuffed
Oscar
Grant, a 22-year-old Black man, and forced him face-down on the
platform of a rapid transit station in Oakland, California. Then one cop
shot Oscar Grant in the back, killing him. This cold-blooded murder was
caught on cell phone videos and seen by millions. People in Oakland
immediately took to the streets in righteous protest. The case has
become a flashpoint of struggle in supposedly “post-racial” Amerika and
protests
have continued. Revolutionaries have been uniting with the efforts
of people from a broad spectrum of political beliefs to say This Must
Stop, and bringing revolution and communism to the people.
Yes my sisters and brothers,
We shed tears for our fallen brothers and sisters as well as the many
children - who have been killed by the oppressors in this land of our
exile and enslavement. We have a right to cry over our dead - for every
life is precious beyond measure - the loss of each is intolerable. We
consecrate this month so that those who have been taken from us will
never be forgotten - nor the love of liberty which their lives stood
for.
Our grief is real and so is our determination to continue the struggle
until all are free and oppression is no more. Our pain makes us stronger
and more human. Our determination makes our people struggle. We must get
up and stand up as one - a united people - and prepare for revolutionary
change in the 21st Century.
To clear our minds, I propose that we eat only one meal a day throughout
the month of August, and fast completely on August 7th - in honor of
Jonathan Jackson - on August 21st - in honor of George Jackson - and on
August 31st - in honor of Hasan Shakur. On these three fast days, we
should be silent and contemplative, and throughout the month we should
refrain from watching TV and listening to the radio.
During this month, the elders, political prisoners and veterans of the
struggle should make a particular effort to reach out to the youth and
teach them our history and lessons from our experience. We should
demonstrate Panther Love, throw away old grudges, and start new
friendships. We should draw our comrades closer and strengthen our
united commitment to advance the struggle.
Besides fasting, comrades should work out and get physical exercise,
meditate and put mind, body and spirit in harmony.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We welcome this Black August
greeting in time for our July/August issue. Black August is truly a
people’s holiday. And its power is acknowledged in California, where it
began and where the state still uses Black August material as a
justification to put people in
Security Housing
Units. While we print this comrades suggestions for celebration
during the month, we also warn against ultra-leftism and spirituality.
Yes, study history and turn off mindless television, but don’t cut
yourself off from the world for a month. Yes, exercise and even fasting
can be healthy, but learn more about how fasting will affect your body
in your specific conditions on a prison diet, and don’t decrease your
strength through excess.
This communique also comes at a time when we are hearing about the work
of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (NABPP) paralleling our own.
While we print this statement and have worked with the NABPP elsewhere,
we warn our readers that the “MLM” and “Pantherism” of the NABPP is not
the same as ours. While the NABPP’s practice has generally been
commendable, we criticize their ideology as revisionist and
crypto-Trotskyist. We discuss the revisionism of NABPP in
“Maoism
Around Us” and critique one of the NABPP Minister of Defense
Rashid’s publications in
“Fearlessness,
Scientific Strategy and Security”.
