By Bro.Zayid Muhammad*
For those of you who think that COINTELPRO is a thing of the remote past, think again.
We have, upon bullet and bone solid information and belief, we have good reason to believe that it is alive and well!
On Dec. 12, the NY police department, in tow, with federal agents, raided, ransacked and ravaged the home of elder NY Black Panther legend, Cyril Innis, best known to his comrades as ‘Capt. Bullwhip,’ for his tough, no nonsense taskmaster demeanor.
They went to the job of Panther cub, Shaka Shakur, who did some stellar stabilizing the NY chapter for the New Black Panther Party. Young Shaka was working at the historic National Black Theater in Harlem and arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm that was purportedly ‘found’ at Capt. Bullwhip’s apartment, where Shaka had been staying just recently.
None of us are perfect. Not in our personal, nor in our public or political lives. As for any and all issues facing the cub Shakur, this particular piece is at best, ‘out of character’.
What is clear is that Capt Bullwhip, a personal hero, if I must say so, is indeed a survivor of the deadly and sinister COINTELPRO wars aimed at the Party, in general , and at the NY Panther operations in particular.
Just several years ago, Kamau Sadiki, from the Party’s Brooklyn chapter and father of Assata Shakur’s daughter, Kikuyu, found himself hauled off into an Atlanta courtroom and charged with the 1970 killing of an Atlanta police officer! He was put before an edgy Post 9/11 jury, associated with ‘terrorism’ by his prosecutors, convicted and put in prison for life. The judge, one Stephanie Manis, incidently has overseen the railroaded of Imam Jalil Abdullah El-Amin, best known as the legendary H. Rap Brown under similar circumstances!
Before Kamau was ‘jammed’ in Georgia, they first sought to frame here in New York first, and they tried do it something hideous at that!... on sexual assault charges! When those efforts failed, they took him further south, like the plantation did years ago with rebellious slaves who needed to be ‘broken.’
Even more recently, Francisco Torres, just recently survived an effort to have him reprosecuted for the case that landed the NY 3, Herman Bell, Jalil Muntaqim and the late Albert ‘The Avenging Angel‘ Washington, later known as Sheikh Nuh, in prison since the early 70’s. (Sheikh Nuh died in captivity several years ago.)
Instead of looking at the NY3 survivors, Herman and Jalil, as the model prisoners they have been for years, and instead of coming to terms with all the long repressed exculpatory evidence withheld from them, and laying the groundwork to release these men, they came after Francisco. First in New York, and when that failed, they tried to take it Cali (California)!
Only by the grace of the god our ancestors, these backwards repressive efforts were met well-organized and well-mobilized responses from that almighty ‘x’ factor, the people. Thankfully, and we think, consequently, that sinister effort to reprosecute ‘Cisco fell flat on their faces.
Thankfully, again, in this case, it was that ‘x’ factor that was key…the people!
As soon as word got out, and it got rather quickly, thanks to ‘Whip’s comrade Shep Olugbala, those well respected and much appreciated community survival programs that ‘Whip and Shaka have been working with, immediately became transformed into emergency mobilization response networks!
When it came time for young Shaka to be arraigned, dozens of supporters had already surrounded the 44th precinct where he was detained. Not only that, others had the precinct’s phone ringing off the hook! This was an exemplary response. The latter detail is as important as all the others because it is key in insuring that our soldiers who find themselves in captivity are not isolated where they can be then become subject to unspeakable abuse! Study what happened to the incredible Don Pedro Albizu Campos, or what happened to Sekou Odinga.
Remember they literally did put Assata ‘under the jail’ in my backwards upsouth New Jersey. To be more to the point, our freedom fighters once captured and isolated have endured unspeakable abuse. Many of the torture methods that the CIA exported to the most dangerous dictatorships in the southern hemisphere, many were first practiced in full guinea pig form on our freedom fighters!
The New Black Panther Party would like to salute all of those who sounded the drum to the aid of Captain ‘Whip and to Shaka. More importantly, we would like to salute all of you who heard the drum sound and answered!
We say ‘Hell no to COINTELPRO’! Hands off Captain Bullwhip and Shaka Shakur!
Free All Political Prisoners! Black Power!All Power To The People!
*Bro.Zayid Muhammad, Nat’l Min of Culture, New Black Panther Party
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SIGN THE JERICHO COINTELPRO PETITION!
Free All Political Prisoners!
nycjericho@gmail.com • www.jerichony.org
https://theblacklist.net/
Comments
COINTELPRO has never left. All one need do is google "NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEMORANDUM #46" and see for yourself.
Yes! Here in DC they are targeting all black people, especially the brothers
In neighborhoods its a police state! I despise the "man"!!