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  Date / Time: 1/25/2009 5:41 AM UTC

  Dr. Mutulu Shakur
  

  In a war against Black people in the United States that spans over four centuries and for many generations, few will rise as frontline soldiers on behalf of the oppressed. In such an enduring struggle, few will have the stamina and fortitude to fight and remain committed. Even fewer will have the courage. But, in the spirit of the slave revolters-the Nat Turners and the Gabriel Prossers, and the Harriet Tubmans-new men and women rise, taking life and action.

  
  Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a lifelong activist in the New Afrikan (Black) Independence Movement and a Doctor of Acupuncture, is one of those people. Because of his dedication to the Black liberation struggle-a struggle for human rights-he is currently being held prisoner by the U.S. government at Marion, a federal prison located in Marion, Illinois.

  Notorious for the violation of civil and human rights of inmates, Marion has recently been declared inhumane by Amnesty International.

  In 1987, Shakur was sentenced to 60 years imprisonment for an alleged conspiracy by the Black Liberation Army/New Afrikan Freedom Fighters against the U.S. government. Because of his political action, Dr. Shakur was marked a criminal and arrested. Since that time, there has been immeasurable and inhumane abuse inflicted upon Shakur from behind prison walls, unwitnessed by the public eye.

  And still, he is not broken.

  
  As a fearless activist for Black Liberation, Shakur was cofounder of the Republic of New Afrika (1968), and is now at the forefront of efforts to expose the FBI's illegal COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) campaign of domestic repression. As an acupuncturist, Dr. Shakur cofounded the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of America and was one of the pioneers in using acupuncture in the treatment of substance abuse. He is a dedicated member of the New Afrikan People's Organization.

  But, it is no easy struggle. Because of his consistent activism, even from within the prison system, he is persecuted. There are no rewards for his work. Instead, there is only cruel and unusual punishment. Dr. Mutulu Shakur helped found the Islamic Young Men's Movement, a youth prisoner organization, and was a key organizer in the historic gang truce between the Bloods and the Crips at Lompoc Penitentiary. He is recognized in the international media as an American political prisoner and freedom fighter. The government, however, fearful of his positive influence over massive numbers of young, Black minds, tries everything to disempower him.

  At 4:00 a.m. on the morning of March 4, 1994, Dr. Mutulu Shakur was abruptly taken from his cell at the Federal Correction Facility at Lewisburg, PA, and transferred to Marion. There was no 7-hour notice and he was not allowed to take any of his personal belongings. Since his incarceration at Lewisburg, Dr. Shakur has not been charged with a crime, nor is there any indication that his classification has changed. His sudden transfer is not separate from the reasons that led to his arrest. Dr. Shakur has been and remains an organizer committed to changing the living reality of Africans born in the United States.

  "We are establishing a continuum of resistance of the oppression of New Afrikan People against the oppression of 400 years of slavery and genocide," Dr. Shakur affirms. "Many of us engaged in the conflict, targets of the conflict and victims of the conflict find ourselves in jail or cemeteries or find ourselves suffering mental stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Without the recognition that a conflict exists, the martyrs and patriots of our struggle will continue to be labeled criminals in the annals of history. It is a significant political struggle for our movement and allies of our movement to create the recognition that there exists and will continue to exist political prisoners and prisoners of war in America."

  While former South African political prisoner Nelson Mandela has been liberated from incarceration and continues to work on behalf of his people, political prisoner Dr. Mutulu Shakur, right here in America, is sentenced to life behind bars because he believes in and struggles for basic human rights.

  But still, he is not broken.

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  • mutulu shakur
  • political prisoner
  • africana studies
  • african history
  • black power
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