america’s nelson mandela (September 9th, 1947-June 2nd, 2011)

dead at the age of
63,
geronimo ji-jaga pratt
lived 27 of these years
behind bars:

63
-27
36

more than a third
of this man’s life was
spent in prison---he was
convicted of a crime that
he did NOT
commit,
& he spent 8 years of those
27 in prison
locked away in
solitary
confinement.

solitary confinement, for those
that are a little hairy on the subject,
is what other prisoners call the
“hole”---
they do this not because it is a great
place to cozy down and read a
book.

you are kept in your cell
for 24 hours a day & after the
second year they give you a
half hour out---how
gracious.

many believe solitary confinement to be the
equivalent of
psychological torture,
and because mr. pratt was a
high ranking member of the
black panther party,
he like, like many, was
singled
out
by j. edgar hoover & his infamous
COINTELPRO
which by 1969 had targeted the panthers
(who had founded their group only 3 years
before)
as being “the greatest threat to the internal security of the
country”---
apparently, organizing
free breakfasts for children,
free health clinics,
rent strikes that ultimately made tenants owners of their own buildings,
free clothing drives,
liberation schools for elementary school kids,
whilst fighting for
the control of schools & police within their own
community
(to be free of crime, drugs & police brutality),
was a
great
big
threat.

but
pratt was not assassinated like fred hampton,
his peer,
instead, he was sent to prison in 1972 for the
1968 killing of caroline olsen, an elementary teacher,
whose husband had not even identified
pratt as the
killer.

julius butler,
an informant for both the FBI as well as
the LAPD, working from within the panthers,
had pointed the finger at
pratt.

on the night in question
pratt was in
oakland---
350 miles away from where he was said to be
shooting olsen & her husband on a tennis court in
santa monica.

had pratt not had stuart hanlon &
the now famous
johnnie cochran
(who at the time of pratt’s initial arrest was the attorney
appointed by the court to represent pratt)
as his lawyers,
working on his case for 27 years,
he probably never would have been
released from prison---
but then again,
was he ever going to get those 27 years back?

7 years of his twenties were
gone
before he woke up one day and all his
thirties had
disappeared,
only to be followed by his
forties---all burnt in a fire set by the FBI
working in the united states,
doing their absolute best
to paint him as an evil man,
one which they had to
neutralize---because he was part of an organization
that had finally
had
enough
of the racist policies in america &
chose to stand up for their own rights & the rights of
african-americans all throughout the
country.

&
you know when hoover wasn’t trying on his newly bought
“fluffy black dress…with flounces and lace stockings and
high heels, and a black curly wig” (all paid for by US taxpayers)
for his nightly romps with sue rosentiel, roy cohn & a few blond
boys---
well,
he just couldn’t have these panthers sticking up for themselves in the
face of the racists in the country, or for that matter,
helping their communities survive amidst the
subtle structural racism which one might argue
has yet to end.

but he was not neutralized---
he was not killed in his bed
while sleeping, like
hampton was---he walked out of
prison on june 10th, 1997 on
$25,000 bail---
yes, it still cost this man money,
after 27 years of imprisonment
for something that he didn’t do.

he gained it all back in the settlement of a
civil suit,
receiving $2.75 million from the
city of los angeles &
$1.75 million from the US department of
justice---all for his wrongful imprisonment of
27 years.

pratt,
who grew up during segregation,
dealing with the KKK violence in
morgan city, louisiana---
pratt,
who did 2 tours in the vietnam war,
& as a sergeant, earning 2 bronze stars,
1 silver star &
2 purple hearts---
pratt,
who studied political science at UCLA on the
GI Bill---
pratt,
who excelled within the black panther party, rising to the role of
minister of defense within his local chapter---
pratt,
who was imprisoned for 27 years,
for a crime that he did not commit---
pratt,
who in the last free years of his life did all that he could in
support of mumia abu-jamal, who still imprisoned, awaits his own death on
death row---
he
died in imbaseni village in
tanzania, on thursday, june 2nd, leaving his
wife and daughter
behind
&
to many, this man whose case
johnnie cochran has said was the most important of his life,
always believing in pratt’s innocence---
he has been dubbed
“america’s nelson mandela.”