Records
A Brief History of the New Afrikan Prison Struggle
Sundiata Acoli's original 1992 essay tracing the political history of Black political prisoners in U.S. state and federal custody from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Written from inside, the text articulates the New Afrikan political identity — the post-1968 Republic of New Afrika tradition of Black national consciousness, anti-imperialist alignment...
A Guide to the Grand Jury — Kathy Boudin & Brian Glick (Liberation, June 1969)
June 1969 Liberation magazine article on how the grand jury is used to dismantle political movements.
An Updated History of the New Afrikan Prison Struggle
Sundiata Acoli's primary essay on the history of the New Afrikan Prison Movement — the political and organizational tradition of Black political prisoners in U.S. state and federal custody developed from the late 1960s onward. Covers the 1960s-1970s prison rebellions (Attica, San Quentin, Folsom), the BLA-era prisoner cohort, the founding of the Republic of...
Assata Shakur — The Interview (May 2003)
2003 interview with Assata Shakur conducted while she lived in political exile in Cuba.
Capitalism Has Won a Game But Not the Championship — Benedetti / Buck (1990)
Essay by Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti translated from Spanish by imprisoned anti-imperialist Marilyn Buck, reflecting on socialism after the Cold War.
David Gilbert — Consumption: Domestic Imperialism
SDS-era essay by Gilbert, Gottlieb, and Sutheim analyzing capitalist production, class, commodity, and underconsumption in the U.S.
David Gilbert — The Criminal Justice System (December 1994)
David Gilbert's December 1994 essay analyzing three contemporary reports on the U.S. criminal justice system.
For Mutulu Shakur, the Revolution Isn't Over — The City Sun (April 1986)
April 1986 City Sun article on the life, political activities, and federal imprisonment of Dr. Mutulu Shakur.
Looking Back — BLA Unit 3 (1975)
1975 BLA Unit 3 reflective essay on the trajectory of Black Liberation Army organizing.
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin — NAPO / BCAR Proposal
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin's organizing proposal calling for revived Black Liberation Movement activism around the death penalty, judicial railroading, and police informants, concluding with a proposed Bill of Rights.
Mutulu Shakur — Post 9/11 Challenges to International Law (September 2002)
September 2002 essay by Mutulu Shakur and Gibran Ali analyzing post-9/11 challenges to international law from inside U.S. prisons.
New Afrikan/Black PP & POW — Conditions of Confinement
Essay by attorney Jill Soffiyah Elijah analyzing the conditions of confinement faced by New Afrikan/Black political prisoners and POWs.
Poems of Veronza Bowers (June 1974)
Four-page set of poems by Black Panther political prisoner Veronza Bowers Jr., written during his incarceration at Lompoc Federal Penitentiary.
Sundiata Acoli — You Can Almost Hold It in Your Hand: Long Walk to Freedom
Acoli's autobiographical account of his arrest, trial, decades-long incarceration, and the campaign for his eventual release.
We Want Our Freedom Anyway — Mutulu Shakur (1997)
1997 essay by Mutulu Shakur, published by the Anarchist Black Cross Federation, on the politics of freedom and continued resistance from prison.