POLITICAL PRISONERS SPOTLIGHT
Contact Russell Shoats & Family
Bariki Hall Shabazz
by Artaymis Ma’at
(Pictures courtesy of Jericho Movement)
“I will go to the wall for Mumia! That’s just my attitude! I’ve always had that attitude that I will go to the wall for Mumia!” Mother Bariki exclaims in her usual pleasant and laughing voice. She recalls four or five years ago in Washington, D.C when this big demonstration took place. It was a non-violence civil disobedience demonstration. “…Out of that demonstration were those of us who were trained to do civil disobedience. We did that! The police did come—and we did not move. When they took us to jail, we refused to plead guilty; those of us who could afford to do that—if you know what I mean. Because we knew we were going to take it to court. We won! Ok, and that was for Mumia! So I went to the wall for Mumia!” Her laughter inserts itself and brings you closer to the actual event. Mother Bariki says she went to the wall for Mumia, who is currently in Green Correctional Institution, not so much for him personally, but for the cause. He represents all political prisoners. Mother Bariki also makes point and critical importance of the N’Cobra (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations to America. Ncobra.org.) convention that is being held in Atlanta and says they will be discussing three major points: 1. Political prisoners 2. Sovereignty 3. Repatriation.
Mother Bariki is very selective in her wording, very concise and her regal chuckles throughout, makes one think she is being lightly tickled. Very contagious indeed. She explains how she was rewarded with such a blessing in visiting with Mumia Abu-Jamal. “Recently, I had the privilege to work with a friend of mine named Martha Connley, who is doing a documentary on Mumia and the death penalty itself. Martha was telling me about it because she knows my interest. She said, ‘I could set it up for you to go visit him if you want me to.’ Bariki says, ‘IF I WANT TO?’ She gives a ticklish laugh. “So Martha started the process!” she told me when it was cleared. I didn’t know if the civil disobedience counted against me or not. It’s not like I was a criminal.” Hurriedly she says, “So anyway, Martha told Mumia about me and that I lived in Pittsburgh. It’s only an hour from where I live. Ok, I am saying all this to say that, Mumia knew all about me and that I was a part of that group that ended up going to trial for him and that we were also incarcerated. That’s why I say, I went to the wall for Mumia! See, he knows that!”
Excitingly she exclaims, “He was already in the visiting area. He was expecting me—it was almost like he knew me! And I think he felt like he did because he knew I was one of the ones who had gone to the wall for him and it went to trial and we won that trial. That’s how confident we were because we didn’t do anything that we considered wrong. Do you know Gilda Sherod-Ali? She was our attorney. That’s how I met her! She took us through that Mumia trial.” Mother Bariki chuckles again. “…So there was a bond already established between Mumia and I. He was handcuffed. Martha said his feet were shackled too, but I couldn’t see his feet. If they were shackled, it didn’t stop him from putting one foot on a chair. He would sit down for a little while, then he’d get up and he’d kind of moved around and then he put one foot on the chair. He was just standing there with one foot up on the chair! You know! Bariki chuckles. “And just looking and smiling! You know! It was almost like stargazing! When I saw him he looked just like the poster.” With another chuckle, Bariki affectionately says, “He’s the poster boy! The picture that we always use for political prisoners...he looked just like that! His smile! His full beard! His presence filled the space! Yesterday, was his birthday in fact. He turned 51. He was just so comfortable with himself! That was obvious. We just talked for a good two and a half-hours. Just one on one, yes! Eyeball to eyeball! Just he and I!”
“Mumia called me by name of course! He says, ‘BARIKI! Sister BARIKI! Just like that! Like, ‘HERE YOU ARE!’ and I’m saying, ‘MY BROTHER! MUMIA!’ I said to him, ‘You look soooo well! How can you be here and look so well?’ Mumia said, ‘You see me here, but that’s not really me. I’m not confined.’ Says Mother Bariki, “Are you with me?” So our conversation was in the spirit. He is not confined, because he IS the spirit! In other words, he was saying, you can confine my body but not my spirit! That’s what he was saying. They have his body confined—that’s it! They cannot stop the revolution!”
Says Bariki, “Our spirits connected so easily. Our conversation flowed. It was not rushed. It was not a rushed kind of conversation. He knew I was there to visit for awhile. I wasn’t just running in and running out. At this facility there weren’t any real time restraints. How was the food, treatment and all that? We weren’t dealing with it on that level. I wasn’t asking him questions about his situation or anything like that. It was not a political conversation.” Mother Bariki pronounces his name ‘moomia’ rather than ‘moo-mia’ and said he prefers that it be pronounced that way.
Says Bariki, “Our spirit world was put into flesh by the fact that I was able to visit. I’m trying to figure out how to frame all that he said. He just stood there and smiled and said, ‘This is me!’ When I said he looked well, he said there was no reason for him not to look well. He, IS well! because ‘HE’ is not what you see. What I was feeling was the spirit of Mumia, not the physical body of Mumia. Our conversation was on that level. I asked him how did he view the concept of spiritual warfare? See! That’s what I’m saying, this was not a conversation that most revolutionaries would probably expect to take place.” Mother Bariki displays joyful laughter. “Mumia just fell right into the question of spiritual warfare and says, ‘Yes! There is such a thing as spiritual warfare, that your spirit can be attached.’ We talked about that quite a bit. I never even mentioned anything that went on from the outside world on his behalf. The whole time, I’m telling you, we were dealing with the concept of the spirit world! I don’t know what his form of worship is, but I did ask him if he was familiar with what happened when Peter was in a jail cell and was released when the Angels shook the cell? Some people may not want to believe that actually happened or whatever. I asked him if he could conceive of anything like that happening? He was familiar and in fact made some biblical references in some of the things that we were speaking about. Oh yes! He is very much familiar with the bible. That’s the level we were talking on.”
Mother Bariki expresses her story with great thought and conciseness so that it’s understood. “Surprisingly, it’s a decent looking place—where Mumia is. It’s not a real unpleasant sight. It has a reeaalll bright green and white look—but yet, you know you’re in a prison! The prison itself is relativity new. Just because the environment is nice doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason for it. There is a plan to create 2,000 of these types of facilities across the united states. So this visit was my experience to seeing what they are doing and just because you make the environment more pleasant…in other words they are creating these prisons where it is not an unpleasant place to be. You know what I’m saying? It’s not an unpleasant place to be! And so all the Blacks mainly are going through a new form of enslavement. It’s a virtual reality where they will be able to talk through these television systems to their families and children and have some input, so to speak. It will be set up in a way where it won’t be such a bad experience. It’s like having slave ships on dry land. The black men in our population will be in prison. There’s a whole plan for that!”
Bariki quickly changes back to her visit. “I don’t want to sidetrack, but Green County is one of them! There is a brother named Sugar Bear who is also involved in this documentary. I met him, because Martha was visiting with him as well. It’s funny, that I have a daughter who’s an attorney. I don’t know if you knew that? She was recently appointed the Deputy Director of the public defenders office here in Pittsburgh and that made history. The guys in prison knew that. So while I was visiting, one of the inmates mentioned the article on my daughter. They knew that! Sugar Bear mentioned my daughter by name. He says to Martha, ‘that’s her mother visiting Mumia!’ Mother Bariki laughs once again and says, “I've heard from Mumia since then. Feel free to do whatever you want to do with this article because that was a real experience for me that I just had.”
"When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it--at that moment you begin to die. And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about justice." --Mumia Abu-Jamal
Who Is Mumia? (Taken from freemumia.org)
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an award-winning Pennsylvania journalist who exposed police
violence against minority communities. On death row since 1982, he was
wrongfully sentenced for the shooting of a police officer. New evidence,
including the recantation of a key eyewitness, new ballistic and forensic
evidence and a confession from Arnold Beverly (one of the two killers of Officer
Faulkner) points to his innocence! Mumia had no criminal record.
For the last 23 years, Abu-Jamal has been locked up 23 hours a day, denied
contact visits with his family, had his confidential legal mail illegally opened
by prison authorities, and put into punitive detention for writing his first of
three books while in prison, Live From Death Row.
His case is currently on appeal before the Federal District Court in
Philadelphia. Mumia's fight for a new trial has won the support of tens of
thousands around the world, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela,
The European Parliament, Alice Walker, Paul Newman, Maya Angelou, Sister Helen
Prejean, Danny Glover, Rage Against The Machine, the Detroit and San Francisco
City Councils, Amnesty International, and many others. Mumia Abu-Jamal's fate
rests with all those people who believe in every person's right to justice and a
fair trial.
"I remain innocent. A court cannot make an innocent man guilty. Any ruling
founded on injustice is not justice. The righteous fight for life, liberty, and
for justice can only continue." Mumia Abu-Jamal , Oct. 31, 1998
Facts about Mumia's 1982 trial:
* The policeman was killed with a 44 caliber gun. Abu-Jamal's gun which he was
licensed to carry as a night-time taxi driver, was a 38 caliber.
* The police never tested Abu-Jamal's gun to see if it had been recently fired.
They never tested his hands to see if he had fired a gun. They have never shown
Abu-Jamal 's gun to be the fatal weapon.
* No police officers present at Abu-Jamal's arrest claimed to have heard Jamal's
"confession" until two months after it allegedly occurred. This was right after
Abu-Jamal had filed police brutality charges.
* Abu-Jamal's doctor said that Abu-Jamal, who was unconscious, said nothing. He
reported that a nurse found police with loaded guns pointed at Mumia as he lay
unconscious in his hospital bed.
* William Singletary, a Vietnam veteran and local businessman, saw the whole
incident and has testified that Abu-Jamal was not the shooter. However, the
police forced him to change his story and intimidated him into leaving
Philadelphia.
* Other key witnesses, such as Veronica Jones -- who now testifies in support of
Abu-Jamal, were harassed into giving false testimony. Two prosecution witnesses
were given special favors, including exemption from criminal prosecution, for
their testimony.
Elements in an unfair trial:
* The Judge, Albert Sabo, sentenced more people to death than
any other sitting judge in the US.
* The public defender didn't interview a single witness in
preparation for the trial, and didn't have funds for defending a capital case.
* The prosecutor removed 11 qualified African Americans from
the jury. He also argued for the death penalty because of Mumia's membership in
the Black Panther Party, a practice later condemned as unconstitutional by the
US Supreme Court.
How Can I Help?
Actions to support Mumia:
**Letter Writing Campaign To Pennsylvania Governor Rendell! See below for sample letter.
**Join the planning and outreach TO RELEASE MUMIA! See "Events" for details.
** Join the Mobe e-mail
list for updates on Mumia's case and upcoming events. Send an e-mail to:
alerts@freemumia.org
with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
** Organize rallies, meetings, teach-ins in your community
** Inform everyone you know about Mumia's case (there are many web sites and books, and videos)
** Write to Mumia!
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI Greene
175 Progress Dr.
Waynesburg, PA 15370
** Read Mumia's books and encourage others to do so.
** Write newspaper editorials and radio carts in support of Mumia's release.
** Encourage people
to contribute financially to the MOBE's efforts to free Mumia:
The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
298 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
ACTION ALERT: Urgent
Letter-writing Campaign!
(back to top)
Please write to Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania.
Here is a sample letter you may want to use.
Be sure to *sign it* and mail it to the address below.
********** Start of Sample Letter **********
Governor Edward Rendell
225 Main Capitol Bldg.
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Dear Governor Rendell,
Substantial evidence of Mumia Abu-Jamal's innocence has arisen since his trial
in 1982 and has been unfairly disallowed in state and federal courts, including
a confession from Arnold Beverly who agreed to testify! Beverly stated that he
himself was hired to shoot Officer Faulkner and that Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent
of the 1981 shooting. There are also grave concerns about the fairness of Mumia
Abu-Jamal's trial and State appeal. These include:
- Witnesses who have testified in PCRA hearings that they were coerced by police
to change their testimony.
- His trial lawyer failed to aggressively defend the case, did not investigate
or obtain crucial experts in pathology or ballistics.
- Police planted evidence and intimidated witnesses in his case.
- Common Pleas Judge Albert Sabo displayed bias and hostility toward Abu-Jamal
and should have recused himself.
We urge your intervention to guarantee that justice is done; that Mumia
Abu-Jamal receive a new hearing and that he be released immediately, given the
fact that definitive evidence has been produced proving his innocence!
Sincerely,
********** End Of Sample Letter **********
PLEASE ACT NOW! PASS IT ON!
Additional information:
415-255-1085
LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!
WHO IS RUSSELL (MAROON) SHOATS? (back to top)
By Artaymis Ma’at
(Picture courtesy of Jericho Movement)
Russell Shoats, a native of Philadelphia, born in 1943, is one of 12 children born to Gladys and Russell Shoats. He has fathered seven children and was married twice. During the 60’s, Shoats became active in the New African Liberation Movement and was a founding member of the Black Unity Council. This group eventually merged with the New Black Panther Party in 1969.
Shoats , now 61 years old, has been in prison “concentration camp” (as Brother Fred Hampton Jr. has put it) for over 33 years serving multiple life-plus imprisonment sentences with no prospect of release. He is a New African Political Prisoner of War, and a model prisoner as many of the other inmates have said. His was originally locked up in January of 1972. He has been in solitary confinement for ten of those years, since June 1991. He has had only one minor rule infraction in over 15 years.
Shoats has been convicted of a 1970 slaying of a Fairmont Park Philadelphia Police Officer, Sgt. Frank Voncolin. A federal appeals court in Philadelphia is in agreement that Shoats should receive a life sentence for his crimes and said it can’t be justified. The attack was carried out in response to the war being waged against the Black Community and his pledge of allegiance to protect and serve the Black Nation. “All of my actions and activities during this period were in direct response to and in direct support of the movement’s causes.”
Circuit Judge Richard Nygaard of Erie states that according to a psychological evaluation from prison officials, Shoats is a threat to security and to others. ‘…He is a remorseless sociopath and a escape artist who is capable of leading other inmates in such undertakings. Circuit Judges Carol Los Manxman of Pittsburgh and Marjorie O. Rendell of Philadelphia joined in Nygaard’s opinion.
In September 1977, Shoats and three other New African Prisoners of War escaped for 27 days from Huntingdon State Prison, Pennsylvania. In March 1980, with the help from a female New African activist, Cheryl Harris, he and a few other inmates were able to escape from Fairview State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Three days later they were all captured after losing a gun battle with the state, local, county and FBI forces.
In October 1989, during the historic Camp Hill Rebellion, Shoats was transferred from the State prison at Dallas, Pennsylvania to the u.s penitentiary at Lewisburg, PA and also to 'u.s.' penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. Even though he had no part in the rebellion, he was singled out and transferred 1,000 miles from family and friends. Luckily a campaign was put underway to reveal these lies and falsehoods that the Pennslyvania prison adminstration used to implicate him in the rebellion and used as a basis for his transfer. Shoats says the efforts of the people coming out and seeing the campaign through were very successful and he was returned to Pennslyvania in 1991. Among many things done to him, Shoats recalls being forcibly drugged on many occasions.
Recently, after a prison blood test and other examinations performed, Shoats is said to have prostate cancer. Says daughter Theresa Shoat(z), “We don’t know about his condition. But what I would say is he is still suffering from the prostate cancer and hasn’t been given any treatment. He was transported to a hospital the last week of May, but still no treatment has been given to him. What they are saying is, they can’t tell us anything, because it is such a security risk, because he has escaped before. OK, the doctor at SCI Greene Prison, Dr. Fowler, has been telling me for the last couple of weeks, ‘Yes, we have a plan for him. We have a medical treatment plan.’ I keep asking them when is this going to take effect? This doctor told me last week that I should not worry because prostate cancer moves slowly. So I say, ‘does that mean you are going to move as slow as the cancer? When are you going to begin treatment?’ He says, ‘Well I can’t tell you that because it is a security risk.’ Now, three weeks ago, my dad and I both submitted a written notice for me to be able to retrieve information from the doctor. I would be his medical contact person. They said they could not release information to me in the beginning because my dad didn’t submit a form stating that the prison could release information to me. We did that and they are still not giving me the information. I have really been under a cloud. This is frustrating. I feel there is nothing we can do to help him.”
We have petitioned the governor for the last four weeks and I am sending out petitions again tomorrow. We send out petitions at least once a week. At least a hundred names. The petitions are coming in slow. The people aren’t responding as they did when we first made it public that he had cancer. We need to put out another urgent call because the petitions are not coming in.
At one point I became very afraid. But God answers prayers. I went to some people who did petitions online to make sure I had something to send in last week. I urge everyone to please sign a petition to make sure he gets the medical attention he needs. Just recently, a couple came here one Sunday and said they wanted to set up a website for my dad and wanted to start a committee for his health care. I said, “Thank God! What a blessing it is to have people like that in the mist!”
Also, Theresa and other supporters are pleading to have Shoats transferred to one of the state’s level- four maximum security prisons, so that his family does not have to travel several hours to see him and in an effort to maintain ties and contact.
Theresa is involved in a variety of things that benefit Philadelphia, such as the after-school program, called FCU (Families and Communities United) that her dad helped to create for children who have family members in prison. Like a mother father, grandparent or brother. Shoats was deeply concerned with the condition of the youth and the lack of comprehensive youth orientated programs in the schools and neighborhoods. Initially, it was formed six months ago in November, in an effort to make a difference in the youth’s lives.
“We are taking children from the ages of six up to 13. Our goal was to start with the youth from ages 13 to 21, but they just would not come out. We put flyers all over the city: ‘Free After-School Program, ages 13 to 21. But no one came out! No one came! Not until we started the children. So, we said; ‘OK, this gives us a ground base to work with the youth at a younger age and then plant some type of political education into their minds while they are young. Now what we really want to do with the youth is make them political activists.’ You know what I mean? Right now, that’s our goal.”
“Once a week we are going to begin ‘Get It Off Your Chest Sessions’ and have open group sessions where they can talk about how they feel about their loved ones being locked up. Right now we have nine children. Brother Khalid Abdur-Rashid of Philadelphia and others are working with me on this. The after-school program is held at a church called ‘New Beginnings and Ministry, Monday through Friday, 3:30 to 5:30 PM. I was fortunate enough to meet this lady who is letting us use her church. We have a good space there for about a year. I don’t know; we may be a little too political for her. She is looking for people to implement programs. So, in order to maintain some sort of permanency for now, we plan to implement a bible program there too.”
“We have a sister, Nabilah, who is teaching the youth how to drill. She is awesome! They were hyped for the next session. It showed them a whole 'nother’ level! Nabilah gave the children a whole different outlook on life. I saw a side to our children I had never seen before. Some of them took the role of being the group leader. It was amazing! I was thinking to myself “Wow!” What she did for these youth… Incredible! We hope to continue with things like this for the youth and to be blessed with such great talent and inspiration to teach these children.”
Theresa redirects her thoughts to other organizations that she hopes will continue to inspire and teach others what they know. “There are a lot of organizations out there and I see no real connection to the community. You got this group doing this and you got another group doing that. Are really bringing it home? With all these organizations around the country, there’s no real mass movement, no real solidarity, like in the 60’s. Now that was a movement! Now we have some bright and intelligent people, but I don’t see anything really getting accomplished. Just a lot of bickering going on and no closeness. There are events and affairs, but there is not real leverage on a national level either. With all these organization, it should be. It should be, but I have noticed that organizations are working, but working to put on events. That all!”
“On another hand, you have people who are bad-mouthing other people without knowing all the facts or just because they don’t understand or like you. If you know someone needs help, then try to give him or her a hand. Tell them what is wrong. Don’t just ignore it and go off somewhere to others spreading negativity. Show them what you know. Some want to be the top dog, the guest speaker and don’t want to pass the torch on. They want to hold the ropes. They spend most of their time showing up expecting to be paid large sums of money for something that should be for free. Because the audience they are really trying to reach cannot afford it. They won’t pass it on to the younger people. Just show and tell. I can hardly take it anymore. I haven’t joined ONE organization and I’m not going to, because I don’t see anything really getting accomplished. It’s a ‘ME’ world and it should be a ‘WE’ mindset. If we could just put aside our egos and realize we are not free—not one of us, and do the right thing, we would be at peace!
Theresa comments on the painful things said about her. “They have even bad-mouthed me, saying that I am not doing enough work for my daddy. Another organization said they were not going to help me with my father because they felt I didn’t help them. But I am not going to focus on that negativity because what they are looking for is the limelight. They want to down someone who’s trying to do the work too, so that person doesn’t overshadow them. Some people like to bask in the glory of recognition. I’m really just seeing it though. It’s incredible! I can see where they have brought trouble to other people. You can’t tell other people how to help people. You can give them the guidance or tell them what you need. If they can help you, they can. We all are good in different areas.
My first reaction was, ‘I don’t want anybody like you around me! I started to just stay away from these people, but I decided to continue to call on them. I took a step back and started to analyze everything and try to get some of my emotions together. Because I was really devastated that they didn’t want to help me. Some respond and some don’t. Some people don’t return my calls. When you say you are not going to help me, it hurts my dad because we are talking about a man behind bars who is sick. But I will keep trying to reach people until I talk to them. I also want to put out some support for the MOVE organization. Please help them in their plight to free Mumia Abu Jamal!
Theresa moves on about the negativity and says, “I listen, but I have to keep moving. I am trying to learn all I can about the movement, because before I have not been really conscious within this last year. My dad was a force in the community, highly educated. I just didn’t take that route.”
For along time, I was angry with my dad because I felt he chose the movement over his family during my early years. I didn’t understand his calling. Now I see why. All that time before I couldn’t see it. All I knew was he was in prison, he escaped and I had to be evacuated from my school when he escaped. All I could see was a man who had been locked up most of my life. I’m 41 and he has been in jail 33 years this year. I can remember in elementary school, his first escape. They evacuated the whole school. We were all outside. We lived right across the street from the school. They ramroded our house. So that is what I had seen of him. My mother wasn’t conscious, so she didn’t teach us all of that. He had seven children all together. The three children he fathered by another woman were very conscious. She was in the movement with him and on the run with him and all that kind of stuff. We didn’t learn that side of what my dad fought for. I didn’t understand. I only had one memory of him. For me now, he is a hero to me!”
Theresa says, “Do you want to hear something beautiful? Just days ago, I received a beautiful letter from an inmate saying how my dad has been a surrogate father to him and how he has helped many of the other inmates who would have mentally lost their minds or taken their own lives…oh my god…this is the type of letter I want to make sure I keep because it just brought tears to my eyes!” Still looking for the letter, she spills out more details of how he is a soldier and how he has became such a positive force to many of the inmates there. “I don’t want anything to happen to this letter! This brother who wrote tells us to keep our heads up and that dad is a fighter and no matter what happens, he will always be remembered. It’s that kind of letter! It’s decent!… Here it is! I got it! It says, ‘A Brothers Inspirational Thought to a Fighting Maroon.’ …I see a true warrior. It’s not everyday that a man stands up for what he truly believes. And I know you have stood up for what you believe. This is why the slavemasters children refuse to see you free from the cave of death…. Brother you are a guiding light to a lot of hopeless brothers who came into this system on lock-down, not knowing how to fight for life. Never the less freedom through the earlier years of confinement in the death cave, you have coached them onto higher goals and you have comforted their fears of long term confinement. Life until you let go. Fight for life as you have taught thousands of men to do. Know that I, as well as your comrades are here for you too. Only the strong survive. And I consider you one of the strong. Theresa gives more key points. “It goes on. But it’s a nice letter! I sent it to my dad.”
“He is trying to be strong for us all. They move him every thirty days to another cell. This is part of the systems security plan. He is only allowed 11 pictures in his cell at a time. I made the mistake of sending him some Polaroid pictures and they made him take a choice of whether he would keep the pictures he had or take the new pictures. He asked to see them to determine which pictures he wanted to keep. They said ‘No! You make this decision. Keep the one’s you already have or take these new pictures.’ He got rid of all the old pictures and took the new ones, which wasn’t worth giving up the old one for. And they destroyed them. That’s how they play!” Says, Theresa.
“He is upbeat on the phone, but I think he is disguising his feelings or puts on a show for us. But he is really down. I’m telling you my father is a fighter! But he is really reaching from behind the bars for help. His spirit is not the way it used to be. He was a soldier. He still is a soldier, but the soldier is tired. We are also looking for a lawyer or a doctor who can step in and make these people give him some care. He is really looking for his people to help him. I always state this. This same man who has stepped out and put his life on the line for his people,” said Theresa.
Shoats lasting words are engraved in his heart as he says, “I remain a dedicated and committed New African Freedom Fighter, who will not rest until the New African peoples are free from oppression, and have a free and self-governing nation.”
Theresa says, “You should hear him talk about his people so highly. He says ‘My people are going to help me!’ So we need to put out strongly in the community to get some type of movement to fight for his freedom or for medical care. He believes in his people and says he knows they are going to help him. He has this faith in the community to do just that.”
Russell (Maroon) Shoats(z)
SCI-Greene
AF-3855
175 Progress DR.
Waynesburg, PA 15370
Mail petitions to:
FCU (Families and Communities United)
P.O. Box 9476
Philadelphia, PA 19139
(215) 604-1759