Angola 3 News: December 2009

Monday, December 28, 2009

Join us in helping to send Sister Althea on her journey home

The Angola 3 Coalition suffered a tragic loss this Christmas. Althea Francois, one of Angola 3’s earliest supporters and a life-long activist for peace and social justice, crossed over to the ancestors on December 25^th at the far too early age of 60.

Althea spent her life actively engaged in the struggle for justice, starting with her involvement in the Black Panther Party, where she began her efforts to help political, economic and racial prisoners. She embodied the finest and most basic ideals of empathy and generosity and inspired all of us that had the privilege of coming in contact with her.

As Angola 3 member Robert King struggled to find words to express the depth of his sorrow, he invoked the biblical reference…"I was hungry and you fed me, was thirsty and you gave me drink, was in prison and you visited me. Althea fed us with hope. She had an enormously giving spirit that we will all deeply miss."

In the late ‘90’s, Althea and Marion Brown, together with Malik and Mwalimu, Shana and Brice, Anita Yesheaux, Vicky Wallace, and Ed (Alton Edwards), solidly grounded the efforts to free the Angola 3 and create a base for political prisoner work in New Orleans. When King was released in February of 2001, he moved to the home that Althea and Marion were staying in on Bartholomew St. in the 9^th Ward. For the first few years of visiting the prison and organizing the effort, Althea’s home was the base that all of us worked from. There was always food and room for another mat on the floor.

Althea was finally able to purchase a home-base for her daughters and grandchildren in the Gentilly area of New Orleans. Katrina ripped apart the security she had at long last established and the years since 2005 were a tense balancing act between work in Atlanta, work in New Orleans, her children and her grandchildren. Though Al rarely complained, she was beset with a number of crippling maladies- asthma, high-blood pressure and the incessant pressure of keeping a family together in these difficult times with never enough support.

She loved her daughters with the ferocity of a lioness and was so proud of their accomplishments. They were the center of her being and I know that what would worry her most now is the pain they will feel at her loss.

Sadly, Althea had no insurance and no savings, thus leaving her daughters not only with the grief of losing her, but with the challenge of raising funds for her funeral. If you can help with a donation to the family, please send what you can to defray the funeral costs one of three ways:

1. Call Rhodes: Jasmine Navarre, Director. 504-241-5556;

Please let them know you would like to give funds for the services of Althea Francois.

2. Donate Online directly: http://tinyurl.com/y8myj4j

You do not have to have a pay Pal account to use this option. Look for link on bottom after you enter your donation amount.

3. Mail funds to:

Olga Francois c/o Todd Taylor, 7704 Benjamin St. New Orleans, LA 70118

Please join the family for a celebration of her life and service:

Saturday, January 2, 2010 @ 1:00PM

Rhodes Funeral Home

3933 Washington Avenue

New Orleans, LA

(504) 822-7162

Additional information will be posted as received.

--View the photo presentation from Althea's January, 2009 birthday party here. Al loved her some Nina Simone. We've included two selections below for you to listen to.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Video Interview With Kiilu Nyasha: Counterrevolution in the United States

Video Interview With Kiilu Nyasha: Counterrevolution in the United States

By Angola 3 News

This new video focuses on the counterrevolution launched against the Black Panther Party, other 1960's revolutionary groups, and the poor and oppressed communities that these groups were organizing. To learn more about Kiilu's work with with the Panthers, read the recent interview with her, entitled "Media, Revolution, and the Legacy of the Black Panther Party." This is the second video released from the hour-long interview conducted by Angola 3 News with Kiilu Nyasha at her home in San Francisco, CA in November, 2009. The first video was released several weeks ago, and focused on Kiilu's recent article entitled "America's Supermax Prisons Do Torture."

Kiilu Nyasha is a San Francisco-based journalist and former member of the Black Panther Party. Kiilu hosts a weekly TV program, "Freedom Is A Constant Struggle," on SF Live (Comcast 76 and AT&T 99). She writes for several publications, including the SF Bay View Newspaper and BlackCommentator.com. Also an accomplished radio programmer, she has worked for KPFA (Berkeley), SF Liberation Radio, Free Radio Berkeley, and KPOO in SF.

Last week, Kiilu created a new website and has begun archiving the most recent episodes of her weekly TV program, "Freedom Is A Constant Struggle." The new website (www.kiilunyasha.blogspot.com) features these episodes that have been uploaded to the accompanying YouTube page (www.youtube.com/kiilunyasha). Be sure to check out Kiilu's powerful TV show and please help to spread the word about her new website. Below are three of these new episodes: Bobby Seale: The Attica Uprising; Phavia Kujichagulia: Fast Food or Fresh Fruit?; and Dennis Cunningham: The 40th Anniversary of the Assassination of Fred Hampton.

--Angola 3 News is a new project of the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3. Our website is www.angola3news.com where we provide the latest news about the Angola 3. We are also creating our own media projects, which spotlight the issues central to the story of the Angola 3, like racism, repression, prisons, human rights, solitary confinement as torture, and more.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Herman Wallace Files Habeas Corpus Petition

On Friday, December 4, Herman Wallace filed his Habeas Corpus petition with the federal courts. You can read/download the filed petition here.

The petition asserts: "...129. Mr. Wallace has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution."

One excerpt states: “…93. The factual scenario presented to Mr. Wallace’s jury in 1974 was entirely different than it would have been if the State had honored its constitutional obligation to disclose materially favorable evidence to the defense. Post-conviction proceedings have revealed that—in a case where the prosecution relied exclusively on inmate testimony to secure a conviction—the State purposefully withheld evidence of deals, perjured testimony, and prior inconsistent statements. This evidence would have discredited each and every one of the State’s witnesses.”

One more excerpt states: “…123. In addition to the State’s suppression of deals, false testimony and prior inconsistent statements with respect to the inmate witnesses who testified against Mr. Wallace, the State also failed to disclose statements by other witnesses that would have undermined the State’s case.”

Background

On September 19, 2006, State Judicial Commissioner Rachel Morgan recommended overturning Herman's conviction, on grounds that prison officials had withheld evidence from the jury that prison officials had bribed the prosecution's key eyewitness, Hezekiah Brown, in return for his testimony.

However, in May 2008, in a 2-1 vote, the State Appeals Court rejected Morgan's recommendation and refused to overturn the conviction. Herman appealed this to the State Supreme Court, but on October 9, 2009 the Court ruled against Herman and affirmed the conviction.

Robert King & Terry Kupers: The Psychological Impact of Imprisonment, part two

Also, be sure to watch part one:

Robert Hillary King, a member of the Angola 3, was released from prison in 2001 when his conviction was overturned after many years of legal battles. King spent over 29 years in continuous solitary confinement. The other two members of the Angola 3, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, both remain imprisoned today, having spent the last 37 years in solitary confinement. In 2008, King released his autobiography, entitled From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Robert Hillary King. His autobiography won the 2008 PASS Award, and has been reviewed by SF Bay View, Black Commentator, Hour, Alternet, Political Media Review, La Presse, Albany Times Union, and The Times-Picayune

Dr. Terry Kupers, M.D., M.S.P. wrote the introduction to From the Bottom of the Heap and is Institute Professor at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. Dr. Kupers is a psychiatrist with a background in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, forensics and social and community psychiatry. His forensic psychiatry experience includes testimony in several large class action litigations concerning jail and prison conditions, sexual abuse, and the quality of mental health services inside correctional facilities. He is a consultant to Human Rights Watch, and author of the 1999 book entitled Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It.

King and Kupers were interviewed in Oakland, California in October, 2009, when King was in town for Black Panther History Month. This video is only part two, so please stay tuned for more!

Angola 3 Basics

(Download a flyer version of this fact sheet here.)

In 1972, deep in rural Louisiana, three young black men were silenced for trying to expose continued segregation, systematic corruption, and horrific abuse in the biggest prison in the US, an 18,000 acre former slave plantation called Angola.

Peaceful, non-violent protest in the form of hunger and work strikes organized by inmates caught the attention of Louisiana’s elected leaders and local media in the early 1970s. They soon called for investigations into a host of unconstitutional and extraordinarily inhumane practices commonplace in what was then the “bloodiest prison in the South.” Eager to put an end to outside scrutiny, prison officials began punishing inmates they saw as troublemakers.

At the height of this unprecedented institutional chaos, Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox, and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown into 6x9 foot solitary cells where they remained for decades.

Their struggle for justice continued until Robert was released in 2001, Herman in 2013, and Albert in 2016.

Despite a number of reforms achieved in the mid-70s, many officials repeatedly ignored both evidence of misconduct, and of innocence.

The State’s case was riddled with inconsistencies, obfuscations, and missteps. A bloody print at the murder scene did not match Herman, Albert or anyone charged with the crime and was never compared with the limited number of other prisoners who had access to the dormitory on the day of the murder. In 2008, NPR asked Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell why the state refused to test the print. "A fingerprint can come from anywhere," Caldwell explained. "We're not going to be fooled by that."

Potentially exculpatory DNA evidence was “lost” by prison officials—including fingernail scrapings from the victim and barely visible “specks” of blood on clothing alleged to have been worn by Albert.

Both Herman and Albert had multiple alibi witnesses with nothing to gain who testified they were far away from the scene when the murder occurred.

In contrast, several State witnesses lied under oath about rewards for their testimony. The prosecution’s star witness Hezekiah Brown told the jury: “Nobody promised me nothing.” But new evidence showed Hezekiah, a convicted serial rapist serving life, agreed to testify only in exchange for a pardon, a weekly carton of cigarettes, TV, birthday cakes, and other luxuries.

“Hezekiah was one you could put words in his mouth,” the Warden reminisced chillingly in an interview about the case years later.

Notably, Teenie Rogers, the widow of the victim, prison guard Brent Miller, after reviewing the evidence believed Herman and Albert’s trials were unfair, expressed grave doubts about their guilt, and called upon officials to find the real killer. "“Each time I look at the evidence in this case, I remember there is no proof that the men charged with Brent’s death are the ones who actually killed him. It’s easy to get caught up in vengeance and anger, but when I look at the facts, they just do not add up,” said Rogers in 2013.

Herman’s conviction was finally overturned in October 2013 by a Federal Judge. Although his trial was riddled with evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and other constitutional violations, it was the systematic exclusion of women from his jury in violation of the 14th Amendment that freed him. Unfortunately he was released in the late stages of advanced liver cancer and only experienced 3 days of freedom. Sadly for Herman, justice delayed was justice denied.

Albert’s conviction was overturned three times by judges citing racial discrimination, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. While the case worked its way through endless appeals, Louisiana officials refused to release Albert from solitary, even when no longer convicted of the crime, because “there’s been no rehabilitation” from “practicing Black Pantherism.”4

In June 2015, a Federal Judge courageously ordered Albert's immediate release and barred a retrial stressing the “Court's lack of confidence in the State to provide a fair third trial." This extraordinary remedy was also frozen pending yet another series of appeals.

Finally, Albert was released in February of 2016, 43 years and 10 months after first being put in isolation for a crime he didn’t commit.

Louisiana today has the highest incarceration rate in the US—thus the highest in the world.

Three-fourths of the 5,000+ prisoners at Angola are African American. And due to some of the harshest sentencing practices in the nation, 97% will die there.

Reminiscent of a bygone era, inmates still harvest cotton, corn and wheat for 4 to 20 cents an hour under the watchful eye of armed guards on horseback.

We believe that only by openly examining the failures and inequities of the criminal justice system in America can we restore integrity to that system.

We must not wait.

We can make a difference.

As the A3 did years before, now is the time to challenge injustice and demand that the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

In 2000, Herman, Albert and Robert filed a civil lawsuit challenging the inhumane and increasingly pervasive practice of long-term solitary confinement. Magistrate Judge Dalby described their decades of isolation as “so far beyond the pale” she could not find “anything even remotely comparable in the annals of American jurisprudence.” Over the course of 16 years, this seminal case detailed unconstitutionally cruel and unusual treatment and systematic due process violations at the hands of Louisiana officials and inspired worldwide action to end long term solitary.