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Black Liberation Army

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Black Liberation Army
Leaders
Dates of operation1970–1981
Split fromBlack Panther Party
Active regionsUnited States
IdeologyThe liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States
Anti-capitalism
Anti-imperialism
Black nationalism
Black separatism
Socialism
Political positionFar-left
Part ofBlack Power Movement
Battles and wars
This article is part of a series about
Black power
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The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was a far-left, black nationalist, underground Black Power revolutionary paramilitary[1][2] organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic of New Afrika (RNA) members who served above ground before going underground, the organization's program was one of war against the United States government, and its stated goal was to "take up arms for the liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States." The BLA carried out a series of bombings, killings of police officers and drug dealers, robberies (which participants termed "expropriations"), and prison breaks.[3]

Formation

The Black Liberation Army gained strength as Black Panther Party membership declined. By 1970, police and FBI sabotage (see COINTELPRO), infiltration, sectarianism, the lengthy prison sentences, and death of key members (among them Fred Hampton) had significantly undermined the Black Panther Party. This convinced many former party members of the desirability of underground existence, seeing that a new period of violent repression by the U.S federal and local government was at hand. BLA members operated under the belief that only through covert means, including but not limited to retribution, could the movement be continued until such a time when an above-ground existence was possible.[citation needed]

The conditions under which the Black Liberation Army formed are not entirely clear. It is commonly believed that the organization was founded by those who left the Black Panther Party after Eldridge Cleaver was expelled from the party's Central Committee.[4] A fallout between Cleaver and other Panther leaders followed from his public criticism of the BPP, among other things accusing Panther social programs of being reformist rather than revolutionary. Others, including black revolutionary Geronimo Pratt (AKA Geronimo ji Jaga), assert that the BLA "as a movement concept pre-dated and was broader than the BPP," suggesting that it was a refuge for ex-Panthers rather than a new organization formed through schism.[5] Assata Shakur, in her autobiography, Assata: An Autobiography, asserts:

"… the Black Liberation Army was not a centralized, organized group with a common leadership and chain of command. Instead, there were various organizations and collectives working together and simultaneously independent of each other."[6]

One such organization was the Philadelphia-based Black Unity Council, which renamed itself the Black Liberation Army in 1970, independent of BLA groups in New York and DC.[7]

Maxwell Stanford, founder of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), cites the Black Guards, a wing of the RAM, as direct BLA forerunners.[8]

The newly formed BLA believed that "the character of reformism is based on unprincipled class collaboration with our enemy"[9] and asserted the following principles:

  1. That we are anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and anti-sexist.
  2. That we must of necessity strive for the abolishment of these systems and for the institution of Socialistic relationships in which Black people have total and absolute control over their own destiny as a people.
  3. That in order to abolish our systems of oppression, we must utilize the science of class struggle, develop this science as it relates to our unique national condition.

Activities

1970-72: Attacks

According to a Justice Department report on BLA activity, the Black Liberation Army was suspected of involvement in over 70 incidents of violence between 1970 and 1976.[10] The Fraternal Order of Police blamed the BLA for the murders of 13 police officers.[11]

On October 22, 1970, the BLA was believed to have planted a bomb in St. Brendan's Church in San Francisco while it was full of mourners attending the funeral of San Francisco police officer Harold Hamilton, who had been killed in the line of duty while responding to a bank robbery. The bomb was detonated, but no one in the church suffered serious injuries.[12]

On May 21, 1971, as many as five men participated in the murder of two New York City police officers, Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones. Those arrested and brought to trial for the shootings include Anthony Bottom (a.k.a. Jalil Muntaqim), Albert Washington, Francisco Torres, Gabriel Torres, and Herman Bell.[13]

On August 29, 1971, three armed men murdered 51-year-old San Francisco police sergeant John Victor Young while he was working at a desk in his police station, which was almost empty at the time due to a bombing attack on a bank that took place earlier - only one other officer and a civilian clerk were there. Two days later, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter signed by the BLA claiming responsibility for the attack.[14][15]

On November 3, 1971, Officer James R. Greene of the Atlanta Police Department was shot and killed in his patrol van at a gas station. His wallet, badge, and weapon were taken, and the evidence at the scene pointed to two suspects. The first was Twymon Meyers, who was killed in a police shootout in 1973, and the second was Freddie Hilton (a.k.a. Kamau Sadiki), who evaded capture until 2002, when he was arrested in New York City on a separate charge and was recognized as one of the men wanted in the Greene murder. Apparently, the two men had attacked the officer to gain standing with their compatriots within Black Liberation Army.[16]

On January 27, 1972, the Black Liberation Army assassinated police officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie at the corner of 174 Avenue B in New York City. After the killings, a note sent to authorities portrayed the murders as a retaliation for the prisoner deaths during 1971 Attica prison riot. To date, no arrests have been made. Two of the three suspects died in "unrelated shootouts with cops — one in New York, and one in St. Louis, with Laurie’s gun in his car" and the third was sentenced in 2016 to 21 years for selling heroin to undercover police.[17] Evidence found at the scene has been lost.[18]

1972-79: Actions and flights

See also: American fugitives in Cuba

On July 31, 1972, five armed individuals hijacked Delta Air Lines Flight 841 en route from Detroit to Miami, eventually collecting a ransom of $1 million and diverting the plane, after passengers were released, to Algeria. The authorities there seized the ransom but allowed the group to flee. Four were eventually caught by French authorities in Paris, where they were convicted of various crimes, but one—George Wright—remained a fugitive until September 26, 2011, when he was captured in Portugal.[19] Portuguese courts rejected the initial pledge for extradition. American authorities may still appeal this decision.

In another high-profile incident, Assata Shakur, Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were said to have opened fire on state troopers in New Jersey after being pulled over for a broken taillight. Zayd Shakur and state trooper Werner Foerster were both killed during the exchange. Following her capture, Assata Shakur was tried in six different criminal trials.[20][21][22] According to Shakur, she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery. Assata Shakur was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur, but escaped prison in 1979 and eventually fled to Cuba and received political asylum. Acoli was convicted of killing Foerster and sentenced to life in prison.[23]

1981: Brinks robbery

Main article: Brinks robbery (1981)

The BLA was active in the US until at least 1981 when a Brinks truck robbery, conducted with support from former Weather Underground members Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, left a guard and two police officers dead. Boudin and Gilbert, along with several BLA members, were subsequently arrested.[24][25]

Aftermath

Anarchist sympathies

Main article: Black anarchism

Following the collapse of the BLA, some members - including Ashanti Alston, Donald Weems (a.k.a. Kuwasi Balagoon) and Ojore N. Lutalo - became outspoken proponents of anarchism. Weems died in prison of an AIDS-related disease in 1986. Alston remains active in prison support and other activist circles. Lutalo was released from prison in 2009 after serving 28 years on charges related to a shootout with a drug dealer in 1981 (and parole violation stemming from his conviction for a 1975 bank robbery), during which time he was punished with solitary confinement for receiving anarchist literature. While incarcerated, the Anarchist Black Cross Federation gave him support.[26]

On January 26, 2010, Lutalo was arrested for endangering public transportation while on the Amtrak train to New Jersey after attending the Anarchist Book Fair in Los Angeles, being mistakenly identified as making terrorist threats on his cell phone. The charge was dropped for lack of evidence, and Lutalo settled a suit against the city of La Junta, Colorado, where his arrest was made, for an undisclosed amount.[27]

Later trials

Main article: San Francisco 8

In January 2007, eight men, labeled the San Francisco 8 were charged by a joint state and federal task force with John Young's murder.[28] The defendants have been identified as former members of the Black Liberation Army.[29] A similar case was dismissed in 1975 when a judge ruled that police gathered evidence through the use of torture. On June 29, 2009, Herman Bell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Sgt. Young. In July 2009, charges were dropped against four of the accused: Ray Boudreaux, Henry W. Jones, Richard Brown and Harold Taylor. That same month, Jalil Muntaquim pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter becoming the second person to be convicted in this case.[30]

List of members and associates

BLA members in prison as of 2022 include the following:

  • Sundiata Acoli, convicted along with Assata Shakur of the murder of a New Jersey state trooper in 1973.[31] Paroled in May 2022 and due to be released.[32]
  • Mutulu Shakur, charged with conspiracy in 1979 BLA prison break of Assata Shakur, FBI's top ten Fugitive #380. Captured in 1986 and convicted of participating in the 1981 Brinks robbery, he received a 60-year sentence in a federal prison. Currently incarcerated in Victorville, set for release in December 2022.[33] Williams was stepfather to the late rap artist Tupac Shakur.
  • Kojo Bomani Sababu (formerly Grailing Brown), convicted of bank robbery in 1975.[34]
  • Kamau Sadiki (formerly Freddie Hilton), convicted on October 13, 2002, and was sentenced to life in prison for the 1971 murder of Atlanta police officer Jim Greene.[35]
  • Fred ‘Muhammad’ Burton, one of the Philadelphia Five.[36][7]
  • Joseph Bowen.[36][37]

Other BLA members and associates:

  • Russell Maroon Shoatz (August 23, 1943 – December 17, 2021), convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1972. Died of colorectal cancer in December 2021.[38]
  • Jalil Muntaqim, convicted of killing two policemen alongside Herman Bell. Released from prison in October 2020 after over 49 years of incarceration and 11 parole denials.[39][40]
  • Arthur Lee Washington Jr., FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive #427, wanted for 1989 attempted murder of a New Jersey state trooper. Removed from list in December 2000 as no longer meeting criteria.
  • Sekou Odinga, convicted of six counts of attempted murder for his participation in the 1981 Brinks robbery and other incidents (released 2014).
  • Jamal Joseph, American writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator. Joseph was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. He was prosecuted as one of the Panther 21 and spent six years incarcerated at Leavenworth Penitentiary.[41]
  • Assata Shakur, named on the Most Wanted list by the FBI—the first woman ever to make the list.[42] She is believed to be living in Cuba under political asylum. She escaped custody in 1979 after being convicted in the May 2, 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. Shakur has been cited as an inspiration by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza.[43]
  • Dhoruba bin Wahad, co-founder of the BLA, and established the Campaign to Free Black and New African Political Prisoners. Convicted for attempted murder in 1973 and released in 1990, subsequently winning lawsuits against the FBI and NYPD.
  • George Wright, escaped convict and 1972 hijacker; living in Portugal, which has refused to extradite him to the U.S.
  • David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin, both sent to prison for their role in the robbery that led to the murders of Nyack police officers Waverly Brown and Edward O'Grady and Brinks guard Peter Paige.[44] Gilbert was released in 2021.[45] Boudin was released in 2003 and died in 2022.[46]
  • Herman Bell, convicted of the murder of two New York City police officers in 1971 (released in 2018).[47]
  • Robert Seth Hayes, convicted of the murder of a NYC Transit Police Officer. Released in 2018 and died in 2019.[48]
  • John Leo Thomas, Leader of the Atlanta, GA cell.
  • Ronald Anderson, member of the Atlanta cell.
  • Avon White, member of the Atlanta cell.
  • Robert Brown, member of the Atlanta cell.
  • Ojore N. Lutalo, convicted following a shootout with a drug dealer (released August 2009).
  • Anthony LaBorde (a.k.a. Abdul Majid) (died in prison on April 3, 2016) and Bashir Hameed (died in prison August 30, 2008), convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1981.
  • William Turk (a.k.a. Sekou Kambui), convicted of two murders in Alabama (released 2014).

See also

References

  1. ^ Rosenau, William (2013). ""Our Backs Are Against the Wall": The Black Liberation Army and Domestic Terrorism in 1970s America". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 36 (2): 176–192. doi:10.1080/1057610X.2013.747074. S2CID 144674982.
  2. ^ "New Jersey trooper's killer is first woman on FBI most wanted terror list". Reuters. 2 May 2013.
  3. ^ Cleaver, Kathleen; Katsiaficas, George (2014). Liberation, Imagination and the Black Panther Party: A New Look at the Black Panthers and Their Legacy. Routledge. p. 12. ISBN 9781135298326.
  4. ^ "Caged panthers". Mondediplo.com. 2005-10-11. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  5. ^ Liberation, Imagination and the Black Panther Party, 2001.
  6. ^ Umoja, Akinyele Omowale (ed.) "Repression Breeds Resistance: The Black Liberation Army and the Radical Legacy of the Black Panther Party.", New Political Science, 21.2 (1999): 131-54.
  7. ^ a b "The End of Rage".
  8. ^ "Revolutionary Action movement (RAM): A Case Study of an Urban Revolutionary Movement in Western Capitalist Society" (PDF). Ulib.csuohio.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  9. ^ "Message to the Black Movement" (PDF). Archive.lib.msu.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  10. ^ "Assata Speaks - Hands off Assata - Let's Get Free - Revolutionary - Pan-Africanism - Black on Purpose - Liberation - Forum". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2006.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 2, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "Police Officer Harold Hamilton". Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  13. ^ Elizabeth Solomont, "New Arrests in a Decades-Old Slaying of Police Officers", The New York Sun, January 24, 2007.
  14. ^ "Sergeant John Victor Young". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  15. ^ Crimes of the centuries : notorious crimes, criminals, and criminal trials in American history. Chermak, Steven M., Bailey, Frankie Y. Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 978-1-61069-593-0. OCLC 911518322.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^ "Office of Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr". Fultonda.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  17. ^ "Final suspect in infamous cop-killing heads to jail — for dealing heroin". Nypost.com. 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2019-12-08./
  18. ^ "Evidence disappears in case of two NYPD officers killed in East Village by 3 members of the Black Liberation Army". nydailynews.com. 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2019-12-08./
  19. ^ "Man who escaped from N.J. prison 41 years ago is captured in Portugal". NJ.com. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
  20. ^ Times, Joseph F. Sullivan Special to The New York (1977-04-26). "Assault Charges Add 26 Years To Mrs. Chesimard's Life Term". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  21. ^ Times, Walter H. Waggoner Special to The New York (1977-03-26). "Joanne Chesimard Convicted in Killing Of Jersey Trooper". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  22. ^ Times, Joseph F. Sulliv'An Special to The New York (1977-03-25). "Chesimard Jury Asks Clarification of Assault Charges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  23. ^ Times, Richard J. h Johnston;Special to The New York (1974-03-16). "Squire Sentenced to, Life For Killing State Trooper". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-21.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "The Brinks Robbery of 1981 - the Crime Library — the Explosion — Crime Library". Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  25. ^ Under Fire: The Death of the Black Liberation Army | The FBI Files S3 EP14 | Real Crime on YouTube
  26. ^ "Ojore". Abcf.net. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  27. ^ Cardona, Felisa. "La Junta to settle lawsuit with man who was wrongfully jailed". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  28. ^ "Ex-militants charged in S.F. police officer's '71 slaying at station". SFGate. 2007-01-24. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  29. ^ Black Liberation Army tied to 1971 slaying Archived February 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (via USA Today)
  30. ^ "2nd guilty plea in 1971 killing of S.F. officer". SFGate. 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  31. ^ "Former Black Panther Sundiata Acoli to be released from prison after 49 years". TheGuardian.com. 11 May 2022.
  32. ^ Funk, Luke (May 10, 2022). "NJ Supreme Court orders Sundiata Acoli eligible for parole; killed state trooper in 1973". Fox 5 New York. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  33. ^ "Mutulu Shakur, Tupac's stepfather, granted release from Kentucky prison as he dies of cancer". 11 November 2022.
  34. ^ "The 19 black radicals who are still in prison after four decades". TheGuardian.com. 30 July 2018.
  35. ^ "Officer James Richard Greene, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia". Odmp.org. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  36. ^ a b "The 19 black radicals who are still in prison after four decades". TheGuardian.com. 30 July 2018.
  37. ^ Joseph "Joe-Joe" Bowen|prisonersolidarity.com
  38. ^ Wright, Bruce C. T. (17 December 2021). "Russell 'Maroon' Shoatz, Former Black Liberation Army Soldier And Prison Abolitionist, Dies At 78". Newsone. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  39. ^ Harrison, Ishek (4 October 2020). "Former Black Liberation Army Activist Granted Parole After 49 Years and Numerous Requests, Impending Release Sparks Backlash".
  40. ^ "The Eleventh Parole Hearing of Jalil Abdul Muntaqim". The New Yorker. January 25, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  41. ^ Joseph, Jamal, Panther Baby. New York: Algonquin Books, 2012, ISBN 1565129504, pp280
  42. ^ US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Most Wanted". FBI Most Wanted Terrorists. US Department of Justice. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  43. ^ Garza, Alicia. "A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement". The Feminist Wire. The Feminist Wire. Retrieved August 28, 2015. When I use Assata's powerful demand in my organizing work, I always begin by sharing where it comes from, sharing about Assata's significance to the Black Liberation Movement, what its political purpose and message is, and why it's important in our context.
  44. ^ Lubasch, Arnold H. (1983-09-04). "4 of 6 Are Guilty in U.s. Brink's Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  45. ^ "At parole hearing, David Gilbert described radical journey". Independent.co.uk. 30 December 2021.
  46. ^ "The Radical Life of Kathy Boudin". The New Yorker. 7 May 2022.
  47. ^ "Police Unions Fight to Rescind Parole for Former Black Panther".
  48. ^ "Former Black Panther, Robert Seth Hayes, Dies at 72 - Blavity".

Sources

  • Foster and Laurie by Al Silverman. Published by Little and Brown, 1974. ISBN 0316791164.
  • Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence by Bryan Burrough. Published by Penguin Publishing Group, 2016. ISBN 0143107976.
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