Table of Contents
THE DEATH PENALTY MUST BE OUTLAWED ON THE STREETS!: RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISION WON'T TAKE GUNS FROM POLICE Page [1]
RATS WON'T WAIT FOR THE HOUSING AUTHORITY: SIX BOSTON FAMILIES BARELY SURVIVE HOUSING AUTHORITY WAITING LIST Page 2
“DRIVE THE NIGGERS OUT!” Page 3
TWO YEARS TO JUSTIFY HOMICIDE: BOBBY JOE CONNER'S MURDERERS “NOT GUILTY” Page 4
ON PAGE 2 OF LAST WEEK'S ISSUE OF THE BLACK PANTHER Page 4
PRIVATE HAVENS OF BIGOTRY Page 5
ROCKEFELLER OWNS BRAZIL, TOO! Page 6
WHITE JUSTICE Page 8
A PROGRAM FOR SURVIVAL Page 9
THE DEATH PENALTY MUST BE OUTLAWED ON THE STREETS!: RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISION WON'T TAKE GUNS FROM POLICE Page 10
Subscription Form: BLACK PANTHER INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS SERVICE Page 13
Let this be his epitaph: George Jackson Page 14
AN IMPORTANT AND COMPELLING CRITIQUE OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY BY ITS CHIEF THEORETICIAN Page 17
BLACK PANTHER PARTY PROGRAM MARCH 29, 1972 PLATFORM: WHAT WE WANT WHAT WE BELIEVE Page 18
PEOPLE'S PETITION Page 19

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THE DEATH PENALTY MUST BE OUTLAWED ON THE STREETS!: RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISION WON'T TAKE GUNS FROM POLICE

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RATS WON'T WAIT FOR THE HOUSING AUTHORITY: SIX BOSTON FAMILIES BARELY SURVIVE HOUSING AUTHORITY WAITING LIST

The case of the residents of 64-68 Eustis Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts is a blatant example of the outright neglect and lack of concern on the part of the administrators of this society toward Black and poor people. Roxbury pigs allowed a situation to develop where six Black and poor families, with a total of 28 children, were forced to live in a single, four-room, dilapidated apartment, totally unfit for human life.

The families of Doris Knight, Mrs. A. L. Hicks, Willie Mae Hicks, Mary Mollett, Madeleine Kay, and Vera Hicks lived together out of the necessity to survive. The racist Welfare Department had been totally ignoring sending much-needed welfare checks of some of the families for as long as 4 months, while the Boston Housing Authority did not show enough concern for the families to relocate them to better housing. What little food and clothing the families had, they shared for the 3 weeks they lived together.

Conditions were so wretched that Mrs. A. L. Hicks was forced to stay up at night to protect the children (who were sleeping on the floor) from huge rats. Needless to say, because of the lack of money and the overwhelmingly wretched conditions, the families suffered from various diseases without even the ability to get medical attention. One of the children of Mrs. Doris Knight, for example, suffered from a hole in her heart; Leroy Dates, another occupant of 64 Eustis, tested positively for Tuberculosis; one of the children of Mrs. A. L. Hicks suffered from malnutrition; and, also, 2 of Doris Knight's children tested positively for Sickle Cell Trait. These maladies were not even discovered until the families discovered and visited the People's Free Health Center (a Black Panther Party Survival Program).

Because of the unconcern displayed by the highly paid welfare administrators and city officials of Boston, the community began to unite behind these people to insure that their basic necessities for life were met. On June 12th members of the Inner City Welfare Rights Organization, along with all of the occupants of 64 Eustis street, went down to Mayor Kevin White's office to confront this so-called "liberal" face to face. When confronted by 6 families, outraged over the conditions in which they had been forced to live, Mayor White began to talk loud and fast, saying nothing. The people made it clear that they would live in his office, if they did not receive better housing. In an effort


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to write the families off, White arranged transportation for the families to the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) to receive better, public housing. When they arrived at the BHA, they were told that the Director, Mrs. Doris Bunte, was in Washington, D. C. on business. In desperation, the families had to practically threaten some of the officials at the BHA, before Mrs. Doris Bunte miraculously appeared, from her "trip", having returned in five minutes. By the end of the day all of the families were located in public housing, although up to the point at which the community had begun to unite there wasn't supposed to be any public housing available, according to BHA officials.

Through the help of the Inner City Welfare Rights, the Black Panther Party, Roxbury Multi-Service, and other community organizations and churches, these families were provided with free food, free clothing and money to purchase other necessities. The Black Panther Party's People's Free Health Center is not only providing humane medical care for the families' existing medical and health problems, but also preventative medical care as well.

There are many Eustis Streets across America. The families of 64-68 Eustis will continue to struggle against the inhuman conditions existing in the Black community. It is very clear that unity is the key to survival, as well as the real, concrete first step toward liberation.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE


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“DRIVE THE NIGGERS OUT!”

There are 648 units in the Fidelis Way Housing Projects in the Brighton section of Boston, Massachusetts. Of that number, approximately 70 units are occupied by Black families; the rest are occupied by whites. Sixty-six percent of all the families there are living on some form of public relief. One might think that life around these projects might be different: that the common experience of "hard times" would have some kind of leveling effect for everyone concerned. What has emerged, however, is a veritable tyranny of the white majority to the degree that the Black families have been subjected to almost constant harassment and intimidation, which flares up or dies down at the whim of the whites. Because of the high level of racism in this country, condoned and encouraged by the U.S. Government, there should have been absolutely no reason to believe that whites in the Fidelis Housing Projects would have been exempted: the majority of the residents of the Fidelis Projects, who are poor whites, oppressed by the American system, have still allowed the U.S. ruling class to fool them into thinking that Black people are their enemies; the majority of those whites have been falsely led to believe that whatever little piece of concrete and steel the power structure has "graciously" allowed them occupy will somehow be depreciated by the presence of Black people.

White youths, with the obvious approval of their parents, and either ignored or spurred on by the police, have decided to "drive the niggers out", sparing no one in the process. The following is a brief description of some of the racist activities perpetrated against the Black population of Fidelis Way Housing Projects, since 1971:

1. Spring, 1971 - Lamont Robinson, age 17, while trying to get his younger brother away from a fight, stabbed in the back by an unknown, unidentified, and unapprehended white youth. Neither Lamont, who underwent 3 serious operations at St. Elizabeth Hospital, nor his brother had anything to do with the fight.

2. Summer, 1971 - Frank Hudson, age 15, was confronted by a group of white youths while trying to leave a community drug store. One of the white youths walked up to Frank and said, "You ain't going nowhere, nigger," and pulled out a knife. Frank pulled out a knife of his own, and left the store going across the street to a nearby pizza shop. Approximately five minutes later, the pigs arrived and Frank was pointed out by the whites. The pigs took Frank down to the car. He was then pushed, kicked, knocked down and his face was mashed into the street by the police. Taken to Station 14, he was slapped around and hit again. Shortly thereafter, his mother arrived and Frank was released (although the pigs had never notified his mother). The hospital records at Kennedy Hospital (if not by now destroyed) can testify to the nature of his injuries.

3. Summer, 1971 - Thirteen-year old Cheryl Clark, while on her way home from a friend's house, was almost raped by a group of whites.

4. Summer, 1971 - Thirteen-year old Anthony Evans was harassed and threatened by a white youth, Keven McQue, age 18, who wanted Anthony's pocket money in order to buy some marijuana.

5. May 16, 1972 - Reggie Clark, father of the above-mentioned Cheryl Clark, was confronted, on his way to the store, by a group of white youths, who pulled out a pipe and razor, threatening him. Brother Clark went back home and got a gun, to defend himself. The pigs arrested him on his way back to the store. Taken to court, Brother Clark was sentenced to 6 months in jail. The case is currently on appeal.

6. May 20, 1972 - Ed Evans, father of the above-mentioned Anthony Evans, also on his way to the store, was


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attacked by a white youth. Evans, in self-defense, caused the racist to require 104 stitches. Also, Evans took out an assault suit against the youth, which, on June 7th, was placed on file (no action taken) in Brighton Court. The youth was already on probation.

7. May 20, 1972 - Larry Buggs, age 21, was suddenly attacked on the street and beaten by white youths while on his way home, at 1:30 in the afternoon.

8. May 20, 1972 - Windows broken out of Evans Family station wagon.

9. May 21, 1972 - Front windows broken out of Evans Family apartment.

10. May 22, 1972 - Back windows broken out of Evans Family apartment.

11. June 3, 1972 - Joan Barrows, age 15, was confronted by a group of white youths. They called her degrading names, threw bottles at her and threatened her family.

12. June 5, 1972 - Stone and rock throwing incident at Brighton High School turned into a fight in the projects. Over 100 whites confronted less than 20 Blacks. Pigs came and dispersed the Black youths.

13. June 5, 1972 - Steven Hemingway, age 12, was shot in the head by whites shooting a pump pellet gun around 8:30 p.m. Steven had to be taken to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, where the bullet was removed.

Because of this ridiculous and terrifying chain of events, on Thursday, June 22nd, a meeting had to be called among the Black residents of Fidelis Way Housing Projects, the manager of the projects, Marino Cuozzo, and a representative of the local pig department. To literally add insult to injury, the pigs claim that there was nothing they could do (incidentally, there are no Black police working out of Station 14), while the housing project manager claims that the numerous racist incidents were not "racial in nature". Further, this manager didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was about. In short, the meeting accomplished nothing.

The facts concerning the harassment, intimidation and brutality of the Black residents of Fidelis Way Housing Projects speak for themselves. Fortunately, no one as yet has been killed. Presently, the Black families are considering filing suit against both the Boston Housing Authorities and the Boston Police claiming that neither are fulfilling their designated responsibilities and that as a result the Black families have suffered serious bodily harm. While the prospects of actually winning such a complaint are remote, the very act of filing the suit itself might create enough pressure to at least temporarily relieve the situation. However, the Black families of the Fidelis Way Housing Projects know that court suits have never truly stopped racists intent on and harassment and murder of Black people, that there's only one language racists understand.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE


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TWO YEARS TO JUSTIFY HOMICIDE: BOBBY JOE CONNER'S MURDERERS “NOT GUILTY”

Bobby Joe Conner has been dead for two years now. The circus that was created around his death is closed down, but the clowns are still laughing. They had made a joke of justice and been taken seriously.

Brothers Bobby Joe Conner and Larry Taylor, who lived in the Black community of Clinton Park (in Houston, Texas) were kidnapped by Galena Park pigs, two years ago, on April 4, 1970. They were held on suspicion of auto theft. The excuse given by the Galena Park pigs for stopping these two Brothers was that their license plate light was out, and that they had run a stop sign. Shortly after Bobby and Larry arrived at the Galena Park pig station, two Houston pigs, Arthur Hill and Jack McMahon, arrived. When questioned about what happened when Houston fascists arrived, Brother Larry Taylor stated: "The Houston pigs came into the little room where they had us and the pigs made us strip naked, after taking the handcuffs off me and Bobby. We were standing there and one of the Houston policemen hit me on the knees and told me and Bobby to stand erect against the wall, with our hands on the wall and our legs out behind us.

"That's when the beating and kicking started. One the pigs (from Galena Park) said, `We're going to show you how to take care of bad niggers,' and he kicked me in the stomach with the pointed toe of his boot. After they kicked us the first time, Bob and me fell down, and one of the Houston policemen stomped Bobby in the stomach. One of the so-called peace officers told him that if he didn't get up by the time he counted to three, he would be sorry he didn't." Larry Taylor further stated that he managed to get up, but that Bobby couldn't. That's when they really started kicking Bobby Joe, both of these Houston policemen. After these fascists realized Brother Bobby Joe was dying, they took him to the hospital, locking Larry in a cell. Bobby Joe Conner died in route to the hospital. When the news of this foul deed reached the Black community, Blacks of Clinton Park, in particular, and all Black people of Houston, in general, became outraged. Brothers and Sisters from the community organized demonstrations, many of which were held at City Hall and the Galena Park pig station, demanding that the pigs responsible for murdering Bobby Joe, and beating Larry Taylor, be fired, pending further punishment for their crimes.

It was at this point that the first act of the show began, when the circus big top went up. The pigs from Galena Park were fired, although in about one week's time they were reinstated onto the force, with back pay. The two pigs from the Houston Police Department, Hill, and McMahon, were even indicted for murder. Because of the extremely angry response from the Black community, the bureaucrats of Houston decided to move the case to a small racist town, named New Braunfels. The fascists began to talk about "justice", in their attempt to pacify the Black community. Later, however, it all worked out, for racist pigs Hill and McMahon were found not guilty of the charge of murder.

Continuing the game, however, Texas courts decided to make things really look hopeful, for after being found not guilty of the charge of murder, the two pigs were charged with violating the civil rights of Bobby and Larry. Waiting two whole years,


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and thinking that the anger of the Black community had died, the courts decided to take these two pigs to trial, and brought the whole case back to Houston. More rhetoric followed, all the way to Thursday, June 15, 1972. On that date, pigs Hill and McMahon were found not guilty of the charge of violating the civil rights of Brothers Bobby Joe Conner and Larry Taylor. It had been all wrapped up very well. The evidence presented in both cases clearly convicted these two pigs of murdering Bobby Joe and brutally beating Larry Taylor. The very fact that Bobby Joe was in their custody when he died was sufficient to find them guilty; the scars that Larry presently bears, suffered in the brutal beating he received at the hands of these sadistic pigs, were concrete evidence of guilt.

None of these facts mattered. They had dragged the thing out for two years and had eased into the usual "justifiable homicide" decision. Throughout both trials, even other "police officers" testified to the fact that pigs Hill and McMahon had stomped and kicked Bobby Joe and Larry Taylor. In addition to all of this evidence, a Harris County Medical Examiner, who had examined Bobby Joe's body, testified under oath to the fact that Bobby Joe died from a ruptured liver and other severe internal injuries. Although this testimony completely destroyed the defense's lie that Bobby Joe tripped and fell, and later died from an overdose of morphine, Hill and McMahon are still "not guilty". The evidence


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was clear, but the court purposely disregarded the evidence to fulfill its "purpose" of serving the ruling circle's plan of Black genocide, by justifying any act of brutality and murder committed by its armed body, against the Black community.

The fascist nature of America's courts and system of justice were really captured, when Hill's and McMahon's defense attorney had the audacity to utter the "humorous" remark that, "Bobby's death spared his family the cost and misery associated with a heroin addict."

Though the fascist courts say these two pigs, Hill and McMahon, are not guilty, the Black community has said emphatically that they are. The Black community is saying that these pigs are guilty of murder, as well as violation Bobby Joe's human right to live. This case, along with the many, many others involving injustices against the Black and oppressed communities, testifies to the fact that there really will be no justice in America's courts, until the people are the judges. We must begin to create the type of unity and organization in the Black community that will enable us to do just that!

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Texas Chapter
Black Panther Party


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ON PAGE 2 OF LAST WEEK'S ISSUE OF THE BLACK PANTHER

ON PAGE 2 OF LAST WEEK'S ISSUE OF THE BLACK PANTHER, THERE WAS AN ERROR IN THE TEXT OF THE ARTICLE ENTITLED "DALEY'S DOPE DEALING". SOME READERS MAY HAVE RECEIVED CORRECTED COPIES; SOME MAY NOT. WE WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR ANY CONFUSION THIS ERROR CAUSED. THANK YOU, ONCE AGAIN, FOR BEING PATIENT.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE


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PRIVATE HAVENS OF BIGOTRY

LLOYD BARBEE… June 19, 1972

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a damaging blow to the cause of racial equality through a decision handed down last week. In a 6 to 3 decision, the justices said it was all right for private clubs to exclude Blacks as guests. They refused to prevent states from denying liquor licenses to clubs that openly practice discrimination. A 3-judge Federal court in Pennsylvania said the Moose Lodge in question could not keep its liquor license and at the same time exclude Blacks as guests. But the high court said it could.

Ironically, a Black man, although honored by being the majority leader of the state House of Representatives, was judged not good enough to be served at the lily-white Moose Club in Harrisburg. That club and many others in the U.S. make no secret of their hatred of Blacks and specifically exclude them from club membership in their by-laws. But the court the said the membership question was not at issue, only the question of can Blacks be excluded as guests. So, under the court's line of thought, a Black man could theoretically become a member of one of these clubs, but couldn't bring his brother or mother in for a drink.

Fortunately, this step backward in the civil rights movement may not affect actions by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to revoke the tax exempt status of private clubs in this state which also discriminate against the Black man. Revenue Department officials indicate they will continue their investigation into these clubs, an investigation which has already led to the revocation of tax exemptions for 17 Elks Clubs and one Moose Club.

We cannot continue to function in a society where blacks and whites are divided under the guise of "home rule" or the right of private clubs to serve who they want. Even though Blacks and other minorities are supposed to be equal in equal in education, health, business and government, many of the important decisions governing this country are made by the white bigots in the privacy of their castle-like clubs -- fraternal orders, athletic and country clubs, etc. We must open all institutions, private and public, to all races.

But the facts remain clear. Once again, the high court, packed with the white, upper class reactionary appointees of President Nixon, have scored another victory for those wishing to walk all over the individual rights of Blacks. The justices claim the issuing of a liquor license "does not involve the state sufficiently in the club's practices to bring them under legal state action governed by the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws." Through some cleverly devised rhetoric, the high court, rather than abiding by the constitution, has arrogantly ignored and twisted it and refused to enforce the 14th amendment. The court has thrown its support behind racial discrimination. These clubs and other havens of bigotry are cancers in our society and must be treated by radical surgery, radioactive bombardment or other means.


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ROCKEFELLER OWNS BRAZIL, TOO!

We sincerely thank Robert Wing, of San Francisco, California, for presenting us with the following information on the dictatorship in Brazil, especially through the courageous words of Comrade Admaris Oliveira Lucena.

Brazil is the largest country in Latin America, with borders on all but two Latin American countries. Since the military coup d'etat in 1964, Brazil has become the most barbarically fascist country on the Latin American continent; all democratic institutions have been shut down, censorship of the press is total, torture is an everyday occurrence, children are arrested and tortured, and thousands die daily of hunger and curable disease.

Paradoxically, Brazil is a very rich country: rich in fertile land, rich in natural resources, gold, minerals and oil. Why is this wealth not reflected in the lives of the people? Because the riches of Brazil are owned by United States' corporations such as ITT, Union Carbide, Bethlehem Steel and the Rockefeller interests. Since the military coup, the United States has been working hand in hand with the Brazilian generals to create conditions by which the control of the economic and political life of Brazil remains within the imperialist system in return for which the U.S. gives loans and military aid so that the military regime can maintain itself in power.

The United States has two primary objectives for its activity in Brazil: one is economic and one is political, but they are intimately related, U.S. multi-national corporations have invested millions of dollars in Latin America in order to convert the natural resources of the continent into hundreds of millions of dollars of profit. However, revolutionary movements and nationalist governments in Latin America, who insist that the wealth of their countries belongs to them and should be used to feed hungry people, build houses, schools, hospitals and national industry, are growing all over the continent. U.S. imperialism must crush these movements of workers, peasants and unemployed people in order to continue exploiting the riches of Latin America and prolong the imperialist system. But the bourgeoisie of the United States knows that sending the Marines into Latin America would be a political disaster. Thus, by creating a fascist military power in Brazil, they intend to use Brazil to crush the revolutionary movements, "Latinamericanizing" the struggle and trying to disguise U.S. involvement.

The following letter clearly indicates that the Brazilian revolutionary movement intends to fight for the freedom of the Brazilian people and also fight the attempt to use their country as a continental police force for U.S. imperialism. Adamaris Oliveira Lucena, the author of this letter, is a Brazilian revolutionary in her


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mid-forties who was freed from prison by the revolutionary movement in exchange for the Japanese Consul in 1970. She is a member of V.P.R. (Peoples' Revolutionary Vanguard), an armed group made up of workers and ex-Army men. The letter was written to inform public opinion about the conditions in Brazil and seek international support for the revolutionary movement there.

January, 1972
Havana, Cuba

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

On November 28, 1971, the Brazilian dictatorship condemned three young revolutionaries to death: Ariston de Oliveira Lucena, Diogenes Sabroza de Souza (both of the V.P.R.) and Gilberto Feria Lima. One of these young men is my son, Ariston. The others are my comrades, whom I love and respect as much as my own son.

I am a humble woman, a daughter of the people, a daughter of the misery and exploitation in which the vast majority of my people live. I am from the Northeast, a dry and arrid land where 60% of the people have no steady work. I saw my mother die of hunger, my first son die of hunger before he was a year and a half old, and I have seen hundreds of children die like that in my country. We are accustomed to see death from hunger among our people, but we are not resigned to the continuation of this situation. This is why we are in the struggle. This is why hundreds of thousands of young people suffer today from the most cruel and barbarous torture you can imagine.

I am of peasant origin, I don't have the ability to express myself well. I barely know how to write. I only know it is my duty to fight against what I find to be arbitrary, unjust and discriminatory in Brazil. I know that I must fight against the imperialism of the United States which economically and ideologically supports the dictatorship of my country. My revolutionary activity is a result of my rage.

My husband was a worker, who suffered oppression with his own body. He fought consciously against the dictatorship during his life. He was murdered by the police in 1970 during a shoot-out in my home. My three small children and I were taken to jail after they killed my husband. The children were taken to an orphanage and one of them, nine years old, was physically and mentally tortured by the sadists of the dictatorship. We were liberated from jail when a revolutionary command group bearing my dead husband's name captured the Japanese Consul and exchanged his freedom for ours so that we could leave jail and come to Cuba. We all left jail half dead. We were molested, beaten and tortured with electric shocks.

Ariston is an optimistic young man. He is 19 years old, and has never known the happiness of youth, because the revolutionary struggle claimed all his energy. I raised him with great difficulty, working as a servant, washing and ironing clothes all day to spare him the fate of his brother. My husband earned a miserable salary. Ariston took up the gun of his father, not for vengeance, but from political conviction. He was arrested while working with Carlos Lamarca (leader of V.P.R.) to organize a training camp from which to initiate armed struggle in the countryside. Today my son is condemned to death. I neither cry, which would shame him with my cowardice, nor do I beg for clemency from the dictatorship, which would betray my son's courageous position. I never ask justice from those who neither know what it means, nor practice it.

I ACCUSE the fascist dictatorship of Brazil of not only murdering my husband, trying to murder my son, but of keeping my country in a situation so that millions of children have no access to food, to public health or to education, I ACCUSE them of allowing dozens of young children to die daily from malnutrition. I ACCUSE them of killing, jailing and torturing hundreds of young people, the best sons and daughters of Brazil who daily sacrifice their youth for a life of struggle dedicated to ending the oppression of our people.

I ACCUSE the dictatorship of keeping hundreds of teachers and doctors in jail while in the countryside and the cities we need classrooms and hospitals.

I ACCUSE them of imposing upon the mass media the strictest censorship imagineable. Through controlling the mass media they mislead public opinion and by publishing false news, they try to demoralize the revolutionaries.

I ACCUSE them of keeping dozens of honest journalists in jail, many of whom are far from being revolutionary, and have simply identified with the people.

I ACCUSE the Brazilian dictatorship


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of having taken away even the most elemental human rights, such as habeas corpus. They have restored the death penalty not in order to apply it to the torturers, to those who live off the sweat of the people, but rather to the young revolutionaries who oppose the terrorist, fascist sell-out regime of Garrastazu Medici.

I, a woman of the people, a wife, mother and comrade of Brazilian revolutionaries ACCUSE the regime of my country of assuming the role of gendarme for Northamerican imperialism in Latin America. I ACCUSE them from my heart as a Latin American woman of having collaborated morally and materially in the overthrow of the Bolivian nationalist regime in August, 1971, in order to replace it with a fascist dictatorship. I ACCUSE my government of having mobilized troops to Uruguayan frontier during the Fall of 1971 to prevent the election of the progressive forces. I allege that they have been serving the interests of imperialism to "Latinamericanize" the revolutionary struggle on our continent. The imperialists know that revolutionary and nationalist movements are growing in strength and will reclaim the riches of our continent for our people. The imperialists want to stop this process, but they know that their direct intervention is impossible. Thus they need a gendarme, a police force within Latin America to do their dirty work; a government of a large and potentially rich country which will intervene in other countries for them. So they inject loans into the Brazilian economy, they take it over, they build a war industry. They are building a "Trans-Amazonic Highway" -- under the pretext of relocating the Northeasterners who live in dry lands and bringing them to the swamp-filled lands of Amazon jungle -- this is not only an attempt to colonize the jungle and reduce the social tension in the Northeast, but it is also an attempt to populate a huge strip of land which would unite Brazil with other countries, to extend Brazil's military reach through roads which lead to the borders of other countries. Brazil is becoming a strategic tentacle in the southern part of the continent.

My son may be shot by the dictatorship. It has created its own "legality" and acts in accordance with it. I do not accept this legality imposed by the minority on the majority. Revolutionaries in the struggle constantly face the possibility of death. We may die in the first battle. My husband was murdered. My son was taking part in the armed struggle when he was caught. We are in a war to the death with the dictatorship; a war which has cost and will continue to cost us many lives. That is the price that revolutionaries pay for a better life for future generations. Because in Latin America, the present time is one of struggle. My younger sons, although they are children, are preparing to struggle. I am only outside of Brazil temporarily because of my particular circumstances. But we know that when the dictatorship murders, jails and tortures our comrades, it is to demoralize us, to kill our optimism and faith in the revolution.

I do not speak as an intellectual. I say what I have learned in the process of struggle, in practice itself as a revolutionary, as an exploited woman who knows that revolution is the only road that can lead us out of misery and exploitation. My position as a revolutionary is based on a long class struggle in which my life, the life of a worker, has always been under the heel of the ruling class.

In this moment of confrontation, as Brazil not only represses Brazilians with its fascist ideology, but also threatens to extend its claws toward our brother Latin countries in order to serve imperialist interests, I want to warn the revolutionaries of the world. I want to tell them that the struggle in Brazil will be long. Because in Brazil we are not only fighting for the freedom of our people, but for the right of other Latin American peoples to independence.

I ask for solidarity not for me or my son, who faces the death penalty, but for our cause, for our revolution. I ask that progressive journalists, intellectuals, priests, workers, peasants, and students denounce through any means in their power the Brazilian regime and the role it is playing today. I beg the oppressed mothers of Brazil to be alert, to support their children and encourage them to join the revolutionary ranks.

Our struggle has just begun. Much good young blood will be shed during the long struggle toward emancipation. If my son is shot he will not be the first or last martyr of our revolution. If we have to give our own blood to achieve independence and freedom we are ready to do it with optimism and faith in the people.

A Brazilian mother greets you and thanks you for the publication of this letter, one of the millions of mothers who have suffered misery, exploitation and the death of her sons, but who is not asking for clemency, but rather will continue to struggle until WE WIN!

Adamaris de Oliveira Lucena


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WHITE JUSTICE

HERE ARE TRIAL TRANSCRIPTS IN BOOK FORM OF BLACK PANTHER PARTY TRIALS THAT MADE HEADLINES IN THE ESTABLISHMENT PRESS."… THE VIOLENCE THEY REVEAL IS LEGALIZED VIOLENCE - A RACISM THAT FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF JUSTICE." THE BOOK…

(EDITED BY SARA BLACKBURN-FORWARD BY HAYWOOD BURNS)

HARPER COLOPHON BOOKS $2.75 (in paperback)


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A PROGRAM FOR SURVIVAL

THE INTERCOMMUNAL YOUTH INSTITUTE

Provides Black and other oppressed children with a scientific method of thinking and analyzing things, basic skills for living in the society and a concrete alternative to established learning institutions.

FREE BREAKFAST PROGRAM

Provides children a free, hot breakfast every school morning.

FREE BUSSING TO PRISONS PROGRAM

Provides free transportation to prisons for families and friends of incarcerated men and women.

FREE COMMISSARY FOR PRISONERS PROGRAM

Provides imprisoned men and women with the funds to purchase necessary commissary items inside the prison.

LEGAL AID EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

Provides full legal assistance to those involved in legal problems, as well as legal aid classes.

PEOPLE'S FREE CLOTHING PROGRAM

Provides new, stylish and quality clothing free to the people.

THE DAVID HILLIARD PEOPLE'S
FREE SHOE PROGRAM

Provides free shoes to the people made at the David Hilliard Free Shoe factory and elsewhere.

THE ANGELA DAVIS PEOPLE'S
FREE FOOD PROGRAM

Provides free food to Black and other oppressed people.

THE PEOPLE'S FREE MEDICAL
RESEARCH HEALTH CLINCS

Provides free medical treatment and preventative medical care for the people.

LIBERATION SCHOOLS

Provides free educational facilities and materials to Black and other oppressed children to promote a correct view of their role in the society.

INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS SERVICE

Provides news and information about the Black and other oppressed communities throughout the U.S. and the world.

THE SICKLE CELL ANEMIA
RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Instituted to test and establish a cure for Sickle Cell Anemia, to create better educational programs around Sickle Cell Anemia and maintain an advisory committee of doctors already researching Sickle Cell Anemia.

PEOPLE'S FREE AMBULANCE SERVICE

(Being Implemented)

Provides free, 24-hour speedy transportation to people in need of emergency medical care.

FREE PLUMBING AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

(Being Implemented)

Provides free plumbing and repair services to improve people's housing conditions.

PEOPLE'S FREE DENTAL PROGRAM:

(Being Implemented)

Provides free dental check-ups and treatment for the people, as well as an educational program for dental hygiene and preventative dental care.

PEOPLE'S FREE OPTOMETRY PROGRAM:

(Being Implemented)

Provides free eye examinations, treatment and eye correctional equipment (glasses, etc.) for the people.

PEOPLE'S FREE COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT
PROGRAM:

(Being Implemented)

Provides free job-finding services to poor and oppressed people, who cannot find work.

COMMUNITY COOPERATIVE HOUSING
PROGRAM

(Being Implemented)

Provides decent housing, cooperatively owned and managed by the resident families.

PEOPLE'S FREE FURNITURE PROGRAM:

(Being Implemented)

Provides free, decent furniture to improve our living standards.

PEOPLE'S FREE LINEN PROGRAM:

(Being Implemented)

Provides new sheets, towels, blankets, etc. free to the people, to make daily living more healthy and comfortable.


-- 10 --

THE DEATH PENALTY MUST BE OUTLAWED ON THE STREETS!: RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISION WON'T TAKE GUNS FROM POLICE

On June 29, 1972, the Judicial Branch of the U.S. governmental power structure decided to make an attempt at an historic gesture of humanism and join the rest of the civilized world. With the masses of America's Black and poor people having protested vigorously for decades, now, the claimed right of a barbarous government to kill citizens of this country, the Supreme Court of the land decided to agree with the People. In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court voted, essentially, that the law which granted the government (state or federal) the right to execute so-called violators of the law was in opposition to 8th Amendment rights of citizens, under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty as "cruel and unusual punishment". Even more specifically, the court decided that juries of so-called citizens, selected at random as they are, could not fairly enough interpret the laws to be able to justifiably impound the penalty of death upon another person.

The Supreme Court of the United States is a panel of 9 judges which has been authorized under the U.S. Constitution as the chief body of the Judicial Branch of the U.S. government's structure. Theoretically, it is the duty of these persons to uphold the U.S. Constitution and to interpret its meaning, where ambiguous, so as to faithfully carry out the laws of the society. In most instances, the Supreme Court reviews specific cases where a State or federal law, or State or federal court decision is being challenged for being in violation of the fundamental rights of individuals, groups, etc. in the society as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. According to Supreme Court decisions, then, legislation which is found in violation of the Constitution must be amended, altered or abolished and new procedures taken up appropriately.

All of this can become very messy, for not only are laws made by human beings with variations of prejudices and political leanings, not only is the


-- 11 --
Supreme Court, as well as all courts, made up of such human beings, but human beings are required to actually enact those laws. It isn't hard for Black people, particularly, to recall the well applauded, now 18-year old, 1954 Supreme Court decision on desegregation of schools, which has yet to be carried into action. Whether one agrees or not with the decision, it is clear that all the present discussion on bussing would not even exist if the government itself had enforced that decision when it was made. With just that one factor in mind, Black people and poor people in America have to wonder what the Supreme Court's recent so-called decision to abolish the death penalty (as it was euphemistically called) will mean in fact.

What must be first questioned is what exactly was outlawed: the right of a court of law to sentence a person to pay the supreme price, his life, for a particular crime. How was that decision reached? Out of nine men, the judges deciding the question, only a slim majority even agreed to that. However, because even the five who voted in favor of eliminating the death penalty could not come to total agreement, each wrote his own decision (an unusual procedure, since usually the Chief Justice, or another, writes a statement explaining the reasons behind their collective interpretation): The only Black judge, Thurgood Marshall, and another, William J. Brennan, were the only two of the five who voted to abolish capital punishment for the reason that it is outright barbarous, inhuman, out of conformity with a civilized society. However, Justice William O. Douglas (considered a "liberal") voted for abolition of the death penalty because he said it had been unfairly applied (of the 600 persons presently sentenced to death in the United States, over 50% are Black people). Even Douglas' "liberal" interpretation leaves individual states and courts an opening to decide where and when the "penalty" would be "fairly" applied, to what "crimes". The other two who voted to eliminate the death penalty, Byron R. White and Potter Stewart, merely went along with the whole thing because they said, in essence, that it didn't make much difference since it didn't seem too effective. Stewart even went so far as to suggest, or rather outline at least one loophole for other racists and fascists, that specifically such "crimes" as the murder of a prison guard by a life-term prisoner should be justifiably punishable by death. (For the Comrades of the San Quentin Six, Stewart gave execution for them the All-American Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval.)

More outright in their fascist ways, four of the judges stood in firm support of keeping the death penalty. Fulfilling their duty to the man who employs them, the remaining four flew the Nixon banner high. All four of them, Warren E. Burger (Chief Justice), Harry A. Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and William, H. Rehnquist were personally appointed to the Supreme Court by Richard Nixon, Carrying on in Nixon style they firmly voted against abolition of the death penalty, while singing out, in chorus, that although they were all personally opposed to capital punishment, they would forego their "human", personal views and uphold the law, Nixon's men had done well.

Returning to the actual decision, besides the various conflicting reasons, besides all the loopholes, all the Court has said, overall, is that if a person makes it to court and is found guilty of having violated a law, the State may not then kill him. In a recent statement, the Chairman of the Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale, clearly pointed out the fundamental flaws in this watered-down


-- 12 --
concession to the People's long-standing demand: Firstly, even if no court ever again sentences a person to die, the right of the State to kill must be completely outlawed. THE DEATH PENALTY MUST BE OUTLAWED ON THE STREETS. The majority of people murdered at the hands of the U.S. government are not victims of court decisions, but the victims of racist, fascist personal decisions of the average pig on the street. Certainly in the Black, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Asian and other minority and poor communities this is clear. In addition, many more are killed inside prisons and jails by State authorization. (Comrade George Jackson and the Massacre at Attica can easily remind us of that.) Furthermore, in the State of California, for example, police, the enforcers of the law, have the right by law to shoot to kill "fleeing suspects". All over the country, in fact, police have made "fleeing suspects" of our beautiful youth, particularly, of Black people and oppressed people, generally.

Secondly, the Chairman pointed out that if Nixon's handpicked judges only needed one more man to even make a weak decision void, what would stop Nixon from appointing that one more to have a majority on the Supreme court. NIXON MUST BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE, or the Supreme Court will be totally and absolutely under his personal, fascist control. The recent decision, even, would surely be over-turned.

Thirdly, Chairman Bobby Seale showed that the Court's decision might have stayed execution for 600 people in U.S. prisons, but what of the death penalty being daily imposed upon the entire Vietnamese people, thousands and thousands of innocent Vietnamese people having already paid the price. THE U.S. DEATH PENALTY ON THE INNOCENT VIETNAMESE PEOPLE MUST BE OUTLAWED. Nixon bombs children, pregnant women, old people, civilians and innocent bystanders, kills plant life and destroys the very earth in Vietnam, is this justifiable by the U.S. Constitution?

Next, the Chairman stated emphatically that ALL U.S. WARS OF AGGRESSION MUST BE OUTLAWED, for they are in violation of world laws under the Geneva Agreements. The U.S. government supports and perpetrates wars of aggression not only in Vietnam, but also in other parts of Asia, such as Laos and Cambodia; as well as in Africa, such as in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Guinea-Bissau, as well as in Latin America, such as in Brazil. The U.S. government is financing or openly waging warfare throughout the world against Black people and other oppressed people of color, against all oppressed people, and dares to say it is sanctioned by law. These murderous deeds violate the very laws of nature, the human, birth-right of all people to live.

With this in mind, what guarantees do the American people have that a decision uttered by mealy-mouths will even be honored. All over the country "law-makers" are already starting to oppose the Supreme Court decision, with all kinds of forked-tongue legislature: Ronald Reagan, California's B-actor turned Governor, urged "citizens" to oppose the Supreme Court by backing a November (1972) proposed ballot to restore the death penalty: "We've got to have a death penalty."; Texas State Representative Don Adams met with that State's Governor, Preston Smith, to discuss special legislation to immediately replace the death penalty with life sentences; and New Hampshire Congressman


-- 17 --
Louis C. Wyman (former president of the National Association of Attorneys General) has already proposed in Congress an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to make capital punishment the law of the land, patriotically saying that "his" country's Supreme Court decision is "harmful to the nation…".

So the Supreme Court has voted, meekly but surely, that to condemn a person to death is illegal. The People have squeezed a human statement from the government, and, in this sense, we have had another people's victory. However, the vigilantes are running to the ammunition supply stores and the police are still authorized to shoot to kill. Every human being has the right to live, because he is born, but we live in a society where a few men are still deciding they have a right to kill any or all of us. Not long ago, the Leader of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton, Servant of the People, clearly pointed out that if we believe we have a right to live, then no human being has the right to infringe upon that right, under law of man or otherwise: "… the ruling circle defines when they have the right to kill, and they call it the State, the State Administration… So this invites violence… Only the State made this so. I condemn the condition, but I'm not going to say the condition doesn't exist. So I say the people have to arm themselves and they decide when they're going to kill somebody… And our decision will be different than the decision of the ruling circle."

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE


-- 13 --

Subscription Form: BLACK PANTHER INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS SERVICE

TO SUBSCRIBE MEANS THAT EVERY WEEK YOU CAN READ THE NEWS ABOUT THE SURVIVAL PROGRAMS FOR THE PEOPLE AND BECOME A PARTICIPANT IN WORKING OUT THE BEST MEANS AND WAYS OF SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF OUR PEOPLE, OF BLACK PEOPLE AND POOR PEOPLE.


-- 14 --

Let this be his epitaph: George Jackson

(author of Soledad Brother)

Blood
in My
Eye

This angry, passionate, eloquent book -- which takes up where Soledad Brother left off -- was completed only days before George Jackson was shot to death at San Quentin prison during an alleged escape attempt last August.

George Jackson spent the last eleven years of his life behind prison walls, seven of them in solitary confinement. During that time he developed a radical world view, a deep understanding of politics and history in relation to social change, as well as a remarkable voice as a writer. Blood in My Eye speaks out to the poor, the black, the jailed, the disenfranchised throughout the world. Born of a spirit that refused to be crushed, yet filled with a prophetic sense of his own impending doom, this powerful book from prison presents George Jackson's burning vision of the world that could be -- a world reshaped by "total revolutionary war."

George Jackson lived and died for the revolution. Blood in My Eye explains why.


-- 17 --

AN IMPORTANT AND COMPELLING CRITIQUE OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY BY ITS CHIEF THEORETICIAN

With an honesty as rare as it is persuasive, Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party, records the internal struggles, rivalries, and contradictions within the Party-certain that only by recognizing these contradictions and building from them can the Party "clarify and advance the struggle"

TO DIE FOR THE PEOPLE
The Writings of
Huey P. Newton

Clothbound $7.95; Vintage paperbound $1.95. Now at your bookstore RANDOM HOUSE


-- 18 --

BLACK PANTHER PARTY PROGRAM MARCH 29, 1972 PLATFORM: WHAT WE WANT WHAT WE BELIEVE

1. WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.

We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.

2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.

We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.

3. WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALIST OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.

We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of over fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.

4. WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.

We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.

5. WE WANT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY.

We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.

6. WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE.

We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care.

7. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against Black people, other people of color and poor people inside the United States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces, and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self-defense of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.

8. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION.

We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desires of the U.S. ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the U.S. government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars that it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.

9. WE WANT FREEDOM FOR ALL BLACK AND POOR OPPRESSED PEOPLE NOW HELD IN U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY AND MILITARY PRISONS AND JAILS. WE WANT TRIALS BY A JURY OF PEERS FOR ALL PERSONS CHARGED WITH SO-CALLED CRIMES UNDER THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY.

We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in U.S. prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the U.S. military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial that they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trials.

10. WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING, JUSTICE, PEACE AND PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY CONTROL OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.


-- 19 --

PEOPLE'S PETITION

FOR IMMEDIATE PAROLE OF BROTHER DAVID
HILLIARD FROM THE CALIFORNIA PRISON
SYSTEM OR AN APPEAL BAIL BOND WITH
A RETRIAL JURY OF HIS PEER-GROUP.

WE THE PEOPLE, RESIDENTS OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY, IN THE SPIRIT OF REVOLUTIONARY INTERCOMMUNALISM, DO HEREBY REDRESS OUR GRIEVANCE AND PETITION THE COURTS OF AMERICA AND THE CALIFORNIA STATE GOVERNMENT AND PAROLE BOARD: THAT DAVID, HILLIARD BE RELEASED FROM HIS PRISON INCARCERATION IN THE CALIFORNIA PENAL SYSTEM TO THE PEOPLE OF OUR COMMUNITIES ON PAROLE OR AN APPEAL BAIL BOND.

BROTHER DAVID HILLIARD, POLITICAL PRISONER AND CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY, WAS IN FACT WRONGFULLY CONVICTED ON FALSE CHARGES BY A PREDOMINATELY WHITE RACIST JURY, AS ALL MEMBERS OF THE OAKLAND BLACK COMMUNITY WERE SYSTEMATICALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS IN HIS TRIAL.

IN LIGHT OF THESE FACTS, WE THE UNDERSIGNED, THEREFORE PETITION THAT DAVID HILLIARD BE GRANTED HIS HUMAN AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, THAT IS, PAROLE FROM PRISON OR AN APPEAL BAIL BOND BY THE AMERICAN COURTS PENDING APPEAL OF HIS CASE BEFORE HIGHER COURTS, AND THAT HIS RETRIAL JURY BE OF HIS PEERS, A TRUE REPRESENTATION OF A CROSS SECTION OF THE COMMUNITY.


-- [20] --

AMEN !

Sister Mary, myself and all the other members of the Congregation at Moving Star Hall are going to vote for BOBBY SEALE for MAYOR of OAKLAND and ELAINE BROWN for CITY COUNCIL.

MIXED MEDIA DRAWING: FELT TIP PEN, BALL POINT PEN, PHOTO CUT-OUT.