Yaki, George and Mumia

YAKI GEORGE MUMIA

BLACK THEORETICIANS IN THE PRISON CAMPS

Introduction

What happens when Black people are locked up in an American prison and are transformed into revolutionary intellectuals whose ideas fly out of the confinement of their bodies? One answer, an important one, is revealed in the lives of Yaki, George, and Mumia: revolutionary theoreticians in the prisons camps. We can continue to learn from them.
A prison is the most cold-blooded manifestation of state power, steel and concrete containment full of armed guards that control every moment of an inmates life.

But, they mainly focus on the bodies of the prisoners, because their minds can resist beyond the reach of the guards. The icon of this for African Americans is Malcolm X, a degenerate lost soul who was reborn as a proud Black man with a freedom consciousness. There is a deep dialectical logic to this, sort of like Ju Jitsu, turning the force of evil against itself. When one is locked up in prison the evil of the capitalist dictatorship is there in plain sight. Just as in slavery time, learning to read leads one to resist, gaining knowledge about the world leads to a critical consciousness, and learning about Black history leads on to become a militant for Black unity, for Black liberation, for social revolution.

This is why we bring you this website: Yaki, George, and Mumia.

These three comrades were locked up, but this only led to heightening their revolutionary resolve and organizational skills.

George Jackson (1941 – 1971)

George was part of the Soledad Three, and a Field Marshall for the Black Panther Party. He was a great thinker and analyst of our revolutionary struggle.

James "Yaki" Sayles (1947 – 2008)

Yaki was a poet in OBAC before incarceration. He became an important theoretician of social revolution and a leading editor of two key publications, Vita Wa Wato and Crossroads.

Mumia Abu Jamal (1954 - )

Mumia has been locked up for 36 years, since 1982 for a crime he did not commit. He was a member of the Black Panther Party and has become a leading prison camp critic.

Today we are in the period of the public intellectual, people who get max money and lots of mainstream publicity. These brothers are on the opposite end, no money, no mainstream visibility. We present this material so you can be the judge of who are the most important intellectuals that need to be heard. We suggest that the silenced ones need to be at least included on your list. We hope this website can be your start on this journey to listen and learn from these incarcerated Black liberation warriors, both dead and alive.

LINKS ON POLITICAL PRISONERS

	YAKI GEORGE MUMIA
	BLACK THEORETICIANS IN THE PRISON CAMPS
	Introduction
	What happens when Black people are locked up in an American prison and are transformed into revolutionary intellectuals whose ideas fly out of the confinement of their bodies? One answer, an important one, is revealed in the lives of Yaki, George, and Mumia: revolutionary theoreticians in the prisons camps. We can continue to learn from them. A prison is the most cold-blooded manifestation of state power, steel and concrete containment full of armed guards that control every moment of an inmates life. But, they mainly focus on the bodies of the prisoners, because their minds can resist beyond the reach of the guards. The icon of this for African Americans is Malcolm X, a degenerate lost soul who was reborn as a proud Black man with a freedom consciousness. There is a deep dialectical logic to this, sort of like Ju Jitsu, turning the force of evil against itself. When one is locked up in prison the evil of the capitalist dictatorship is there in plain sight. Just as in slavery time, learning to read leads one to resist, gaining knowledge about the world leads to a critical consciousness, and learning about Black history leads on to become a militant for Black unity, for Black liberation, for social revolution. This is why we bring you this website: Yaki, George, and Mumia. These three comrades were locked up, but this only led to heightening their revolutionary resolve and organizational skills. George Jackson (1941 – 1971) George was part of the Soledad Three, and a Field Marshall for the Black Panther Party. He was a great thinker and analyst of our revolutionary struggle. James "Yaki" Sayles (1947 – 2008) Yaki was a poet in OBAC before incarceration. He became an important theoretician of social revolution and a leading editor of two key publications, Vita Wa Wato and Crossroads. Mumia Abu Jamal (1954 - ) Mumia has been locked up for 36 years, since 1982 for a crime he did not commit. He was a member of the Black Panther Party and has become a leading prison camp critic. Today we are in the period of the public intellectual, people who get max money and lots of mainstream publicity. These brothers are on the opposite end, no money, no mainstream visibility. We present this material so you can be the judge of who are the most important intellectuals that need to be heard. We suggest that the silenced ones need to be at least included on your list. We hope this website can be your start on this journey to listen and learn from these incarcerated Black liberation warriors, both dead and alive.
	LINKS ON POLITICAL PRISONERS