Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Eddie Conway Tribute
Mali Collins
15 Mar 2023
Eddie Conway Tribute
(Photo: Courtesy of TRNN)

The late Eddie Conway was a young member of the Black Panther Party who was framed for the killing of a police officer and spent more than 40 years in jail. His experience as a political prisoner was not unique in a country where some BPP members and others still languish in jail after decades. After his release he rededicated himself to activism and to journalism. Eddie Conway presente!

I write to call attention to the life and death of Marshall “Eddie” Conway, activist, student, teacher, producer, journalist, and soldier of the Black Panther Party from Baltimore, Maryland. On February 13, 2023, he made his transition to ancestor. Brother Conway was a hero of Baltimore City and oppressed people everywhere.

During his time in the Black Panther Party, Eddie was also a United States Postal Worker. During his time in the USPS, Eddie was being surveilled by Black Panther members who were really undercover Baltimore Police (BPD), and USPS coworkers.

On April 21, 1970, at the age of 24, when Eddie was working for the USPS, the killing of two Baltimore Police Officers led to the arrest of two black men, both members of the Black Panther Party. Eddie, a third BPP member, was arrested for being involved. Like many trials and convictions of Freedom Fighters for Black liberation, multiple inconsistencies and irregularities occurred during the identification of his involvement in the incident, trial, and conviction. There are too many to write here and it would take space away from Eddie’s memory. Nevertheless, Brother Conway was convicted in 1970 and remained in jail until 2014 to the age of 67. He was released because of the constant struggle of those who loved and cared about him and honored his service to liberation.

During his time in incarceration, Brother Conway received three college degrees, started a literacy program, and started a prison library. After his release, he was a producer at The Real News Network and hosted his own show called, “Rattling the Bars,” and published his own memoir, “Marshall Law.”

As the articles written about Eddie in various local newspapers continue, we make room for the truth of who he was amidst the reprisal of the unjust circumstances that led to his incarceration. There remains a production of myths even after one’s death that refuse to recognize Black liberation soldiers as heroes and veterans.

To quote Kenyan poet and writer Keguro Macharia: “Look how far we have come. Who is comforted by these fictions?” Comfort does not exist in lies and state “neutralization.” Those left behind to mourn Brother Conway are not comforted by these fictions. They are reminded everyday of his commitment to liberation for all living things, and comforted by the spiritual and material vestiges he leaves behind.

Scholar of political incarceration and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at American University, Dr. Orisanmi Burton, comments: “The fact that warrior-scholars like Brother Conway have been targeted for “neutralization” by the racist state indicates that we who are struggling for liberation have much to learn from them, even after they cross the threshold of life and death.“

Eddie will be remembered as a wonderful partner, friend, and hugger. Despite the attempt to calcify Eddie’s life as forgotten and the fictions that contour his memory, his legacy lives on.

Mali Collins is an Assistant Professor in the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department at American University.

Black Panther Party
Free All Political Prisoners
political prisoners
Baltimore
Eddie Conway

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
08 February 2023
                                                                                  Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
Answering to Martin Sostre’s Ghost
Stephen Wilson
Answering to Martin Sostre’s Ghost
01 February 2023
Martin Sostre (1923-2015) was a political prisoner, jailhouse lawyer, and Black anarchist of Puerto Rican descent.
Keith Davis, Jr. and Black Political Corruption
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Keith Davis, Jr. and Black Political Corruption
18 January 2023
Baltimore police continued to falsely accuse an innocent man when they shot and nearly killed him after the Freddie Gray uprisings.
The Two Types of Death Penalties
Kalonji Changa
The Two Types of Death Penalties
30 November 2022
The governor of Missouri refused to grant clemency to Kevin Johnson and the state Supreme Court denied motions to halt his execution.
Ujima’s Plan to Transcend Neoliberalism in Maryland
Phillip Clark
Ujima’s Plan to Transcend Neoliberalism in Maryland
23 November 2022
The Ujima People's Progress Party is organizing outside of the duopoly in an effort to gain true political representation for Black working peo
Bittersweet Freedom for Mutulu Shakur
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Bittersweet Freedom for Mutulu Shakur
16 November 2022
Mutulu Shakur has been granted parole, but he is terminally ill. Black political prisoners in this country are held for 30, 40 and 50 years.
“We must collectively fight back”: An Interview with Jordan McGowan
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
“We must collectively fight back”: An Interview with Jordan McGowan
31 August 2022
The Neighbor Program is a "Pan-African Socialist Organization committed to serving the people & loving our neighbor." Founder Jordan MacGow
Nehanda Abiodun and the Legacy of Resistance to the Prison Industrial Complex
Abayomi Azikiwe
Nehanda Abiodun and the Legacy of Resistance to the Prison Industrial Complex
31 August 2022
The late Nehanda Abiodun was an African American revolutionary who exemplified the movement to end national oppression and the criminalization
ESSAY: Women in Prison: How We Are, Assata Shakur, 1978
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Women in Prison: How We Are, Assata Shakur, 1978
10 August 2022
Assata Shakur exposes the conditions faced by incarcerated Black women in a powerful 1978 essay.
Crazy Like a Woodfox
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Crazy Like a Woodfox
10 August 2022
Crazy as a Woodfox...

More Stories


  • China, Covid Origins, and War Propaganda
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    China, Covid Origins, and War Propaganda
    15 Mar 2023
    A human cause of covid-19 is possible, but anti-China rhetoric is war propaganda, not scientific evidence.
  • INTERVIEW: A Talk with Sylvia Woods, 1974
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: A Talk with Sylvia Woods, 1974
    15 Mar 2023
    An inspiring interview with Sylvia Woods highlights the role of Black women in labor organizing and demonstrates that Black women should always be at the forefront.
  • On the Twentieth Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq It Must Be Clear: The U.S. is the Greatest Threat To World Peace and Collective Humanity
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    On the Twentieth Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq It Must Be Clear: The U.S. is the Greatest Threat To World Peace and Collective Humanity
    15 Mar 2023
    History teaches that the greatest threat to peace today is the United States. No other nation creates dangers as great as those emanating from the U.S. commitment to the doctrine of Full Spectrum…
  • Forever Wars vs. Armageddon
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Forever Wars vs. Armageddon
    15 Mar 2023
    The call for the U.S. to end military involvements is often made in order to advocate for new wars against more powerful countries. It appears that the only choices are forever wars or the end of the…
  • Will Boss Tweet run for exercise at Lompoc or Leavenworth?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Will Boss Tweet run for exercise at Lompoc or Leavenworth?
    15 Mar 2023
                                                                                                 Will Boss Tweet run for
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us