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

I AM FOR THE RIGHT TO BE FREE!!!!
Shaka Shakur
05 Apr 2023
I AM FOR THE RIGHT TO BE FREE!!!!

Shaka Shakur is a revolutionary New Afrikan prisoner who has spent the past two decades incarcerated by the Indiana Department of Corrections on trumped up charges. He has consistently been targeted for his courageous activism by the prison authorities. For more information on his background as a political prisoner and how to support his legal efforts, go to National Jericho Movement.

March 23rd, 2023

Someone asked me recently what I am FOR in terms of change and social justice. She stated that those of Us who are activists and or on the left tend to say what We are against, but never talk about what We are for.

I am a Freedom Fighter and Political Prisoner/Activist. I have been so for over 25 years and have been involved in many organized movements and campaigns to bring about a change in immediate conditions, as well as lay the groundwork and foundation for a social transformation and revolutionary transformation of this society.

I am for a just society of egalitarian principles.

I am for a socialist society where the means of production and distribution of resources are placed in the hands of the people/masses and not that of monopolies and corporations whose guiding principle is that of profit.

I am for a society that is classless, where you have no ruling elites dumping on the little people or lower classes. Where people don't have to sell their labor and be exploited by someone whose sole interest is to get rich or monopolize power and wealth. A society where there is no little me and big you. A society where there is no Authoritarianism used to protect the interests of the privileged or the elite.

I am for a society where racism does not exist, where sexism does not exist. A society where womyn can walk down the street and not worry about being victimized. A society where people can just live and be free and not be categorized, judged, mistreated, or discriminated against as a result of their nationality, ethnicity, gender, or station in life, etc..

I am for a society where all people have a right to an education no matter your station in life or how much money you have. A society where all people should/have a right to housing and medical treatment. A society where Institutionalized Racism and Colonialism no longer exist. A society where all peoples have the right to Self Determination and the ability to determine their destiny without having to oppress or victimize anyone else. A society where people contribute to the overall growth and development according to the best of their ability and according to their means.

I am for a society where Prisons are no longer needed and we don't need an authoritarian government that incarcerates millions of its so-called citizens. A society where some communities look like Third World countries, while others look like paradise. A society where there is no need for the existence of a Voters Rights Act, A Civil Rights Act, Affirmative Action and all those other "Acts" that the government must “revisit” every 30 to 50 years!! Why revisit, recertify laws if you're considered actual citizens with equal rights? The truth of the matter is We are not yet “citizens with equal rights” and just as easily as you can amend a law into something, you can repeal/remove it.

I am for a society where a child is born and doesn’t have to be worried about being one out of two or one out of four who is most likely to go to prison or become a homicide victim while other people's children are one/out of two or three most likely to go to and graduate from college.

I am for living in a society where greedy ass corporations and selfish ass people don't get to destroy Mother Earth, don't pollute our water and soil. Where mothers are forced to give birth to children who are born with deformities, with mental health issues or various cancers. A society where the government and its representatives aren't knowingly and intentionally serving so called poor folks or lower class folks tainted, contaminated or lead based water and food.

I am for a society where there are more options for people who want something out of life and maybe a career rather than this society where for some options are increasingly restricted to becoming a Correctional Officer/Law

Enforcement, going into the Military or into the field of Nursing. No disrespect to any of those professions, but We shouldn't have to settle for such just for the benefits offered or so that We can afford an education.

I am for a society where human beings aren't programmed and desensitized to rape, robbery, and murder because they get a paycheck. The petty paid assassin! A society where under the color of law people aren't gunned down in their homes or in the streets by AUTHORITY because of the color of their skin, gender, class, sexual identity or lack thereof.

This is just a small portion of what I am for, what I fight for, what I struggle for and some day will ultimately give my life for. The right for not only myself, but for All People to be FREE and being FREE doesn't mean being addicted to privilege or overdosing on vulgar materialism/consumption.

Prisons are just another front in the continuity of the larger struggle for Freedom, Justice, and Equality. It is just another theater of struggle which is what we call behind enemy lines. Just as many of Us will return to you, many of you will come behind these walls or someone who you know or love. The struggle, the fight, the resistance continues no matter what front or terrain you stand on. The Right of a People to be free never ceases. THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES.... A LUTA CONTINUA

PART OF MY STRUGGLE IS TO BREAK THESE CHAINS OF BONDAGE!!

FREE THE LAND!!

FREE SHAKA SHAKUR!!!

In Solidarity!!

For more information on Shaka’s case and how you can donate to his legal fund, go to

https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-shaka-shakur-legal-defense-fund.

Shaka Shakur
Black Mass Incarceration
Free All Political Prisoners

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


Related Stories

Black August for the Pendleton 2
Too Black
Black August for the Pendleton 2
16 August 2023
Black August is an important month of political education, but it should not solely be about the past.
Mutulu Shakur
Akinyele Umoja
Mutulu Shakur
12 July 2023
Mutulu Shakur passed away just seven months after being paroled.
Eddie Conway Tribute
Mali Collins
Eddie Conway Tribute
15 March 2023
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 y
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.
A Racial Disparity Across New York That is Truly Jarring
Jesse Barber , Simon McCormack
A Racial Disparity Across New York That is Truly Jarring
04 January 2023
Black people are disproportionately convicted of felonies across New York State.
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.
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


  • Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team
    Now is the Time for All Anti-Imperialists and All Justice Loving People to Stand Unequivocally in Defense of Burkina Faso
    07 May 2025
    The Black Alliance for Peace demands an end to U.S. and Western interference in Burkina Faso, the rejection of neocolonial policies in the Sahel, and a stance affirming Africans' rights to…
  • Maxwell Evans
    South Side Neighbors Want Housing Protections Before City OKs ‘Luxury’ Hotel Near Obama Center
    07 May 2025
    Community residents say that Chicago's City Council should pass a slate of housing protections centered on low-income renters instead of advancing plans for a hotel near the Obama Center site.
  • Allen Myers
    Vietnam: A Victory Never To Be Forgotten
    07 May 2025
    Vietnam’s defeat of U.S. forces stands as a landmark anti-colonial victory, proving that determined resistance can overcome even the world’s most powerful military—yet its legacy remains fiercely…
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 2, 2025
    02 May 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about an upcoming conference dedicated to Black, radical organizers in the U.S. But first, we have an update on the Congo and the principles of agreement between Congo…
  • congo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Congo and Trump's Mineral Deal
    02 May 2025
    The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda recently signed a Declaration of Principles in Washington. Is Rwanda ending its M23 group’s incursion into the DRC?
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us