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

Jalil Muntaqim Scheduled for Release from Prison
Judy Greenspan
07 Oct 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Jalil Muntaqim Scheduled for Release from Prison
Jalil Muntaqim Scheduled for Release from Prison

Muntaqim is one of the longest-held political prisoners in the world.

“Both his age and serious medical conditions made him vulnerable to the coronavirus.”

The New York State Parole Board has finally ordered the release of Jalil Muntaqim, aka Anthony Bottom, a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. Imprisoned for nearly 50 years, since he was 19, Muntaqim is one of the longest-held political prisoners in the world.

At the end of April, the New York State Supreme Court ordered Muntaqim released because both his age and serious medical conditions, including heart disease and chronic respiratory conditions, made him vulnerable to the coronavirus. Before he could be freed, however, Muntaqim contracted COVID-19, became very ill and was hospitalized.

Fortunately, he recovered and survived, no thanks to the murderous and unforgiving prison system.

Muntaqim was born and raised in Oakland, Calif. He was arrested with Albert “Nuh” Washington after a shoot-out with San Francisco police in 1971, shortly after George Jackson was assassinated at San Quentin prison. Muntaqim was later charged with the shooting of two police officers in Harlem. He was prosecuted with Washington and Herman Bell, both former Black Panther Party members.

Washington died in prison in 2000 and Bell was released on parole in 2018.

There is still a group of political activists and revolutionaries like Muntaqim who have been held hostage for decades in U.S. prisons for their radical and revolutionary activities against racism, police terror, occupation and U.S. military interventions.

Leonard Peltier, Edward Poindexter, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Sundiata Acoli, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, and David Gilbert are only a few. For more information about U.S. political prisoners, check out freedomarchives.org and thejerichomovement.com.

The Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party welcomes the announcement of the release of Jalil Muntaqim. It is long overdue and every additional day that he spends in prison is a threat to his life.

The PSC demands the immediate release of all political prisoners and the abolition of this entire prison system, which only serves to oppress the working class, especially Black and Brown poor people of color.

This article previously appeared in Workers World.

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com 

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

Mutulu Shakur
Akinyele Umoja
Mutulu Shakur
12 July 2023
Mutulu Shakur passed away just seven months after being paroled.
I AM FOR THE RIGHT TO BE FREE!!!!
Shaka Shakur
I AM FOR THE RIGHT TO BE FREE!!!!
05 April 2023
Shaka Shakur is a revolutionary New Afrikan prisoner who has spent the past two decades incarcerated by the Indiana Department of Corrections o
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
Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
08 February 2023
                                       
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.
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 criminaliza
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...
Ruchell Magee: US Prisoner, Political Thinker, Rebel, and Still Fighting for Release After 67 Years
Natalia Marques
Ruchell Magee: US Prisoner, Political Thinker, Rebel, and Still Fighting for Release After 67 Years
10 August 2022
Ruchell Magee has been incarcerated for 67 years and is the longest serving political prisoner in the world.
Thin Blue Wall of Silencing: Jalil Muntaqim vs. The (Language) Police
Spirit of Mandela Writing Committee
Thin Blue Wall of Silencing: Jalil Muntaqim vs. The (Language) Police
06 April 2022
Former political prisoner Jalil Muntaqim is still not treated as a free man. In this case, the State University of New York at B

More Stories


  • Voices Are Raised Against the NBA Launching Its New African League in Rwanda
    David Zirin
    Voices Are Raised Against the NBA Launching Its New African League in Rwanda
    06 May 2021
    Human rights groups are concerned that using Rwanda as a backdrop would provide a public relations boost for its autocratic leader.
  • Police and the License to Kill
    Matthew D. Lassiter
    Police and the License to Kill
    06 May 2021
    Detroit police killed hundreds of unnamed Blacks in response to the civil rights movement, revealing why most of today’s proposals to make police more accountable are bound to fail, and how we can
  • The US’s Biggest County Jails Are Sites of Extreme Environmental Injustice
    Adam Mahoney
    The US’s Biggest County Jails Are Sites of Extreme Environmental Injustice
    06 May 2021
    After first being forced to live in chemically toxic communities, Black and Brown people are then incarcerated in jails where they cannot escape some of the worst pollution in the nation.
  • The Black Panther Party Has Never Been More Popular, but Actual Black Panthers Have Been Forgotten
    Santi Elijah Holley
    The Black Panther Party Has Never Been More Popular, but Actual Black Panthers Have Been Forgotten
    06 May 2021
    The name Black Panther is a box-office draw, but can cinematic sympathy be extended to the Panthers who are still living and breathing in this country’s prisons?
  •  African Servant of Empire Dies in Chad Fighting
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    African Servant of Empire Dies in Chad Fighting
    03 May 2021
    The death of Chad president Idris Deby in fighting with rebels last week is a loss for the US and France, the top imperial powers in Africa, said Dr.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us