Who is Joe-Joe Bowen?

Joe-Joe Bowen is a Black
Liberation Army (BLA) Prisoner of War,
serving two life sentences for actions
carried out against a prison warden
and deputy warden, as well as, an
attempted prison break, which resulted
in a five-day standoff

As a teen, Joe-Joe Bowen was a
member of Philly's 30th and Norris
Street gang. While serving a five-year
prison sentence for a social crime, Joe-
Joe was introduced to revolutionary
politics. From this point on he was.
determined to dedicate his life to the
people’s liberation movement.

Joe-Joe was released in 1971 and
intended to join the struggle on the
streets. His involvement, however,
would be short lived when a week after

his release, on February 21, 1971, he
found himself in a gun battle with the
Philadelphia police. In the end a cop

laid dead and Joe-Joe was sentenced
t0 10 to 20 years in prison

“l ain’t no angel. I'll do my time.
All we want it to be recognized
as what we are, human beings.”
- Joe-Joe Bowen

During those days Philadelphia
police had a reputation of corruption
and brutality, especially against the
emerging black liberation movement. In
1970, police engaged in a 2-hour
assault against the Philly Black Panther
cadre, after which, the police forced the
captured combatants to strip naked
while the press took pictures. This was
also the police force who years later,
pinned a murder of cop on a former
Black Panther and journalist, Mumia
Abu-Jamal.

1973 Attack on the Warden

On May 31, 1973, Joe-Joe and Black
Liberation Army POW, Fred
Muhammad Burton, assassinated the
warden and deputy warden and hospi-
talized the guard commander at
Philadelphia’s Holmesburg prison. This
attack was in response to intense
repression and Muslim religious perse-
cution. He was sentenced to two life
sentences for this action.

After his sentence, he was held in
solitary confinement. In an interview
with a Philadelphia reporter, Bowen
stated, “You reach a point of rage in
the hole, and then you got to come out
of there. That's when you move to the

extreme left, the extreme right, or you
self destruct.”

“I used to teach the brothers how to
tum their rage into energy and how to
understand their situation,” he said. |
don't threaten anybody. | don't talk to
the pigs. | don't drink nothing | can’t
see through, and | don't eat anything
that comes off a tray. When the time
comes, I'l be ready.”

1981 Prison Standoff

In October 28, 1981, Joe~Joe lead a
mass liberation attempt from the state's
largest prison at Graterford, after arm-
ing other prisoners with two shotguns.
and two revolvers. Bowen and three
others attempted to scale the prison’s
40-foot wall and were stopped by a rifle
shot from a guard tower. After returning
fire, they captured three guards and
retreated in the prison kitchen where
they captured three kitchen employees
and 29 inmates. Three other inmates
joined in the action.

Bowen and the six others held off the
prison's guards, State Police and FBI
for 5 days until an agreement was
struck.

The standoff ended only after prison
officials agree to several demands: 1)
All seven of the men involved in the

*

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COME AND TAKE IT
standoff be permitted to transfer,
including to Federal prison, if they so
desired; 2) they were not required to
pay for any damages they had caused;
3) any disciplinary time in solitary con-
finement be limited to six months.

In the end the men were charged
with assault, attempted escape, kidnap-
ping and other offense. Joe-Joe was
sent to the Federal Prison in Marion,
Tlinois, where he met up with other
political prisoners and prisoners of war
such as Sundiata Acoli, Hanif Shabazz
Bey and Ray Luc Levasseur.

Joe-Joe was later transferred back
into the Pennsylvania prison system.
Since his return, he has been kept in
the control units in every prison he has
been transferred to. He currently is
kept in the control unit at the State
Correctional Institution at Coal
Township, with no prospects of ever
being released into general population.

Despite his current condition, his
commitment to the struggle remains
strong. He has raised the conscious-
ness of literally thousands of
Pennsylvania prisoners through his
powerful history and political/military
education classes. Many of these
prisoners become aware of his story
just by arriving at Curran-Fromhold
Correctional Facility, named after the
warden and deputy warden killed in
1973

Despite his name being known in the
Pennsylvania prison system, Joe-Joe
does not have the cause-celeb status of
some of other political prisoners.
Financial support is desperately needed
for Joe-Joe to help with his legal fees.

Free Joe-Joe Bowen

‘Write to Joe-Joe at:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Joe-Joe Bowen* #AM4272

SCI Fayette

Post Office Box 33028

St Petersburg, Florida 33733
*Address envelope to Joseph Bowen.

Local groups supporting Joe-Joe:
NYC Anarchist Black Cross
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211
nycabc@riseup.net
nycabc.wordpress.com
facebook.com/nycabe

twitter and instagram @nycabc

New York City Jericho Movement
Post Office Box 670927

Bronx, New York 10467
nycjericho@gmail.com
jerichony.org

Joe-Joe Bowen
A BLA Soldier