Graterford prison, like other state lockups, was a “cesspool’ ripe for violence even before rebel con- victs took hostages *The system is bad,” Stone said. *Graterford is a cesspool. They (the captors) kept telling me how bad it was. They just couldn’t take it In the end the men were charged with assault, attempted escape, kidnapping and other of- fense. Joe-Joe was sent to the Federal Prison in Marion, 1lli- nois, where he met up with other political prisoners and prisoners of war such as Sundiata Acoli, Hanif Shabazz Bey and Ray Luc Levasseur. Joe-Toe 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. However, recently he has been placed in a step down program with the hope of being placed back in general population. Despite his current condition, his commitment to the struggle remains strong. He has raised the consciousness of literally thou- sands 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 war- den killed in 1973 In 2004 Bowen was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. He as transferred to an outside hospital where a stent was in- serted into his blocked artery. Although Joe-Joe’s name is well known within the prison system ofthe state, He is not well known outside the prison walls. As such, financial support is desperately needed for Joe-Joe to help with his legal fees and day-to-day as- sistance. Any letters sent to Bowen must be in bright white envelopes and other color or shade of white (egg white or off white) will ‘more than likely be returned due to strict guidelines by the Penn- sylvania Department of Correc- tions. Joe-Joe [~ | Bowen Black Liberation Prisoner of War Army Joe Bowen is a Black Libera- tion Army (BLA) Prisoner of War, serving two life sentences for actions carried out against a prison warden and deputy war- den, as well as, an attempted prison break, which resulted in a five-day standoft. As a teen, Joe-Joe Bowen was a member of Philly’s 30th and Norris Street gang. While se: ing a five-year prison sentence for a social crime, Joe-Joe was introduced to revolutionary poli- tics. From this point on he was determined to dedicate his life to the people’s liberation move- ment. Joe-Joe was released in 1971 and intended to join the struggle on the streets. His activities be- yond the prison wall only lasted five days. Bowen was arrested for a February 21, 1971 shootout with a Philadelphia patrolman after being stopped for question- ing. In the end the patrolman laid dead and Joe-Joe was sentenced 10 10 to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. During those days Philadelphia police had a reputation of corruption and brutality, especially against the emerging Black liberation movement. In 1970, police en- ‘gaged in a 2-hour assault against the Philadelphia Black Panthers, after which, the police forced the captured combatants to strip naked while the press took pic- tures. 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 After his arrest, Joe-Joe was being housed in Holmesburg prison waiting to be tried. Condi- tions in the prison were severe. Between 1951 until 1974 in- Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross PO Box 11223 Whittier CA 90603 Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross PO Box 11223 Whittier CA 90603 mates were used as test subjects for medical experiments. The prison had been a scene of recent rioting due to the overcrowding and conditions. While the inmate population was estimated at 1,200, the prison itself was built 0 hold 700 inmates. On May 31, 1973, Joe-Joe and Black Liberation Army POW, Fred Muhammad Burton, re- quested a meeting with the wa den regarding concerns of Muslim prisoners having more time for prayer. The requests put forward by the two men fell on deaf ears and the warden denied the request. In response, Joe-Joe Bowen attacked the warden and deputy warden. During the attack another guard was injured when he attempted to intervene. Bowen received a ruptured spleen, a broken arm and possi- ble concussion during the attack Burton received head injuries, multiple bruises, cuts and a arm fracture Investigations claimed that the attack was premeditated and the meeting regarding having more time for prayer was nothing more than a ruse. The investigation further claimed that the warden was targeted because his policies alienated Black Muslims and that he “said *no’ to the Muslims once 100 often.” The investigation fur- ther claims that the order to take out the warden was given the night before the attack. “I ain’t no angel. I’ll do my time. All we want is to be recog- nized as what we are, human beings.” Jo. Joe Bowen In March of 1974, Joe-Joe was found guilty of first-degree mur- der of the police officer in 1971 He was sentenced to life in prison. One year later, a jury found Bowen guilty of two charges of murder and another charge of assault with the attempt to kill. He was sentenced to two life sentences for this action. In June of 1976, a jury found Bur- ton guilty of one count of murder ofthe second degree. Bowen te: tified on behalf of Burton, stating that it was he who had attack the two prison officials and that Bur- ton was an innocent bystander. The prosecutor, however, at- tempted to discredit Bowen by questioning him about crimes for which he was never found guilty. After his sentence, Bowen 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 tun their rage into energy and how to understand thei uation” He said, “I don’t threaten anybody. I don’t talk to the pigs. I don’t drink nothing I can’t see through, and I don’t cat anything that comes off a tray. When the time comes, I'll be afier the attack a total of 203 inmates were trans- ferred out of the prison due to overcrowding. However, many of the prisoners felt the transfers were retaliatory because of the amount of Black Muslims that were being transferred out. At- tempts to stop the transfers failed and prisoners were transferred to the various other prisons throughout the state, 1981 Prison Standoff In October 28, 1981, Joe-Joe lead a mass liberation attempt from the state’s largest prison at Graterford, after arming 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. Afier re tumning fire, they captured three guards and retreated in the prison kitchen where they captured three kitchen employees and 29 in- mates. Three other inmates joined in the action Bowen and the six others held off the prison’s guards, State Po- lice and FBI for 5 days until an agreement was struck. The stand- off ended only after prison offi- cials agreed to several demands: 1) All seven of the men involved in the 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 o six months, Chuck Stone, a Philadelphia journalist, acted as an outside ne- gotiator because the inmates had no confidence in the integrity of the system. Authorities knew Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross PO Box 11223 Whittier CA 90603 Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross PO Box 11223 Whittier CA 90603