0 ENEMY o

“On the Question
of Political Prisoners”
Saflya Bukhar,"On the Question of Political Prisoners,”Crossroad 804
(anuary-March, 1995), -+

“The Black Agenda Review, editors, 7 August 2024,
whwwiblackigendareport.com/essay-question-poliical-prisoners-saiy-
bukbarizoos

sbalitionmedianoblogsorg/10211/

Cover images:George Jackson Lives,” Emory Dovglas
9sbooks.reedomarchives.org/archival-matersls/
Safiya Bukhar,an amended version of revolutionary Palestinian poct

Sarmi AL-Qasin’s posn “Enemy ofthe Sun. fammously tsken up by
George Jackson
Ireedomarchives.org/DocumentsFinder/DOCs13_scans/Safiya_Bukhari
/o33 Sabyalest wedorget

with whatever weapons a hand

: o e guestion o peiel prisones
‘Born in the Bronx, Bukhari came to political consciousness during college,
joining the Black Panther Party and, later, the Republic of New Africa.
Targeted by the FET's notorious COINTELPRO, Bukhari went underground
but was captured, charged with weapons violations, and convicted and
sentenced to forty years in prison during a sham trial. Bukhari spent
almost a decade inearcerated. She was refused medical care by the prison
authorities and segregated from other prisoners as she was deemed a
“most dangerous” inmate.

Upon her release, Bukhari dedicated herself to advocating and organi
support for incarcerated Black Panthers and the hundreds of other
political prisoners and prisoners of war locked up
penitentiaries in the US. She helped form the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Coalition and the Jericho Movement . Abu-Jamal called Bukhari a “Lioness
for Liberation.”

state and federal

‘Bukhar?’s “On the Question of Political Prisoners,"originally appeared in
the magazine Crossroad: A New Afrikan Captured Combatant Newsleter,
published by Chicago’s Spear and Shield Publications. It is a concise and
pointed analysis not only on political prisoners, but on political
organizing, especially at a time when, as she puts in “the movement is
totally fragmented and in a state of disarray.” To begin the long process of
rebuilding the movement Bukhari reminds us of some fundamental
principles: posturing is not politics, jockeying for a position is not a
position, consciousness raising takes time and patience, and the
conditions inside a pr ment of the society beyond the
prison walls

‘Bukhari writes: “Revolution is not about gaining name or organizational
recognition at the expense of building a foundation for a movement that
willlead us to victory. In order to create the conditions for revolution we.
‘must go back to basics and deal with the fact that revolution is protracted,
it doesn’t happen overnight therefore we have the time to make sure we
Iay the correct foundation and build a strong movement based on work.”
As we face down a long night ahead, Safiya Bukhari resonates today. We
reprint her “On the Question of Political Prisoners” below.

sty bkl f
“On the Question of Political Prisoners”
Safiya Bukhari

‘There is no question that support for political prisoners and prisoners of
war should and must be an integral part of any movement for liberation.

‘There is no question, that is, for people who have dedicated their lives to
the struggle for freedom in this country and realize that it is not possible
to talk about a movement for liberation if you fail o liberate people who
are incarcerated as a result of that struggle for liberation.

What is called into question, therefore, is whether or not we are serious
about revolution and liberation.

I remember sitting in the back room of the Harlem office of the Black
Panther Party on Seventh Avenue and listening at political education class
while Mao Tse Tung’s Red Book was being discussed. This particular day
the passage under discussion was Tell no lies and claim no casy vietories.
interpreted that to mean, go to the people, organize the people, work.
among the people and tell no lies about what we want and what we've
done and what we have accomplished. We have to build a strong bond of
trust with the people and show them by example that we're different from
the politicians and corporate businessmen and others that say anything
and do anything to get the people to go along with their program,

‘This lesson, Tell no lies and claim no easy vietories, has been the
comnerstone of my understanding of what this struggle is supposed to be
about. If we take the Tell no lies approach to organizing, then we take the
time out to build a foundation for a movement that is destined to bring us
the victory we say we're fighting for. There would be no need to organize
separate programs to educate the community to the existence of political
prisoners because as we work to organize rent strikes and take control of
abandoned buildings to create decent housing in our community through
our sweat equity. We would be talking while we're working about how
Abdul Majid and others organized tenant associations in the East New
York and Brownsville sections of Brooklyn such as the Oceanhill
Brownsville Tenants Association. While we're organizing around the issue
of quality education that teaches our true history and role in this society
we could talk about Herman Bell and Albert ‘Nul? Washington and their
work with the liberation schools. While we're organizing food co-ops and.
other survival programs we can talk about Geronimo Prat, Sundiata

S onthequetion o el prisones
Acoli, Robert ‘Seth’ Hayes and all other political prisoners and prisoners of
war who worked in the Free Health Clinics, the daycare centers and went
to prison as a result of their active participation in organizing efforts

around ssues that directly affected the Black and oppressed communities

Because our ‘movement, for lack of a better word, has deteriorated to the
point that the majority of our organizing is done through demonstrat
rallies, conferences and press conferences; the only way we feel we can
talk about the issue of political prisoners is when we drag them out for
show and tell time or when we need to legitimize what we're doing. This
raises the question, “Are we serious about struggle? Or are we just
profiling?” If we're not serious then we need to let our political p
off the hook and tell them to “Do what you think is best for you!” If we are
serious then we need to stop ego tripping stop profiling, stop rabble
rousing and get down to the serious work or organizing, Talk is cheap,
action is supremel

Political prisoners didn't become political prisoners out of a vacuum. They
went to prison, for the most part, as members of political formations.
‘There are over 150 political prisoners in jail across this country. The
‘majority of these brothers and sisters are serving upward of 25 years to
life and at least one, Murnia Abu Jamal, is facing death. At the time the
‘majority of these people went to prison there was a thriving movement on
the street. They are sitting there now and the movement is totally
fragmented and in a state of disarray. They are being pulled in a lot of
directions by fragmented organizations that are more interested in
posturing as the ‘vanguard and jockeying for position than doing the
work of organizing the people. I constantly wonder why it is necessary for
them to be fighting among themselves to be the titular ‘vanguard of a
‘movement when there are millions of people that have to be organized?
If they all got down today to the talk of organizing New York City, or any
of the other communities across the United States, there would still be
room for more help. We wouldn't even step on each other’s toes and
would be glad to share the work because that's how much work that has
tobe done. That is, if we were serious about the job of organizing for
liberation,

‘The term ‘political prisoner” means nothing to the average brother or
sister on the block because the terms ‘liberation’ and ‘revolution’ mean
nothing. The words have no meaning for our people, no real meaning,

sty bkl s
because we have done no real organizing, and educating for liberation.
‘This lack of conseiousness among our people, and the lack of support for
political prisoners is a direct result of our lack of conerete work among
our people. The days of people getting involved in struggle for great
socialist ideas is long gone, if they ever existed. Our peaple require

examples of what concrete changes will oceur in their condition if we
collectively fight for change. Once they are shown the example of what
could be achieved, they are more likely to support struggle. When they are
respond to people who
dare to speak out and organize and educate against a system that has

confronted by how the state - government - p

consistently exploited, brutalized and oppressed them, they are more
likely to support political prisoners.

Some of us mistake the people’s anger at, frustrat
the system as meaning they are ready for revolution. It is true that they
possess a deep seated anger at the system, that they distrust the system,
but it's also true that they have not made the conneetion between the
source ofthis anger and distrust and ereating a revolution.Our people are
ined to participate in a race riot than a revolution. They would
support a drug dealer before they’d support a revolutionary. Why? For a

number of reasons, chief being that the drug dealer is in the community
is known by the community and has picked up on a lesson that

nary used to know. The drug dealer understands that he has
to give something back to the community. He employs the local people
and therefore, even ifit's pennies, makes a difference in the life of the
community.

This is not an indictment of our people, but rather an indictment of the
deterioration of the movement and our complete loss of direction. At
some point we should have been able to stop and take an assessment of
the state of the movement, especially following the major offensives
against the revolution brought on by the government; i.e. COINTELPRO
and the destruction of the Black Panther Party . We seem to have
forgotten everything we ever learned about revolution, that i’ about the
people, making qualitative and quantitative changes in the conditions of
our people. Revolution is not about gaining name or organizational

ing a foundation for a movement that
lead us to victory. In order to ereate the conditions for revolution we

recognition at the expense of buil

must go back to basies and deal with the fact that revolution is protracted,
it doesn’t happen overnight therefore we have the time to make sure we.

. o e guestion o peiel prisones
Iay the correct foundation and build a strong movement based on work.
‘This is the only real way we can build the necessary support to free our
political prisoners and prisoners of war.

Afinal word, to our political prisoners, we used to know that prison was a
‘microcosm of society. That is, we recognized the truism that the
conditions of the people that came through the doors of the prison
reflected the state of the society without. f you think back to what was
happening on the streets at the time you were incarcerated and the
activities that were going on among the prisoners in the institutions and
compare that to what the peaple who are coming into the institutions are
talking about and doing now, you can deduce for yourself the state of the
‘movement today. Just as we have a job to do out here, you have a job to do
in there. Being in prison does not release you of your obligations to
educate to liberate some of you seem to have forgotten that. What being in
prison does is change the venue from which you organize-change the
playing field.

Iremember another class that took place in the Harlem office of the Black.
‘Panther Party. This lesson had to do with the 10-10-10 Program. This wasa
lesson on organizing. We had to learn the 10-Point Program and Platform
of the Party. We had to learn the 26 rules of the Party. We had to learn the
& points of Attention and the 3 Main Rules of Discipline. We had tolearn
the motto and internalize all of it. We had to learn it for the day when we
would be on our own without other Panthers so that we could carry out
the tasks of the revolution. Once we internalized these teachings we were
ready to go out and organize. The theory was that if each one of us
organized ten people, and those people organized 10 people-, and those
people organized ten people-the third group, if each one of them
organized 10 people, would number 10,0000 people. It's a time consuming
‘method of organizing, but it's tried and true. This was the approach to
organizing that T used in my section when I was in the Party. During the
time I was incarcerated in Goochland, Virginia the people that were in my
section in the community were the ones who stood by me and sent me.
packages and cards and were there waiting when I was released from
prison in 1986.

Organizations come and go, but we have to create within our people the
spirit of struggle. We have to build a movement toliberate our people. The
issue of political prisoners is part of that movement we are building and in

sty bkl 7
building that movement we must understand that this is not a separate
issue. It is an integral part of that movement, it can’t be put in front of the
movement and can't be an afterthought. It must be wove
fibers.

to the very

o e guestion o peiel prisones
YOU WAY PUT OUT THE LIGHT IN WY EYE
YO0 NAY DEPIIVE NE OF MY WOTHER'S KISS
OU NAY CURSE WY FATHER, WY PEOFLI

YOU NAY DISTORT Y WISTORT,

YOU MAY DEFRIVE WY CHILDREN OF A SNILE
AND OF LIVE'S NECESSITI)

0 NAY FOOL MY FRIENDS WITH A NORAOVED FACE.
10U NAY BULLD VALLS OF WATRED AROUND ME.

0U MAY GLUE WY EYES T0 WUNILIATIONS,

o Exeny oF Taz S0

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1 SHALL WOT ComPRONISE
AND'TO THE LAST FULSE TN WI VEINS
2'Suals Rasist.

o awen ov TaE suN
THE DECORATIONS AKE RATSED AT THE PORT,

THE EJIACULATIONS FILL THE ALK,

A GLOW LN THE BEARTS,

WD 1N TiE HORLZON

A sarL 15 senn

CRALLENGING THE WIND

u0 Tur owpTHS.

T7 18 FIELD MARSWALL DEDAX KAMATHE (WAU WAD)
RETURNING HoWE

FRON TaE SEA OF Loss

OF Wt EXILED ONES.

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1 SHALL wot conrrontse

AND 0 THE LAST PULSE. X WY VEINS
T suaue vesisT,

RESIST - AND RESIST.

1 WAY - IF YOU VISH - LOSE WY LIVELLHOOD
L WAY SELL WY SNIRT AND ¥ED,

1 WAY WORK AS A STONE cUTTE:
£ STRERT SWEEPR, A PORTER.
| #AY CLEAN YOUR STORES

U KUNMACE YOUR GARBAGE FOR FO0D.
Ay LAY boWN. TUNGKY

O ENENY OF THE SUN,

L SHALL NOT CoNPRONISE

AND 7O THE LAST PULSE IN WY VEINS
T SHALL RESTST.

TOU MAY TAKE THE LAST STRIP OF WY LAND,
FEED NY YOUTH To PRISON CELLS.
T0U HAY PLUNDER MY NERLTAGE.

00 MAY BURM NY BOOKS, WY POENS
OR FEED MY FLESH To THE DOGS.

Y0U WAY SPREKD A WEB OF TERROR

ON THE ROOPS OF MY VILLAGE,

0 Evewr o7 THE SUN,

st

T SHALL NOT CONPRONISE

AND TO THE LAST PULSE TN KY VEINS
T SaALL RESIST.

o e guestion o peiel prisoners
sty bkl
“Revolution is not about gaining
‘name or organizational recognition
at the expense of building a
foundation for a movement that
will lead us to victory. In order to
create the conditions for revolution
we must go back to basics and deal
with the fact that revolution is
protracted, it doesn’t happen
overnight. Therefore, we have the
time to make sure we lay the
correct foundation and build a
strong movement based on work.”