The Late Geronimo Ji Jaga (Pratt) Talks COINTELPRO

Honoring A Panther: 

Five Reasons Geronimo Pratt Matters Today

by Alexis Garrett Stodghill | NewsOne

The death of Geronimo Pratt has shocked leaders in the black community who have quietly looked up to this revolutionary since his time with the original Black Panthers. As a prominent Panther leader, Pratt fell victim to what many believe was an FBI plot to destroy this political group when he was convicted of murder in 1972. While in prison, Pratt became an inspiration for many blacks seeking to break free of the shackling systems of corrupted justice that are manipulated to hold us down. The late Johnnie Cochran himself, drawn to the symbolism of Pratt’s cause, helped to get his conviction overturned, calling this 1997 accomplishment “the happiest day of my life practicing law.”

What an amazing man. Geronimo Pratt’s untimely death at the too-young age of 63 gives us pause, and a cause for listing some of the many highlights of this hero’s life. Here are the top five reasons Geronimo Pratt’s life and legacy matter today:

1. The former Minister of Defense for the Black Panther Party, Geronimo Pratt was also the godfather of Tupac Shakur, one of the most important figures in hip-hop history.

2. During his 27 years of imprisonment for a wrongful murder conviction, Geronimo Pratt served as an emblem of injustice who spurred political activists in this country to action in a similar way that Nelson Mandela did in South Africa.

3. Despite being wrongly jailed for a crime he did not commit, upon his release Pratt refused to devolve into bitterness. He exemplified inspiring spirituality in the manner of Dr. Martin Luther King by stating: “I don’t think bitterness has a place. I’m more understanding… Understanding doesn’t leave any room for bitterness or anger.”

4. After being freed from prison, Pratt dedicated his life to serving the African community he joined when he moved to Tanzania. As a further expression of his dedication to others, Pratt worked with the country’s United African Alliance Community Center in Arusha to empower African Youth. Pratt transformed what could have been bitterness into community-building action.

5. Pratt also served two tours of duty in Vietnam, serving his country in such a manner that even the most conservative American would be proud. Ultimately, Geronimo Pratt was a patriot, working to make our country the best it could be, using whatever means necessary — as both a “real” soldier, and a soldier-revolutionary.

As an icon of liberation and a worker for human liberty, Geronimo Pratt will always be remembered. A former Black Panther colleague, Pete O’Neal, had this to say about his friend:

“He’s my hero. He was and will continue to be… Geronimo was a symbol of steadfast resistance against all that is considered wrong and improper. His whole life was dedicated to standing in opposition to oppression and exploitation. … He gave all that he had and his life, I believe, struggling, trying to help people lift themselves up.”

May this hero rest in peace.

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A former writer and editor at BlackVoices.com, Alexis Garrett Stodghill has also written for The Atlanta Post, Clutch Magazine, Coco & Creme, and The BVX. She was also the founding producer of BlackPlanet.com. Follow Alexis on Twitter: @lexisb

From the COINTELPRO Chronicles: Black Photagrapher on FBI Payroll?

Photographer Ernest Withers Doubled as FBI informant
to spy on civil rights movement
by Marc Perrusquia

...As a foot soldier in J. Edgar Hoover's domestic intelligence program,[Ernest] Withers helped the FBI gain a front-row seat to the civil rights and anti-war movements in Memphis.

Much of his undercover work helped the FBI break up the Invaders, a Black Panther-styled militant group that became popular in disaffected black Memphis in the late 1960s and was feared by city leaders.

Yet, Withers focused on mainstream Memphians as well.

Personal and professional details of Church of God in Christ Bishop G.E. Patterson (then a pastor with a popular radio show), real estate agent O.W. Pickett, politician O. Z. Evers and others plumped FBI files as the bureau ran a secret war on militancy.

When community leader Jerry Fanion took cigarettes to jailed Invaders, agents took note. Agents wrote reports when Catholic Father Charles Mahoney befriended an Invader, when car dealer John T. Fisher offered jobs to militants, when Rev. James Lawson planned a trip to Czechoslovakia and when a schoolteacher loaned his car to a suspected radical.

Each report has a common thread -- Withers.

As a so-called racial informant -- one who monitored race-related politics and "hate'' organizations -- Withers fed agents a steady flow of information.

Read the full Essay @ The Commercial Appeal

After the Party: Music and the Black Panthers

Musicians don't often end up on FBI watch lists, but the Last Poets did, thanks to their links with the Black Panthers. Dorian Lynskey looks back at a time when pop and politics collided as never before.

After the Party: Music and the Black Panthers
by Dorian Lynskey

One day last December, Umar Bin Hassan of the Last Poets attended a gathering in Chicago to commemorate local Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, who was shot dead by the police 40 years earlier. There were about 30 people, including the widows of Hampton and fellow Panther Eldridge Cleaver, and former members of radical groups such as Weatherman. "We laughed and drank wine and talked about what we all had been through," Hassan says. "I'm glad I made it. It was good to see a lot of those people still living, you know?"

They were survivors of a turbulent period. In 1968, just two years after Oakland residents Huey Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panthers, FBI director J Edgar Hoover called the party "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and set about spending millions of dollars to infiltrate, sabotage and divide it. By the mid 70s, it was in terminal decline, and Hampton was far from the only fatality.

The Panthers' legacy has been fiercely debated ever since. Some people claim the leadership, especially Newton, were their own worst enemies: paranoid hotheads prone to violence and cronyism. Others regard them as heroes who gave young African-Americans power and pride in the face of endemic racism, only to be brought down by Hoover's machinations. A new project, Tongues on Fire, aims to accentuate the positive, bringing together the party's official artist and minister of culture, Emory Douglas, with musicians such as the Last Poets, the Roots and jazz saxophonist David Murray.

Read the Full Essay @ The Guardian

The Black Youth Project on the Murder of Fred Hampton

The Lies History Tells Part 2:
Black Panthers & A Murdered Revolutionary
by Jonathan

“I’m going to die for the people because I’m going to live for the people.” They said, “Right on.” He said, “I’m going to live for the people because I love the people.” And they’d say, “Right on.” And he’d say, “I love the people, why?” And they’d say, “Because we’re high on the people, because we’re high on the people.” And that was Fred Hampton. When you saw this 21 year old, it was unbelievable. You had no choice, but to be moved by Fred Hampton.” (Eyes on the prize documentary)

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Fred Hampton’s assassination. Hampton was the rising leader of the Black Panther Party in Chicago. On December 4th 1969, in the middle of the night, Chicago Police officers raided Hampton’s house. His pregnant fiancée gives these words:

“The police pulled me from the room as Fred lay unconscious on the bed. I heard one officer say, He’s still alive. Then I heard two shots and another officer said, He’s good and dead now.”

The picture I was given of Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers in grade school was an unfair and incomplete image of what actually happened. I was lied to. I’m not sure who to blame. It could be the Civil Rights sections of the History books that only wanted to praise Martin Luther King Jr., Demonize Malcolm X, and pretend all other possible negative details were non-existent. Or it could be a few of my teachers who chose to believe and regurgitate a type of history that is at least, insufficient and at most, well crafted fallacies written by people in power who benefited from the oppression and marginalization of others. It was not until I began to read for myself and go into more depth in my college classes that I realized the misguided stories I was being fed in my juvenile years.

Read the Full Essay @ The Black Youth Project

The Black Youth Project was a national research project launched in 2003 that examined the attitudes, resources, and culture of African American youth ages 15 to 25, exploring how these factors and others influence their decision-making, norms, and behavior in critical domains such as sex, health, and politics. Understanding the need to make this data available to a wider constituency beyond the academy Professor Cathy Cohen, the Black Youth Project’s principle investigator, decided to create an online hub for Black youth where scholars, educators, community activist, youth allies, and youth could access the study’s research summaries as well as have access to a plethora of resources concerning the empowerment and development of black youth.

The Black Youth Project’s website is a cyber-resource center for black youth and all those who are committed to enriching the lives of black youth.