” when I think about the ultimate sacrifice that many others have made, I realize I have not done enough. There is so much more that needs to be done. As we have fought and struggled, the forces against us have continued to organize and develop strategies to keep us under them. In some ways we are now worse off than we was when I consciously started struggling in the mid 60s. Unemployment is higher, fewer Blacks are owning their own homes, a lower percentage are going to college. A higher percentage is going to jail. A much higher percentage are killing and maiming each other, especially our youth ..” Sekou Odinga
WHO IS SEKOU ODINGA? Sekou grew up in Jamaica, Queens. He is a husband, father of eight, grandfather of nineteen+ and a great-grandfather. He was inspired by the revolutionary principles of Malcolm X when he joined the Organization of Afro-American Unity, followed later by the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1970, he was asked to go to Algeria to help set up the international section of the BPP. After the split in the Party, caused by the Cointelpro program, he decided to come back to the u.s. to continue the struggle.
He continued that work until October 1981, when he was captured and charged with attempting to murder police. Sekou was not attempting to murder the police; he was in fact running away from the police with his brother/comrade, Mtayari Sundiata, fearing for their lives. That fear proved well deserved when Mtayari was captured and murdered (executed) while lying face down on the ground. Sekou was captured a little while later; by then lots of people had gathered around so he was taken to a police precinct where he was beaten and tortured for the next six (6) straight hours. The local police and FBI were trying to find out information about Assata Shakur and Abdul Majid. Where they were? Who they were with? Did he know them? When was the last time he had seen them, etc. etc.? That torture left him in the hospital for the next three months with physical damage he still suffers from today. He was snatched out of the hospital before completely healing, and forced into two trials (state and federal) for several years.
After many lies and prejudicial judge rulings, Sekou was found guilty in both courts. The feds found him guilty of the Liberation of Assata Shakur and the expropriation of an armored-car, the state found him guilty of attempted murder of police. He was sentenced to forty (40) years and $50,000 fine by the feds, and 25 years to life by the state. One sentence to start after the other one finished. He was paroled by the feds in 2009, and is now in NYS serving the 25 to life. He is 68 years old and not eligible for parole in the state until 2033. IN ORDER TO TAKE SEKOU s FREEDOM CAMPAIGN INTO THE COURTS, WE NEED YOUR HELP. MAKE A DONATION TODAY!!!!
“I am a prisoner of war (POW), a political prisoner (PP). All POWs are PPs, but all PPs are not POWs. A POW is someone captured while actively participating in a military formation fighting against a military enemy. In my case, I was part of the Black Liberation Army, fighting for freedom, land and independence for the Republic of New Afrika. A PP is anyone detained because of their political views, speech, actions, etc., by a government strong enough to hold them .” Sekou Odinga
The Sekou Odinga Defense Committee – PO Box 380-122, Brooklyn, NY 11238
CLICK FOR WEBSITE ~ SekouOdingaDefenseCommittee@gmail.com
CLICK TO ‘Like’ Sekou Odinga on Facebook
Tags: prisoner of war, sekou odinga