February 6, 1995
"any movement that does not support their political internees ... is a sham movement"
Ojore N. Lutalo
"here we remain, yesterday's urban guerrillas, abandoned in captivity"
Ojore N. Lutalo
I bring you greetings today on behalf of myself and other political prisoners, prisoners of war and politically conscious brothers and sisters who are interned all over this country.
I also bring you our collective rage, and it is this rage that I wish to focus on in this missive. By virtue of your participation in this event tonight, I am comfortable that many of you understand the oppression and genocide that people of color have endured in this country. Our history to struggle began when the first settler set foot on the continent of Africa and that same struggle continued through every second of every minute of the lives of Amerika's slaves. My comrades and I are a proud part of this struggle which is born of rage reaching back to my ancestors. We were born with blood in our eyes...
It is because of this blood that I have been held in a sensory deprivation cage in the infamous Management Control Unit at New Jersey State Prison. As of February 4th, I am beginning my tenth year living in isolation. The people in power understand clearly that this blood in my eye represents a lifetime commitment for revolutionary change.
I also have another kind of anger-and that is my anger at the lack of support for us and the lack of activity by so-called progressive people out there in what I call 'minimum custody'.
Word reaches us of this program or that event. We hear of great efforts attempting to raise the consciousness of the public. While none of us minimize, the relevance of this kind of work, many of us feel abandoned in these cages. Unfortunately, most often when we do hear from folks at all, it's because you need a statement or something else from us, not because you are offering us anything.
We get little or no material support in the way of food packages, stamps, needed clothing or such luxuries as newspaper or magazine subscriptions, or radios. It seems to me that any movement that doesn't support its warriors is a sham. Make no mistake about it, we are here, I am here, because of the war you profess to be in. Our anger is also directed at the lack of revolutionary action. That the Red Army Faction destroyed a newly built prison in Germany caused us great joy. That action also reminded us of the bitter taste of a movement which has abandoned not only us, but any committed action which could make a real difference. That the isolation torture chamber is completed and occupied in Florence, Colorado, is bewildering to those of us who still live this war every single day of our lives.
Be clear that I do not belong here. That I am here because of who I am and what I believe. And that is exactly why your committed involvement is as important to you as it is to me. Angela Davis put it well. She said that "If they come for me in the morning, they'll come for you at night."
Another man also said it equally as well. Pastor Martin Niemoller noted that:
"In Germany, they came first for the CommunistsOjore Lutalo
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came and got the Jews
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
And I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
And by that time, no one was left to speak up."