{"id":1438,"date":"2011-06-09T12:47:56","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T18:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2013-03-03T10:30:21","modified_gmt":"2013-03-03T16:30:21","slug":"the-spirit-of-geronimo-ji-jaga-lives-on-as-the-struggle-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/the-spirit-of-geronimo-ji-jaga-lives-on-as-the-struggle-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spirit of ‘Geronimo Ji Jaga’ Lives On – As the Struggle Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in Issue 430 of The Black Commentator on June 9, 2011<\/a>
\nRepublished in Intrepid Report on June 14, 2011<\/a>
\nRepublished in The Black Panther (Special) Summer 7-15-2011 Issue, Vo1. 01, No. 01, Page 5<\/p>\n

By Larry Pinkney<\/p>\n

“You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill a revolution.”<\/strong>
\n -Fred Hampton<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is with one unified and heavily laden heart that everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow\u00a0conscious people of goodwill,<\/em>\u00a0world-wide, mourn the gigantic loss of, and pay tribute to, Elmer ‘Geronimo Ji-Jaga’ Pratt, whose mortal body departed from us on June 2, 2011, in Tanzania, East Africa.\u00a0<\/strong>The passing-on of\u00a0Geronimo Ji-Jaga,<\/em>\u00a0who was a Black Panther Party leader and subsequently a political prisoner in the\u00a0United States\u00a0for 27 years, made his transition, reportedly, as a result of heart failure. Yet, like the great Indigenous Native freedom fighter\u00a0Geronimo (Mescalero-Chiricahua)<\/em>\u00a0from the annals of the people’s\u00a0living<\/em> history of well over a century earlier, so too, Geronimo Ji-Jaga’s<\/em> courageous legacy and spirit will\u00a0live on<\/em>\u00a0undaunted, unencumbered, and untarnished by the passing of time. He was, and his spirit\u00a0remains<\/em>, that of a humanitarian and a true people’s revolutionary.<\/p>\n

There were many outstanding accomplishments in the life of Geronimo Ji-Jaga, although he is perhaps best known for having been ruthlessly\u00a0targeted and framed<\/em> on kidnapping and murder charges under the auspices of the despicable, bloody, and infamous U.S. Government program known as COINTELPRO (the Counter Intelligence Program). The clearly stated objectives of the U.S. Government’s COINTELPRO outrages were to “discredit, frame, imprison, and\/or murder” political activists, and most particularly members of the Black Panther Party.<\/p>\n

Due to Geronimo Ji-Jaga’s effectiveness as an organizer and his leadership in the Black Panther Party, he was hideously charged and convicted in the above mentioned matter. Nonetheless, Geronimo Ji-Jaga remained relentless<\/em> in his quest for justice, and finally,\u00a0after\u00a027<\/em><\/span> years<\/span><\/em>\u00a0of wrongful imprisonment (eight of which he spent in solitary confinement<\/em>) his\u00a0conviction was vacated<\/em>\u00a0and he was freed.<\/p>\n

As in the cases of the ongoing<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0decades-long<\/span>\u00a0debacle being endured\u00a0presently<\/span>\u00a0by political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier,\u00a0etc<\/span>.<\/em>, the U.S. Government and judicial system obtained the conviction against Geronimo Ji-Jaga by using\u00a0a litany of odious practices<\/em>, including the suppression of crucial defense evidence and the production of bogus prosecution witnesses, etc. This too, is what must be learned –and learned well<\/em> – from the heroic and unrelenting struggle for justice on the part of Geronimo Ji-Jaga.<\/p>\n

The International Campaign to Free Geronimo Ji-Jaga<\/strong><\/p>\n

The essence of successful political struggle for human rights and justice is persistence, focus, creativity, and individual & collective consciousness. In this vein,\u00a0The International Campaign to Free Geronimo Ji-Jaga<\/em> was formed, and\u00a0successfully<\/em>\u00a0organized locally, nationally, and internationally from approximately 1990 to 1997 in order to bring about community\/public awareness and legal & political pressure in the case of Geronimo Ji-Jaga.<\/p>\n

Political and human rights activist, Lesley Tiyesha, was among the intrepid and creative core of\u00a0The International Campaign to Free Geronimo Ji-Jaga<\/em>. Her first-hand insights into Geronimo Ji-Jaga himself and the efforts of\u00a0The International Campaign to Free Geronimo Ji-Jaga<\/em>\u00a0are concise and invaluable. She made it quite clear that the “all volunteer” persistent and focused activities of\u00a0The International Campaign to Free Geronimo Ji-Jaga<\/em>\u00a0garnered “so much support from\u00a0many<\/span><\/em>\u00a0different stratas.” She further noted that despite his 27 year ordeal of wrongful imprisonment, Geronimo Ji-Jaga “was not bitter” and that he was about letting go of, “releasing<\/em>\u00a0that bitterness.” Sister Tiyesha spoke of Geronimo Ji-Jaga as a person who possessed “an amazing spirit.<\/em>” She further specifically stated, “I\u00a0learned<\/em>\u00a0from Geronimo and he became\u00a0a friend<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

As an organizer, Sister Tiyesha pointed out that witnessing “The power of former Black Panther Party central committee members including Bobby Seale, Kathleen Cleaver, Emory Douglass, and David Hilliard\u00a0come together<\/em>\u00a0at a press conference in support of Geronimo was\u00a0extremely important and amazing<\/em>.” Even as she spoke of the tenacity and humanity of Geronimo Ji-Jaga himself, she also poignantly stated, regarding the\u00a0entire<\/em>\u00a021st century\u00a0U.S.\u00a0prison gulag system, that institutional “slavery” has moved “from the plantation[s] to the prison[s].” Indeed!<\/p>\n

The Meaning of Geronimo Ji-Jaga’s Example<\/strong><\/p>\n

As with all of us, Geronimo Ji-Jaga was but a mere mortal. Yet, his example of selflessness and his indomitable spirit can and should serve as an inspiration to each and every one of us. He never gave up or gave in and nor should we. To the end of his life he continued to ‘serve the people body and soul.’ Upon his release in 1997, from 27 years of wrongful imprisonment, he took up the mantle as a human rights activist both in the\u00a0United States\u00a0and in\u00a0Africa. He\u00a0remained outspoken and steadfast<\/em> in his political principles.<\/p>\n

Can we do any less? The answer must surely be obvious. We everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people must\u00a0re<\/span><\/strong>commit ourselves here and now to the ongoing and intensifying struggle for economic, political, and social justice\u00a0in this nation and around the world!<\/em>\u00a0It will not be easy for us and it certainly wasn’t easy for Geronimo Ji-Jaga. Yet, this struggle must be carried forth\u00a0collectively and relentlessly.<\/em><\/p>\n

We must\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0be the 21st century Nat Turners, John Browns, and Harriet Tubmans, etc. History is not merely in the past.\u00a0It is living and breathing every single day in each of us<\/em>.\u00a0We<\/em>\u00a0must choose what our collective history will be! Mother Earth and our own humanity calls out to us and we\u00a0must<\/em>\u00a0answer!<\/p>\n

Rest now, our dear brother Geronimo Ji-Jaga. Rest well,\u00a0in peace and power<\/span><\/em>. But for those of us from whom you have physically departed,\u00a0the struggle continues<\/em>. All Power To The People! Onward then my sisters and brothers! Onward…!<\/p>\n

Larry Pinkney<\/strong><\/em> is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil\/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil\/Lehrer News Hour, and more recently on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones Show. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, San Francisco BayView newspaper, Black Commentator, Intrepid Report, Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), 107 Cowgate (Ireland and Scotland), and Mayihlome News (Azania\/South Africa). He is in the archives of Dr. Huey P. Newton (Stanford University, CA), cofounder of the Black Panther Party. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book,\u00a0Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker<\/a>, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to read excerpts from the book.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published in Issue 430 of The Black Commentator on June 9, 2011<\/a>
Republished in Intrepid Report on June 14, 2011<\/a>
Republished in The Black Panther […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[43,5,31,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1882,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions\/1882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}