MAE JACKSON, POLITICAL ACTIVIST, DIRECTOR,
CARING FOR CREATORS OF CHANGE IS A GRASS ROOTS ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE LIBERATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ALL OVER THE WORLD. WE SUPPORT THE "HANDS OFF ASSATA CAMPAIGN" IN ITS CELEBRATION OF THE 60TH BIRTHDAY OF SISTER ASSATA SHAKUR,
OUR POSITION IS UNCHANGED: ARTICLE REPRINT , 2004
Assata is my sister: An open letter to Mayor Doug Palmer of Trenton, NJ
by Mae Jackson
Dear Mayor Palmer:
Mayor Doug Palmer
Let me introduce myself by saying that Assata Shakur is my sister, friend and comrade in the struggle for human rights of all oppressed people. When three freedom fighters boldly took action in 1979 and entered the Clinton Correctional Facility and liberated Sister Assata from the chains and shackles of her jailers, I rejoiced. I was proud to be a part of a generation of young African Americans who were courageous and committed enough to go up against America and didn’t give a damn about odds.
Others and I, along with my late sister comrade Ann Evans placed a half-page ad in the New York weekly, The Amsterdam News, affirming our love and support for Sister Assata and the compatriots who risked their lives. We didn’t back down then, and we don’t back down now.
The advertisement in the Amsterdam News, a Black newspaper, read: “Run, Assata, Run, Stay Strong and Stay Free,” reflecting the slave song for those who had escaped.
Throughout the Black communities on the East Coast – Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant and New Jersey – the ad from the Amsterdam newspaper was cut out and taped to the windows in the homes of a generation of youth who were politically astute. The message was clear and concise, plastered on lamp poles and any other available space stating, “ASSATA IS WELCOME HERE.”
Now that you know who I am, and I certainly have a clue as to who you are, we can in the words of Brother Minister Malcolm X “talk shop.”
At the last annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in June, you stepped in on the International Affairs Committee discussion on the “normalization of relations with Cuba,” placing Assata Shakur on the agenda and opposing relations with “communist Cuba” until Assata Shakur (Joanne Chesimard) is returned to the United States of America.
You have taken it upon yourself to provide leadership by becoming the premier “Black Elected Bounty Hunter,” assisting the Justice Department in breaking its own laws. (Mayor Palmer is Black.)
You arrogantly and purposely ignore the fact that Assata was granted political asylum by President Fidel Castro 28 years ago. Are you aware that without interference, on any given calendar day, the United States of America routinely grants political asylum to those who defect from Cuba and other communist countries?
The illegal war that is being carried out by America in Iraq has led to the captivity and imprisonment of hundreds of Iraqi citizens, swept up – stolen – from their homeland. They are held in captivity in Guantanamo in the exact same manner that Africans were stolen from the motherland and held captive on plantations in the Southern states of democratic America.
Your willingness to “hunt” Assata down in light of this country’s history of “kidnapping” is reminiscent of those “house niggas” during slavery who loved their masters more than they loved themselves, or freedom.
Assata Shakur is no different than Sister Harriet Tubman. She did not ask to come here. In fact, if memory serves me right, it was the USA government that said to the young dissenting youth of the ‘60s who raised their voices in protest, “Love it (America) or leave it.” With a few good friends, Assata left it. What else is a slave to do?
I am not here to argue Assata’s case. I am here to say that with the many critical domestic problems facing the mayors of the USA, and especially Black mayors of urban cities, one would think the focus would be placed upon solving some of the more basic problems of the people you and others were elected to serve.
Assata Shakur is not your constituents’ problem. If Assata were returned from Cuba tomorrow – under your advocacy – it would not change the racist policies that rule the construction unions, among others, in Trenton, New Jersey, that keep people of color out.
Nor would the “return” of Assata have an impact on your city and state high unemployment rate among Black adult males and poor youth of every color or provide health care for the hundreds of thousands of uninsured Jersey residents.
Nor would her “illegal slave captivity” solve Trenton’s youth gang problem in your city.
You tell me what purpose would the illegal kidnapping of Assata Shakur serve and how would it benefit the people of your city. I do however suspect that it would benefit your political career.
A million dollar bounty split three ways between you, the USA government and a hired mercenary reminds me of the auction block: “Bid ‘em in, bid ‘em in ...”
I don’t have to wonder about how much they paid the slave to sell the slave. I think I know.
Hands off Assata!
Mae Jackson is director of Art Without Walls
