FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT: SOME OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND IMPORTANT MOMENTS (2014-2020)

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Contact: freealabamamovement@gmail.com

1. 2013-current. FAM was founded in 2013, and officially launched in August 2013.

2. January 1, 2014. Organized first multi-prison non-violent and peaceful work strikes, boycotts and protests in Alabama.

3. 2014-2019. January 2014, several FAM leaders and organizers were targeted by ADOC and placed into solitary confinement, including its founder Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun and co-founder Kinetik Justice Amun, both of whom remained in solitary confinement for the next 5 consecutive years. Despite FAM’s non-violent and peaceful organizing, FAM leaders were retaliated against, beaten, tortured, food poisoned, and arbitrarily denied basic constitutional and human rights, including mail, visits, phone calls, humane housing, deprived of natural light, and more. Even in the face of strong opposition and repression by the state, FAM was able to continue to move ahead in the struggle for Freedom.

4. 2014-2016. Conducted at least one multi-prison work strike every year in ADOC, plus the National Prison Strikes. After the initial strikes on January 1, 2014, all other Strikes, Boycotts and Protests were led by FAM from solitary confinement.

5. 2014-2018. Family members and supporters conducted over 20 protests outside multiple Alabama prisons and other locations, including in Clio Alabama, Donaldson CF, Holman CF, St. Clair CF, Limestone CF, Tutwiler CF, Kelly Ingram Park, Edmund Pettus Bridge, ADOC Headquarters, State Capitol, and the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Headquarters (#ParoleWatch).

6. 2014 (currently being revised). Published book FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT (known as the “manifesto”) on January 2, 2014.

7. 2014- current. Created first multi-medium social media platforms as part of prison-led organizing strategy, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, WordPress blog, Blogtalk radio, and website.

8. 2014-current. Created Free Alabama Movement YouTube channel. Have since released over 200 exclusive exposè
videos from inside ADOC. FAM’s bold and aggressive tactic of guerilla filming spawned a new era in the Prisoner/Enslaved-led Human Rights Movement. Incarcerated Activists all across the nation began using cellphones as a powerful weapon in the narrative around criminal justice reform, prison reform, and abolitionist freedom struggle.

9. 2014-2016. Created, produced, directed first-of-its-kind inside-led, underground Blogtalk radio show, “THE PEOPLE’S PLATFORM”.

10. 2014. Published “A Flicker Turns Into A Flame”

11. 2014. Drafted the “FREEDOM BILL”

12. 2014-current. FAM leaders and members have conducted over 100 media interviews from inside with outlets such as:

San Francisco Bay View
New York Times
LA Times
BBC
China NOW
Wall Street Journal
Al Jazerra America,
Democracy Now,
Roland Martin
Montgomery Advertiser
al.com
Huffington Post



13. 2014-current. FAM has been featured in several short-documentaries, including two w/ HBO/Vice, and two w/ Al Jazerra.

14. 2014-2019 Hunger Strikes. State retaliation and abuse against FAM leaders led to hunger strikes that spread to multiple prisons over a span of 5 years, exposing ADOC as a barbaric and inhumane institution.

15. 2015. Published “Let The Crops Rot In The Field” and laid out “The Solution:FAM’s 6-Step Plan of Action 2015.” These documents and the plan outlined therein established the framework for building the infrastructure that led to the first nationwide, Inside-led national initiatives and actions based on work strikes, boycotts and protests. FAM’s infrastructure elevated the profiles and voices of Inside-led organizations nationwide and has hosted and facilitated the organizing of EVERY Inside-led national event since 2015.

16. 2015. Nationwide S-TO-P CAMPAIGN against McDonald’s, highlighting the school-to-prison pipeline.

17. 2015-2016. FAM led multiple peace initiatives under the Universal Peace and Unity Summit. Over this period of heightened violence, FAM was the only entity able to lead multiple successful peace accords in the tumultuous ADOC. FAM never had an incident of violence associated with any of its multiple work strikes and boycotts, and ADOC recorded its lowest levels of violence during FAM activities.


18. 2016. Historic September 9, 2016, 45th Anniversary Attica Rebellion Nationwide Prison Strike. Largest prison strike US history. Over 24 states and 30,000 freedom fighters.


19. 2013-2018. During the height of FAM organizing, ADOC saw the total prison population drop from appx. 30,000 to appx. 23,000, before rising again.

20. 2013-2018. During the height of FAM activism, the Alabama Parole Board created an emergency board and granted over 4000 paroles. The number of parole grants began to lessen in 2018, eventually recording record lows in 2020.

21. 2013-2019. As a result of FAM’s exposure of living conditions and intensive media coverage, two Alabama prisons closed (Holman and Draper).

22. 2015 and 2019. FAM witnessed two Governor-appointed Prison Reform/Oversight Committees that were created to address issues highlighted by FAM advocacy and exposure.

23. 2014-2016. FAM saw two conservative sentencing reform measures passed.

24. 2014-2016. FAM’s exposure of ADOC central to class-action litigation filed by Bryan Stevenson and EJI, Southern Poverty Law Centers, and Southern Center for Human Rights.

25. 2016. In an unpredictable and surprising action, in 2016, ADOC correctional officers at Holman CF adopted FAM’s strategy and led their own work strike, where they were protesting, among other issues, the same ADOC leadership and inhumane living conditions as highlighted by FAM. While not all issues were the same between FAM and the officers, the impact of FAM’s influence for change was undeniable.

26. 2016. FAM’s exposure of ADOC, pro se litigation, and advocacy work led to “first-of-its-kind” statewide investigation of all Alabama men’s prisons by the US Department of Justice. These investigations produced two separate reports, both of which found the ADOC to be violating the civil, human and constitutional rights of those serving time in ADOC custody.

27. 2017. An anonymous ADOC employee released a trove of over 1000 graphic, gory photos depicting violence and barbaric savagery inside ADOC. While a select few of these images were made public, many in the mainstream media withheld 800 of these photos, protecting ADOC and collaborating in their mutual interest.

28. 2018. Campaign to Redistribute The Pain 2018, a nationwide bi-monthly boycott of canteen, collect phone calls, visitation vending machines, and incentive packages.

29. 2018 National Prison Strike. Following FAM’s visionary approach to organizing prison labor nationally and relying on the infrastructure put in place leading to FAM’s historic September 9, 2016, 45th Anniversary Attica Rebellion Nationwide Prison Strike/Boycott/Protest, the 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike took place after the Lee County, South Carolina riots. FAM’s leadership and national Campaign to Redistribute The Pain 2018, spanning the entire year of 2018, were integral to the 2018 National Prison Strike. Since that first nationwide effort in 2016, FAM inspired at least 5 other inside-led national events.


30. 2012-2019. Assisted in filing over 250 excessive force, police brutality, ethics complaints, and Section 1983 civil class action lawsuits against ADOC officials.

31. 2014-2020. FAM’s advocacy and activism produced intensive media coverage that resulted in investigations, forced resignations, demotions and firings of at least one ADOC Commissioner (K. Thomas), Associate Commissioners G. Culliver and J. DeLoach), Wardens (Estes, Davenport, E. Evans, and others.

32. 2015-current. FAM’s advocacy and activism led ADOC to adopt policies requiring warden training and rotations. Results are negligible though due to a lack of accountability enforcement, although a few wardens have shown negative pattern behavior resulting in resignations or other forms of termination.

33. 2019. FAM’s hunger strikes exposed and led to the end of ADOC’s secretive and highly inhumane “bucket detail” and extortion schemes by officials at Limestone CF. FAM leaders caused the end of the 25+ year careers of Warden DeWayne Estes and Captain Patrick Robinson, and civil litigation.

34. 2015/2019. FAM jailhouse attorneys, who have filed pro se litigation on his behalf for years, uplifted the story of Willie “Fire Plug” Simmons on their WordPress blog. FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT’s network of activists and contacts who played a vital role in uncovering this story and facilitating Mr. Simmons’ access to press went uncredited when Mr. Simmons’ story exploded and went worldwide.

35. 2019. Launched #ParoleWatch2020 in response to the Charlie Graddick-led Bureau. FAM is the only organization in the State to conduct protests at the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Headquarters. Graddick resigned effective November 31.

36. 2014-current. FAM’s influence over the course of 7 years has inspired the creation of or brought close collaboration with over 40 organizations, including Unheard Voices, Free Mississippi Movement, APSP, UHURU Movement, Free South Carolina Movement, Mississippi Southern Belles, Free Ohio Movement, FAM Queen Team, T.O.P.S., IWOC, JLS, United Black Family Scholarship Foundation, End Prison Slavery in Texas, Amend the 13th, Decarcerate Louisiana, NABPP, Faith In Action, The Plus Party, Be Frank 4 Justice, Abolish Slavery National Network, EPIC, Ida B. Wells, and many, many more.

37. 2020. Statewide host of August 22, 2020, National Day of Freedom and Justice events.

38. 2020. Co-Presenters for the Harvard Prison Divestment

39. 2020. Co-lead organizers for the October 26-30, 2020 Plus Party #FreeThe13th 5-Day Virtual Rally.

40. 2020. Host of the December 6, 2020, Abolish Slavery Alabama event, marking the 155 year anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment and the exception clause that allows slavery and involuntary Servitude to continue as punishment for crime.

41. 2021. On January 1, 2021, FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT is calling for a #30DayBlackout Boycott and Strike.

42. Our greatest accomplishment is the awareness, education and Spirit of Freedom that we were able to share with over 10,000 men in the ADOC; the tens of thousands of men and women behind cages, walls and fences in America who participated in the 2016 and 2018 nationwide strikes/boycotts/protests; and innumerable others we have impacted around the world. FAM’s banners have hung in four continents around the world, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America.

Special Thanks to the Ratcliff Family and the San Francisco Bay View Black Newspaper. As always, there are some people and organizations that rise above the rest and stand in such a way as to merit special consideration. For FAM, this honor goes to the Bay View and Mr. and Mrs. Ratcliff. We can’t even recount the many deeds or the many ways. All we can do is stand in awe, admiration, appreciate, respect and Love. ❤️


We are not done yet. . .

Contact: freealabamamovement@gmail.com

SUPPORT:

The price of Freedom comes at a great cost to Freedom Fighters behind the walls.

#FREE THE 13th: VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION ON SLAVERY AND REPEAL & REPLACE THE 13th AMENDMENT

#AbolishSlaveryAlabana

#ABOLISHSLAVERY
#AbolishSlaverUtah
#EndSlaveryNebraska
#AmendThe13thNJ

Join us as we review the dynamics of slavery, past to present, and discuss 21st century abolition efforts to address the 13TH amendment.

#FreeThe13th is part of a national effort of activists and organizers from behind the confines of prison walls, to the community, committed to ending slavery and prison profiteering. Over the course of 4 days, speakers will examine the dynamics of slavery, review the implementation of processes to keep slavery active, and discuss next steps required to truly abolish slavery in America.

FB Event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/993615377819047/

Eventbrite page:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-the-13th-registration-124958146179?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=esfb&utm-source=fbm&utm-term=listing&fbclid=IwAR2NdUWo3y7-1WswJUBjw9e9PWbKMpZSlVruglywD4EEVLYXjxjn-Q7_dAs

Event video presentation
https://youtu.be/Kxnk7E1iY-I

Partners and sponsors:
http://www.AbolishSlavery.us
http://www.positiveleadersunitedinsolidarity.com
http://www.abolitiontoday.org
http://www.amendthe13thnj.com
http://www.endslaveryne.org
http://www.abolishslaveryutah.org
http://www.wearemarchon.org
http://www.freealabamamovement.wordpress.com
http://www.epicxteam.org
http://www.ubfsf.org
http://www.not-forgotten.org

Free the 13th Registration, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-the-13th-registration-124958146179

Get registered for the #FREE THE 13th Event as the conversation about the 13th Amendment and its connection to the continuation of the institution of slavery and the Abolitionist Movement to end slavery in America builds momentum.

JUSTICE FOR THE GADSDEN 6

On March 24, 1988, six Black children were arrested around 1:00 am, and charged as juvenile deliquents in Gadsden, Ala. for allegedly attempting to break into a department store.

These children were taken to the police station and interrogated for appx. 4 hours by a group of appx. 4 to 6 white police officers. At no point during this interrogation were their parents contacted. There were no attorneys present. When interrogation ended several hours later, the Gadsden 6 were charged with over 30 felony charges for burglary and theft.

A few hours later that same morning of March 24, 1988, the GADSDEN 6 were taken to an initial appearance hearing that suddenly turned into a detention hearing. The GADSDEN 6 was still without parent or attorneys.

At the detention hearing, the GADSDEN 6 were surrounded by appx. 6 white police officers, two white juvenile officers, and a white prosecutor. The record shows that probable cause was stipultaed to on all 30 charges.

“At detention hearing probable cause stipultaed . . . “

ONE PROBLEM

Probable cause means that there is reasonable to believe that a crime has been committed and that the defendant committed it. This fact was stipultaed to on all 30 charges.

But STIPULTAED to by who??

The GADSDEN 6 were all children. None of them had attorneys and none of their parents were present. There were only 6 Black children and appx 10 white men present. Who stipulated for the GADSDEN 6 to 30 felony charges on the same day of their arrest ? Children cannot stipulate to anything without counsel and / or their parents present.

The record shows that an attorney was not appointed up April 6, 1988, two weeks AFTER the stipulation was entered.

“4-6-88 . . . J. B. Lofton

These cases were subsequently transferred to adult court without a hearing, where the GADSDEN 6 were convicted of adikt charges At least 3 GADSDEN 6 members suffered 4 or more convictions each, rendering all of them eligible for treatment as a habitual offender and subject to a sentence of life or life without parole if they ever charged with another felony offense.

All of the convictions imposed against the GADSDEN 6 are illegal because they were not represented by counsel or parents at all critical.

Join the call for Justice for the GADSDEN 6.

a) Full Pardons

b) Expungement of all records

c) Compensation

Slavery by the 13th Amendment

By Elisha Macon

When my wife told me that she had watched the documentary the 13th. She now better understand why I am still INCARCERATED in SIDE of ADOC. She now sees that IT’S not the crime that they say that I committed that has me INCARCERATED all these decades. And thousands of more men are in slavery,along with me. Yes, slavery people such as well as myself are TRAPPED into slavery through the courts systems, along with other agencies. HOUSING us worse than ANIMALS and working us SLAVES for nothing, while these different agency’s make billions of dollars off the backs of the SLAVES and our families who dare to stand by our sides and support us. These agencies are so corrupt that they even charge us SLAVES for medical treatments. They charge us SLAVES for disciplinaries. The very same items that our loved ONES use to have the privilege of sending us, we now must buy them from the agency. They have entrapped us into slavery with the new laws that our so called legislatures are passing TARGETING the black men of America. LOCKING us up for long periods of time. So many people are blind to these facts. Please I not only urge you to watch the documentary the 13th but I also beg you to. please don’t take my word for this and watch it for yourself please. Even if you don’t know anyone in prison, I promise you that someone who you love and care about is subject to fall victim to this SLAVES trade that is still operating strongly through the United State court systems. If you care anything about the future of our CHILDREN, PLEASE STAND with me and the OTHERS who are making the necessary sacrifices to change the way that we are being Mistreated and enslaved behind these plantation walls. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

WHEN BEING BLACK BECOMES AN AGGRAVATING ELEMENT OF THE CRIME: HOW ALABAMA PROSECUTORS USE GANG ENHANCEMENT LAWS TO OVER-PROSECUTE BLACK PEOPLE

 

  In the midst of the George Floyd protests for racial and social justice and a call for the end of police summary executions and murders of innocence, unarmed Black men and women with impunity, many people around the world were shocked when a Democratic prosecutor in Utah charged Black Lives Matter protestors under gang enhancement charges that carried a possible life sentence in prison for merely splashing paint across the steps and part of the street in front of the DA’s with red paint.

“George Floyd: US protesters charged as ‘gang’ face life sentence – BBC News” https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-us-canada-53698048

  While these excessive ‘gang’ charges drew condemnation far and wide, this incident exposed a practice that many Black men know all too well, especially here in Alabama. But, unlike the prosecutor in Utah, who acknowledged that he doubts that anyone will spend even a day in jail for these charges that carry a life sentence, Black men in Alabama have not been so lucky.

  In fact, hundreds of Black men in Alabama have been charged with gang-related capital murder offenses that carry the death penalty or life without parole. Although no one has ever received the death penalty under these statutes, hundreds are çurrently serving life without parole sentences after being prosecuted under these gang laws even though none of them were ever charged with actually being in any gang. Many others were originally overcharged with capital offense but ultimately had their charges reduced in plea deals.

HISTORY OF ALABAMA’S GANG LAWS

  In 1992, the Alabama Legislature convened to address what was the considered to be a public outcry against gang violence. Among the issues of concern were “drive-by” shooting, where vehicles were being weaponized to carry out gang murders. These gang killings were also taking the lives of innocent children who were outside playing in their yards, or sitting inside their homes when these drive-by shootings were being carried out. In response, the Alabama Legislature added four new capital murder crimes to the Alabama criminal code that were now punishable by death or LWOP:

  Over time and after years of these laws being on the books, we have learned that these laws have not been applied as intended. We’ve also learned that the uneven and disparate application of these laws have been applied almost exclusively to young Black men. The facts are undeniable. Alabama prosecutors are intentionally and systematically using gang laws to overcharge, wrongfully convict, and over sentence young Black men for capital murder where the only aggravating factor used to enhance their charges is the fact that they are Black. Excepting a few isolated instances, white people who commit the exact same crimes are not charges with capital murder.

SHIRLEY HENSON: Road Rage and Black Rage

Every fire has a spark.

The case that sparked the fire leading to the discovery of the racial discrimination in how these laws were being used was the road rage case involving a middle-class white woman named Shirley Henson. Ms. Henson was driving down an Alabama interstate when she got into an altercation with another driver over tailgating. When the driver of the other vehicle got out of her car to confront Ms. Henson, Ms. Henson retrieved her gun and shot through her window striking the woman in the face, killing her.

As shown above, under Alabama law, when a person inside a vehicle fires a weapon outside that vehicle and kills someone this is capital murder:

(18) Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon fired or otherwise used within or from a vehicle.

Indeed, firing a weapon from inside a vehicle and killing someone outside that vehicle is exactly how a drive-by shooting is committed. But, Ms. Henson was not charged with a capital offense. Instead, she was charged with reckless murder.

Same facts, same crime. Different color, different time !!!

  This lesser charge was a revelation to Black men in Alabama because they, unlike Ms. Henson, were told that there crimes were capital based on the factual predicate that a weapon was fired from inside a vehicle that killed someone outside the vehicle or vice versa. This was a fact that, according to their prosecutors and defense attorneys, automatically rendered their cases capital.

  Yet, here it was playing out on news stations all around the State that when a white women committed the exact same crime, with the exact same facts, she was not charged with a capital offense. Ultimately, Ms. Henson was famously convicted of road rage and spent appx. 10 years in prison before being released.

Young Black men, however, were receiving life without parole sentences, left to die in the Alabama prison system for the exact same offense.

https://youtu.be/sKZgtIa_2wI

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 575

  While Shirley Henson, a middle classes white woman received the benefit of white privilege in the Alabama judicial system,  Phillip Fondren, a young white male did not. Phillip Fondren was charged with capital murder after killing a man (Fondren claimed self-defense) in a domestic situation after an argument with his wife’s ex-boyfriend. A single gunshot was fired from Fondren’s vehicle:

After his conviction, Phillip’s mother, understanding the injustice done to her son, became a vocal activist, refusing to accept as fact that her son would spend the rest of his life in prison simply because he was charged under a statute that defined the crime and length of punishment based solely on the location of the parties when the crime occured. In order words, if Phillip had stepped outside of his truck and he and the victim were both standing in the driveway when the same fatal shot was fired, he would not have been subject to a capital offense or life without parole.

Phillip’s case and many others highlight the fact that gang affiliation and using the vehicle as an instrument of the crime (drive-by) are the elements that the Alabama Legislature intended to punish. These were the aggravating factors that enhanced the punishment. When those aggravating elements are absent, then what prosecutors are supposed to be punishing is a murder case.

Avoiding absurd results like this is the very reason why gang relation was a critical aspect of the original legislation. If there was no gang involvement or the vehicle was not being used to carry out the crime then there was no aggravating facts that would justify enhancing the charge to capital murder instead of regular murder.

  This injustice compelled Ms. Fondren to start writing articles, reaching out to legislatures and taking other proactive actions, all of which ultimately lead to her understanding that her son had been charged under a gang-related statute even though his crime was not gang-related and he was not in a gang.

  Her efforts lead the Alabama Legislature to passed a House Joint Resolution 575, which was signed by the Governor, all stating that the gang statute was being misapplied in Alabama inconsistent with their intent in passing the law in the first place.

Acts. 2006-642

“Legislative Acts | Alabama Secretary of State” http://arc-sos.state.al.us/cgi/actdetail.mbr/detail?page=act&year=2006&act=642

  PHYRRIC VICTORY AFTER THE JUDICIAL BRANCH GETS INVOLVED

  The success of Ms. Fondren’s campaign was short-lived. After receiving the Resolution, the next step was to file a writ bringing Phillip’s case back to his court of conviction for sentencing relief. The court, however, refused to grant relief, contending that the Resolution did not have the effect of law. As such, all relief was denied.

    Challenges to the Resolution went all the way to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Judicial Circuit, all to no avail. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review and any hope for obtaining relief based on the House Joint Resolution were dashed.

According to the judiciary the problem resided in the fact that the Alabama Legislature omitted certain language from the Bill that was voted on after it was enacted into Law, and the House Joint Resolution cannot be used as an amendment to supply that language.

  See, the original Bill submitted to committee and voted on by both houses states specifically that the Bill was intended to punish gang-related drive-by activity. This language is also in the minutes of the debates and conversation about the Bill. But once the Bill was enacted into law, the “gang-related” language, somehow and for whatever reason was excluded. As a result of this snafu, hundreds of people have been wrongfully convicted and no one has been able to obtain relief. This is a travesty of justice.

  OTHER CASES INVOLVING WHITE DEFENDANTS TREATED DIFFERENTLY AND MORE FAVORABLE THAN THOSE INVOLVING YOUNG BLACK MEN

  Over the years, countless other instances of cases have surfaced involving facts where the defendants were treated differently based on the color of skin. In one the more egregious instances of white privilege, a white man named Steven Bedgood in Georgetown, Alabama, arrived home and noticed a truck leaving the direction of his residence. Upon realization that the truck was being driven by a burglar leaving his home, Mr. Bedgood retrieved a high-powered rifle and shot over 1/8 a mile down the road, striking the assumed burglar in the head, killing him instantly.

  Under Alabama’s gang statute, this killing of another person inside a vehicle by shots fired from outside the vehicle is capital murder :

(17) Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle.

  Unlike hundreds of young Black men before him, however, Mr. Bedgood was charged with manslaughter, a class C felony. Ultimately, Mr. Bedgood was convicted of the lesser included offense of criminally negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, and received 6 months suspended sentence, while each of the Black men mentioned above received life or life without parole. Absent intervention or change in the law, each of them will die in prison, while Mr. Bedgood never served a day in prison.

Oeatha Archie III, Brandon Johnson, Antwaun Phillips, and Jeremy Cattage are just a few of the young Black men who were charged with capital murder pursuant subsection (17), a circumstance where the victim was killed inside a vehicle by a gushot fired from outside that vehicle. Well-known activist and civil rights leader Pastor Kenneth Sharpron Glasgow and his codefendant are two Black men who are currently facing capital murder charges under this racially discriminatory law for a non-gang related offense where the vehicle was not used as a weapon to carry out the crime.

These Black men were all charged with capital murder and sentenced to Life or Life Without Parole even though they were not accused of being gang members or of committing a gang-related killing. The enhancement element in each of their cases was the the fact that they are Black.

CONCLUSION

Systemic racism and abuse at the hands of law enforcement takes on many forms, resulting in death by different means. While George Floyd met his death in the street, those who protested his death were charged under gang statutes that carry death-inducing life sentences. Prosecutors who routinely overcharge Black defendants are no less guilty that the officers who murdered George Floyd. The manner of death does not remove the certainty of it.

In Alabama, Black men are sentenced to death by incarceration for committing acts that when committed by white people sometimes doesn’t even result in a single day spent in jail. This need to change. The House Joint Resolution makes clear that their intent was to punish ONLY gang-related drive-by killings and/or those killings that uses a vehicle as an instrument of the crime, as a capital offense. Being Black is not a symbol for gang involvement, and being Black should no longer be countenanced as being an element of a crime. Prosecutors should not be allowed to punish Blackness; those who are currently charged or have already been wrongfully convicted as such deserve justice now.

FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT

What More Can A Person Do For Parole In Alabama?

By Brother Mika’il, a servant to the people and voice for freedom and justice.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

 

We had a brother, Tommy James Rogers, AIS 246679, go up for parole the other day with a 16 year clear record and multiple program completions, not to mention Mr. Rodgers is a first-offender who has never been in trouble before in his life or since. Nevertheless, his efforts to regain his freedom were denied by the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. 

  Mr. Rodgers has shown the upmost remorse for his crime and it shows in his actions. After first graduating himself, Mr. Rodgers went on to serve as an intern for eight (8) years in one of the most dangerous program’s in the Alabama prison system, the TC program at St. Clair CF. Mr. Rodgers further served for eight (8) years as a Facilitator for the Long Distance Dads program, in addition to completing many other programs over the years of his incarceration. (See below)

Many rehabilitative and program accomplishments. No disciplinary reports in 16 years of incarceration.

Mr. Rodgers has also worked as a trustee in the store, kitchen stock room, and on the truck crew for a combined 8 years, all while leading by example and helping others learn from their mistakes as well. Mr. Rodgers has committed himself to serving as a positive example to others entering into Alabama’s prison system. However, the decision of the Parole Board to deny him parole further shows that even with an annual budget of over $600 million, taxpayers aren’t receiving any return on their investment in Education, Rehabilitation and corrections. Indeed, if a person is completing all of the programming available and still being denied parole, what is the incentive to others to even consider engaging in Positive behavior?

Please speak up for Mr. Rodgers, as anyone and everyone who knows him can and will vouch for his character, credibility and integrity without hesitation!

He has been an inspiration to young men like myself for years, always showing and teaching what is right and standing on that even when it is dangerous to do so!

Brothers like him and his situation are never made known to the public or taken into consideration because he will come out, teach, and represent what is right and be listened to, hence stopping the “womb to prison pipeline” in the hood; something the system of racism clearly doesn’t want.

Instead of releasing people who have demonstrated their willingness to be a positive influence once returned back to society, the ABPP has released a man who had a stabbing disciplinary as short as 6 months before parole. But this man with an impeccable record before and after his one and only criminal case in his life, who, after atoning and rehabilitating himself from his one and only mistake in life, gets no justice or opportunity at redemption!!!

What can we do to help?

Well, first we need to start a petition and make calls to the parole board and every office over it, all the way to the Governor in regards to him and others like him that have impeccable proof of rehabilitation and remorse but are still being denied parole anyway.

Second, we all must start documenting our own progress of rehabilitation to present before our peers in order for them to go to bat for us with proper ammunition. No one can help us if we don’t make ourselves candidates for help.

Then, we will have evidence and a leg to stand on in our fight for liberation. Those are really the best and most important things we can do at this point; we must stand up for self and each other, it must be documented and sent through the proper channels with the full support of the Movement on the street to bring about true results.

And please know that what is going on here in Alabama with the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles is going on in most other states around the country. Texas, Ohio, Mississippi and Oklahoma, just to name a few, all have a history of this too. Denying people parole for reasons like nature of the offense is simply a way to keep the prisons full and to keep making profits off of these human warehouses and slave labor ppantatu. There are orgs introducing legislation that encourages transparency in the parole process. When people are denied, the board should explain to them what they can do to work toward going home and set out a clear parole criteria, instead of citing static, arbitrary reasons.

The current methods of denying parole for any reason or for no legit reason at all, creates feelings of hopelessness and doesn’t encourage people to want to stay on the right path, especially if they feel like they won’t make it home anyway. Thus, fighting for changes like FAM’s 12 DEMANDS is the type of legislation and change we should be pushing for.

Cases like this one should be the evidence and ammunition to make it happen. Let’s make it happen today. 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

Bro. Mika’il

ALABAMA’S NEW PRISON BUILD BEGS THE QUESTION: WILL ALABAMA EVER FREE BLACK AND POOR PEOPLE FROM SLAVERY?

 
Segregation Forever was created by former Alabama Governor George Wallace, when vowing to restrict Black people from entering state institutions. Today that same agenda is 
advanced by another Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey, who is refusing to release Black and poor White people from the segregation of the Alabama prison system, a state State institution where segregation is carried out by enslavement.

Author: David Files

On Thursday 9-3-20, Governor Ivey once again stood behind her podium still stained and scarred by the sins of Alabama’s past represented by the confederate flag. As she stood there talking, the same two words, “Segregation Forever”, once declared by a former racist Governor, stil echoes throughout her speech. The similiarities of Wallace’s declaration of “Segregation Forever” and Ivey’s determined actions to build new prisons is clear.

I remember just a few short years ago when Governor Bentley resigned as Governor and Ms. Kay Ivey took over the Governor’s seat. Ivey’s message back then was clear, simple and refreshing to the citizens of Alabama who were embarassed after Bentley’s escapades.

Governor Ivey vowed to clean up the mess. Ivey made promises to end corrupt Government actions and to clean up Alabama. At first nobody gave Ivey a chance at actually being elected Governor, much less even running for office. However, the “Clean Up Alabama” slogan provided the needed momentum to elect Kay Ivey as Governor. 

Since being elected, Ivey no longer means to clean up, but instead to cover-up the Alabama mess. Ivey was able to convince the Alabama Legislature to give her complete authority in selecting Charlie Graddick as the Director of Pardons and Paroles. Ivey fooled the Legislature, but she was unable to fool the citizens of Alabama, who saw a power hungry, fascist dictator in the making as they voted down Ivey’s attempt to obtain complete Authority in appointing School Board members.

Gov. Ivey, just because you lead the  near worst state in Education in America, doesn’t mean that we all are stupid.

Governor Ivey deliberately allowed the prison crisis to fall below a constitutional standards. Today, Ivey and every member of Government standing with her in these proposals of new prisons represent the meaning of a “Swamp”. The misuse, misappropriation and abuse of funds, unaccounted for amounts of money, a Criminal Justice System in desperate need of reform, a highly suspicious private company contract to build prisons and a skyrocketing ADOC budget, which happens to be the most corrupt department in America, is ridiculous.

 
With all of these facts staring Gov. Ivey in the face, she continues to blantantly lie to the citizens of Alabama by assuring them new prison facilities will fix the problem. It’s actually rather embarassing that Gov. Ivey and her cohorts stand up there thinking that what they are saying makes any kind of sense. The only thing that Gov. Ivey ever said that still rings true today is “it’s time to clean up  the mess in Alabama”. The very first step of that process Governor Ivey, is your immediate resignation as Governor.

Its truly sad that Gov. Ivey would have the nerve and lack of respect as a woman participating in racism, wearing blackface, to proudly proclaim that the 13th Amendment gives her Authority to warehouse and enslave human beings.

Gov. Kay Ivey in blackface

The fact is 53% of the prison population is Black, while only 27% of the Alabama population is Black. It seems to be a proud accomplishment of her Authority to warehouse and enslave Blacks in over half of your prisons while Black people only make up a little over a quarter of your state’s population. Thank you for enlightening us even more of your racist agenda Gov. Ivey. This is a perfect example of your “Segregation Forever” campaign to build new prisons. 

Governor Ivey took a tragic incident from a “non-violent” parolee named Jimmy Spencer, who sadly killed 3 innocent people while on parole, and continues to hold that tragedy against the rest of us unjustly, while denying us our deserving chance back into society. So now we hold the racist acts of past Governor’s against you Kay Ivey, because you have not only failed to prove that you are not like them, but instead have actually shown striking similiarities. There is a passage of Scripture which reads: Do not Judge others lest you yourself be Judged. It is one of my personal favorites. Today the only acceptable “Segregated” thing in Alabama is You, Kay Ivey, from the office of Governor of the State of Alabama. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) report of the unconstitutional conditions in Alabama prisons is well documented and publicized. “Alabama prisons: DOJ finds ‘frequent’ excessive force against inmates” https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/5496089002

The levels of corruption inside the ADOC, which is disturbing and unacceptable, absolutely cannot be fixed by new buildings. By this assumption and plan of Governor Ivey’s that new prisons is the answer, when it is obviously impossible, raises serious questions of how far the levels of corruption actually reach in Alabama’s system. By proposing a plan indebting Alabama citizens for decades, that doesn’t fix the problem and can only be a solution to ease the DOJ investigation for fear of what may actually be discovered. In light of the DOJ report and their recommendations, the blatant responses from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Governor Kay Ivey, and Commissioner Jeff Dunn can only mean one thing: If someone is doing something to the best of their ability and it is unconstitutional, then common sense would say they would gladly receive the assistance of the ones able to correct it.

Otherwise, as true in Alabama, if the operation is illegal in the first place and you are attempting to manipulate the ones telling you how to correct it, this can mean one only one thing:applying common sense, the “Alabama problem does not needs an Alabama solution”. It is no coincidence that this happens to be Gov. Ivey’s slogan used repeatedly concerning the unconstitutional prison crises. The blatantly incompetent responses by the leaders in position in Alabama in response to the DOJ reports is revealing. If you simply place yourself in the Governor’s position and look at the situation as a whole knowing of the corruption, what action would you take? Its simple. I too would propose the new mega-prisons, and welcome the DOJ lawsuit. By doing this I would tie up the lawsuit in court through vigorous litigation for the next two years until I get the prisons built. Then present to the federal court the solution in the form of the new prisons that temporarily relieves the problem of overcrowding and get the lawsuit dismissed. This way, I’ve accomplished the building of new prisons and relieved the burden of the DOJ investigation at the same time, while also expanding the operation of mass incarceration and enslavement.

This tactic currently in process in Alabama only kicks the can of needed and past-due reform, while also enslaving Alabama citizens to foot the bill of over 2.9 billion dollars over the next 30 years. So, what does it cost to cover up the corruption in Alabama? The answer is in the details of Gov. Ivey’s proposal to build new prisons. The fact that recent Governor’s in Alabama’s past have either been disgraced or convicted of corrupt practices serves as a reminder that the corruption hasn’t stopped.

 
If there are any allegations of corruption, racism and the desire the continue the enslavement of Black and poor white people for perpetuity that Governor Ivey’s office would like to disprove to the citizens of Alabama, we ask that you would open the books to every state agency and department, as well as all supervisors and ranking officials, and invite a Federal audit to investigate all transactions of funds and taxpayer money, fully transparent to the citizens of Alabama and media outlets since you have been Governor.

Furthermore you should release all Parole consideration records along with the criteria and guidelines used in denying the paroles. Along with an Executive Order promising that any and all corruption discovered in any capacity will be fully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, including your own. This seems like a reasonable request to make of those sworn to uphold the law and abide by the Constitution, who so eagerly wish to enter into a 30 year $ 2.9 billion dollar debt to the citizens of Alabama. 

It is the sincere Hope and Prayer of all who see through the scheme of building new prisons that the information in this publication be exposed to everyone. By accomplishing this, everyone needs to pressure lawmakers to prevent the Governor from taking this fascist, racist and unacceptable action. If lawmakers cannot prevent this action, then articles of impeachment should be proposed and pushed forward to remove a Governor for overstepping her Authority in attempting to indebt the citizens of Alabama.

ITS TIME TO CLEAN UP THE MESS IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA !!!!

BETH SHELBURNE OWES BLACK MOTHER MS. GABRIELLE EVANS AN APOLOGY FOR RACIST TWEET

Ms. Sandra Ray on the Right. Ms. Gabrielle Evans on the Left.

  When I first saw the Tweet I was immediately offended.

  I also immediately responded to it because I recognized it for what it is. Being exposed to racism and consciously fighting against it, opens ones eyes to the subtle slights and nuances when confronted with it.

  Black people are used to this type of racial discriminations when we see them. We know these tigers by their stripes well. We also know that they hate FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT and how this hatred keeps them away from us and our Movement against prison slavery. Their hate sometimes forces them to reveal their hand at times and in circumstances when they can’t help themselves. Nevertheless, their hatred, mixed with their racism will always find outlets for expression. It rips their own mask off, even when we know it was already there.

  July 15, 2020, was just the latest example. On that day, FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT was supporting another grassroots organizer, Rev. Sankey and Sis. Kim in the fight against oppression on Black people. Like FAM, Rev. Sankey doesn’t have the watered down message that others have. Like FAM, Rev. Sankey doesn’t tap dance to White Supremacy. Instead,we confront it and call it out when we see it. This means that our access to many media platforms to deliver our message is denied. We are locked out by institutional racism and the individuals who enforce it. In spite of these obstacles, we sojourn on. We simply have to grind harder to get our message out about our oppression as well as our oppressors.

  Thamkfully, for that protest, Rev. Sankey and Sis. Kim were able to reach our Sister  Ms. Gabrielle Evans. This amazing, strong and courageous Black Queen appeared on stage and delivered a message of pain, loss, courage and Black love for her son just four days after losing her 31 year-old him in an Alabama Death Camp. At the time, she was still planning her son’s funeral.

Laveris Evans was killed by systematic racism and genocide.

  Ms. Evans shared the stage that day with Ms. Sandra Ray, whose son Stephen died in 2019 in another Alabama Death Camp. Ms. Ray, though, is white. She is also the media darling and go-to person for white media personalities like Beth Shelburne. While they would never cover our events, they keep close tabs on their own. That’s how this story unfolded. Beth Shelburne was trying to support a white woman but without supporting a Black organization.

  It was this racist motive to support a white woman and to uplift the story of the white life that was lost, that equated into a difference in the way that these women were shown respect by Beth Shelburne. It took me back in history to the time when Black women were treated as less than animals by medical professionals like Dr. James Marian Sims, a story I included in my response to Beth’s racist Tweet. Dr. Sims is one of the physician who used to perform major surgical experiments on Black women without using anaesthesia because white supremacists ideology premises that Black women did not feel pain.

I thought about my own Black Mother. I contemplated how it made me feel just imagining if it were me instead of Laveris who was dead, and my Beautiful Queen and Black Mother was standing next to a white Mother who had also lost her son, and my Mom was treated with this level of disrespect and disregard. I felt rage at that moment because this same system that took Laveris’ life – and Steven’s — has also tried to take my life for fighting to reunite families just like Ms. Evans and young Black men just like her son back together. I know that racist like Beth Shelburne who have no respect for the pain and love of Black Mothers like Ms. Evans would have handled my Mom the exact same way.

Undoubtedly a Glorious Black Queen

I will defend the pain, the respect, the love and devotion of Black Mothers the World over. Black mothers feel the same sting of death as any other mother. It is not okay for Beth Shelburne or anyone to take liberties to try to highlight one life over another based on the color of skin. BLACK LIVES MATTER and BLACK MOTHERS MATTER too.

  In the midst of a protest that was attended my a majority of Black people, Beth Shelburne took the liberty and exercised her white privilege to elevated the life and loss of white Mother over a Black Mother. These Mothers literally occupied the EXACT same space, yet Beth Shelburne chose to separate them by race. This is unacceptable.

Sharing the same stage, literally standing in the same space.

An apology is DEMANDED !!! ACLU must DEMAND that their employee apologize for this racist disregard for Ms. Evans and Mr. Evans. Black Lives Matter is not a slogan to everyone.

BHRS

FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT

p. s. For those who may want to try to defend these racist actions of Beth Shelburne, I ask you where were you when it was time to defend Ms. Gabrielle Evans and the life of her son?