City College Takes Fugitives' Names Off Campus Center

2006_12_joannachemiard.jpgA day after the Daily News reported that City College had allowed a campus center to be named after two controversial figures on its cover, complete with scorching editorial criticizing the school, City College's chancellor Matthew Goldstein had the sign taken down. The center was called the Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center. Guillermo Morales was a radical for Puerto Rico's independence and made bombs, including one that killed four people at Fraunces Tavern in 1975. His fingers blown off while making a bomb, but he escaped from Bellevue to Mexico and now lives in Cuba. Shakur, born Joanne Chesimard, was a member of the Black Liberation Army. In 1973, she killed NJ State trooper Wayne Foerster, she escaped from prison in 1979, headed to Cuba and now goes by Assata Shakur. There is still a $1 million reward for her capture.

Apparently the trustees never approved the sign! We're confused, because the News reported, "The Morales/Shakur Center got its name in 1989, a reward to radical students who took over City College's North Academic Center to protest a proposed tuition hike." So, the sign has been there for 17 years, but the board never approved it? Nice! Especially after the school told the News on Monday they weren't going to take it down. The groups that use the center are the Students for Educational Rights, the Student Liberation Action Movement and Dominicans 2000.

2006_12_chesmiard2.jpgCity College reaction was mixed about the sign. Some didn't realize the center was named after a "terrorist" while others said Shakur is a hero and was framed by the government. The Daily News story was prompted by a letter from student Sergey Kadinsky who wanted to "raise awareness and raise a debate." Our commenters had some interesting POVs yesterday:

- Its one thing to name a center after someone like Malcom X - who, while controversial and sometimes vitriolic is seen by many as a community hero. Its another to name it after a cop murderer on the FBI's wanted terrorist list. That is simply insulting to every man and woman-in-blue who put their lives on the line to protect the public.

- this whole assata shakur thing is bullshit...the dominant group in America (Whites) do not want her name removed from the sign simply because she is a 'cop-killer', but because she is a 'black militant' whose main goal is to 'terrorize' and shake the very foundation of the U.S. racist structure in which rich whites have strived so long and hard to maintain and protect. she represents everything the social, political and economic elite in this wretched country hate--someone from a disadvantaged group who 'doesn't know their place'.

What do you think of City College's decision to de-sign the center? And former Governor Mario Cuomo, who had vetoed the tuition increase at the time, told the NY Times, "Considering the problems we have in society. I’m not sure this is one of the major upsets to our tranquility and equilibrium."

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Praising peaceful protesters are one thing; elevating killers to the status of "hero" is another.

If these two people are indeed being "Framed" by the Gov't (I really doubt it, Guillermo Morales lost fingers while making a Bomb!), they should come back and fight it in court.

Pulling the name from this Student Center is the right thing to do.

"Shake the very foundation of the U.S" is just so easy to say especially when it costs other people their lives.

"His fingers blown off while making a bomb,"

Come on, Jen! What the hell does the title Editor mean on this site anyway?

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Assata's autobiography is one of the most moving books I've ever read, and based on her experiences, I'd say she deserves at least a small room named after her. People - including the AP - need to learn more about her before calling her a killer.

http://www.assatashakur.org/

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>>"Shake the very foundation of the U.S" is just so easy to say especially when it costs other people their lives.

You are damned right it is easy to say. It is a lot easier than getting shot at 41 or 50 times because you're black in this town.

Meanwhile, nobody notices while former Secretary of State, former Joint Chiefs of Staff, (and forever an Uncle Tom) Colin Powell gets a whole fucking CCNY building and program in his "honor." Because lying in order to justify three unnecessary and brutal wars of aggression -- that is the height of what we "honor" in America.

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Everyone should learn both sides of the story before jumping to any conclusions about this woman.

The status quo is as it is. Until the "little people" step up and make some changes, heroes will be stored away in an old dusty closet. There are certain people in history that acadamia does not want the masses to read about or learn about. If the masses knew some ideas that lingered out there, it could cause a revolution to regenerate itself.

The USA is not ready for another revolutionary war or a civil war. The land in America is no longer for sale and the status quo has been set in place.

*Everyone should learn both sides of the story before jumping to any conclusions about this woman.*

Yeah! Everyone should learn both sides of the story about Al Qaeda before jumping to conclusions about them.

What can you expect from a university that allowed 9 people to be trampled to death at a celebrity basketball game because proper security wasn't brought in?

See link below:
http://www.city-journal.org/article01.php?aid=1556

Like you rich whiny whities would ever set foot in CCNY or that lounge.
Or, even take the A train up there.
Please, don't make me laff.
viva la revolution. Just keep drinking your frat beers.

>>"You are damned right it is easy to say. It is a lot easier than getting shot at 41 or 50 times because you're black in this town."

The difference being that, thankfully, no one seems to be naming a Student Center after any of those police officers.

The Wiki page has this:
"Between 1973 and 1977, in New York and New Jersey, Shakur was indicted 10 times in 7 different criminal trials, including two bank robberies, the kidnapping of a drug dealer, attempted murder of several police officers and the murder of a New Jersey state trooper."

IMO, it's wrong to name a Student Center after someone indicted for bank robbery, kidnapping, etc.

Also, The Student center was called "The Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center". Guillermo Morales, the bomber?

Even if Assata Shakur is innocent, is Guillermo Morales?

if you asked a native american, for example, how many schools, buildings, statues have been erected to honor "terrorists?"

: dubarry | December 13, 2006 3:04 PM
______
You made a good point.

Have you seen the T-Shirts that have pictures of a group of American Indians with rifles on it and the caption reads something like..."HOMELAND SECURITY FROM THE BEGINNING..." Meaning they, the American Indians, established a homeland security long ago and had tried to keep "terroist" out. They tried to keep "terroist" from destroying their way of life. Isn't that an ironic picture.

I was a founding member of SLAM in 1996, a student at Hunter College and one of many, many New Yorkers who respects Assata Shakur for her many contributions.

She is free in Cuba. The American government openly tortures people in a literal concentration camp they maintain against the wishes of the Cuban government and in shameless violation of the Geneva Convention.

But we're debating Assata, right?

Let's get real about who the "terrorists" are.

Assata Shakur never killed anyone, not even the Fraternal Order of Police claims she pulled a trigger.

While Pat Lynch, defender of Amadou Diallo's killers and Abner Louima's rapist torturers gets respectful coverage in the Daily News and Fox's myriad tentacles – it is exactly his hypocrisy in selective endorsement of violence that is at issue.

After all, how many members of the NYPD gave money to Sinn Fein, or Irish Northern Relief?

Isn't "Homeland Security" honcho Rep. Peter King a longtime friend of Sinn Fein?

Seriously.

So while Pat Lynch and Peter King rail about "terrorists," maybe they should look in the mirror.

Hundreds of Panthers were framed up, driven into exile, maligned in the media as part of now-exposed government operation called Cointelpro. It was started by J. Edgar Hoover and illegalized even peaceful organizations – driving many to radicalism.

Assata beat them. She is at liberty – and loved right here in New York... and the more scum like the PBA and FOP demonize her... the more we love her.

Stay Free Assata!

A wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all...

It can be broken down.

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Easy solution: Let the students of CCNY decide through a democratic election what they shall name not just that room, but the entire NAC student center... What right does the board of trustees have to over-ride student democracy?

Thank you for covering this important news story. The campus student center belongs to all students, not just terrorist-supporting radicals.

Visit my blog, www/xanga.com/mazeartist for more details on the controversy.

I'm glad they are going to fix this; now we just need to get Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat's Nobel "peace" prizes repossessed since they are both terrorists as well.

"But we're debating Assata, right?"
Last I checked, but you left Off Abu Gharib, the War in Iraq, Giving Sadaam Hussein Never Agents in the 80's, the Imprisonment of Americans of Japanese descent, The wholesale slaughter of American Indians, etc...

But we're debating Assata, right?

"the burningman", Riddle me this: Did she or did she not participate in two bank robberies, the kidnapping of a drug dealer, attempted murder of several police officers and the murder of a New Jersey state trooper?

Even if you knock off the murder of a New Jersey state trooper from the list, this isn't a revolutionary, it's a criminal.

Again: "Shake the very foundation of the U.S" is just so easy to say especially when it costs other people their lives.

BTW: NICE Web Site! Are you an actual Communist Idealist? Sadly, It's a dying breed.

Burning man - well though out response, with a reasonable conclusion, thank you.

sergey- almost nonsensical spam-like two sentence post. not to mention a shameless plug to your 'xanga'. did someone forget to tell you that shit if for 11 year old girls?

hahahahahahahahahaha

Free in Cuba - what an oxymoron - maybe she's wearing tight slacks and eating jumbo shrimp down there too.

also, why can't they name it after someone who was more productive, like Shirley Chisholm?

Not that I'm advocating anything...

But what's wrong with robbing banks?

Steal one dollar and they call you a criminal. Destroy whole countries and they call you a hero.

Colin Powell first came to national prominence for white-washing the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. Look it up. He was the commander of the military that had more weapons of mass destruction than the rest of the world combined, and helped to enforce the sanctions regime against Iraq that (according to UNICEF) was responsible for over 500,000 child deaths due to lack of sanitation and medications.

Assata never killed anyone. No evidence. None.

If Sergei is so game to see what students think, I'm sure he'll support a student plebascite on the issue.

Google games? Try this one:

Search "Fred Hampton" and then talk to me about the cost in human life.

You think "communist idealists" are a dying breed?

Well, let me say it again: Assata Shakur is free and a million dollar bounty hasn't killed her yet.

Celebrate.

When students stood up for accessible education at CCNY – They respected and loved Assata, too. So, from 1970 to 1989 to right now, this "dying breed" is here and growing, while chumpchange brownshirts like Sergei hide behind the skirts of a Pataki-appointed Board of Trustees.

What did Dead Prez say?

"Get free or die trying."

if you were acting on the popular democratic support from a voting electorate you might be able to rob a bank too. see the difference?

Right... democracy in government... That's why the troops are coming right home after that last election...

But, following the logic of your logic, this would be akin to the now forgotten Savings & Loan scandal of the Reagan/Bush era – when HUNDREDS of banks were robbed by the very people who owned them.

If THAT'S democracy in action, no wonder there are outlaws.

no, i'm afraid you're not following my logic. there's actually also a difference between a popularly elected government and a banker.

"You think "communist idealists" are a dying breed?"
In the US, Absolutely. Tell me, Does the American Communist Party still march into the NAC Cafeteria on May Day and attempt to rally the early morning students to their cause? It was an amusing sign of Spring.

"a million dollar bounty hasn't killed her yet."?
Well, I don't think it's a "Wanted: Dead or Alive" bounty. Do you suppose she'll still be safe after Fidel Castro dies? When Cuba and the US normalize relations (50 years too late!) I'm betting she goes into hiding in Cuba.

"brownshirts"?
Riiiiight.

How about a little less propaganda and more facts? Even if she did not kill Officer Foerster, she participated in the events that led to his death and the death of Zayd Shakur.

Robbing the "Rich", "Shaking up society", fighting the "Pigs" is all very romantic, but normal people suffer for it.

"If THAT'S democracy in action, no wonder there are outlaws."
You seem to justify Assata Shakur robbing banks, kidnapping people by bringing up non-related events. That's simply an excuse to justify a violent agenda. Why not simply say "Two wrongs make a right"?

Want to make a real difference? Motivate people though other methods than violence. Instead of simply being a "Rebel", participate.

All call for action!

Dear Community Members:

As you may have seen or heard in the media over the
past 36 hours, the Guillermo Morales/ Assata Shakur
Community and Student Center at City College is under
attack. The Center was the product of struggle, waged
by many people of African and Latino heritage who
chose to name it after Guillermo Morales and Assata
Shakur. The contributions of these activists to the
fight for social justice is recognized through the
Center's name and their standing in the broader
community.

We are aware of the experience these individuals had
with the criminal
justice system. It is crucial to state that Assata
Shakur, whose reputation is currently being spun by
the Daily News and other media
outlets, was wrongfully convicted of killing a NJ
State Trooper
according to irrefutable physical evidence. We believe
in her innocence, and choose to continue honoring her
commitment to the struggle for racial justice by
defending the center's name for the last 17 years.

We need the community's support in asserting our right
to name the
Center after Assata Shakur and to resist any attempt
to undermine that
right At the meeting, community members can expect an
introduction to the Center's work over the years and
thorough explanation of the
current persecution.

We hope for a discussion of how we can collaborate and
assure our
mutual goals. Ultimately, we wish to open up City
College to the
community using the Morales/Shakur Center as a bridge.

Friday December 15 7:30pm
Morales/Shakur Community & Student Center
City College
North Academic Center (NAC) 3/201
(212) 650-5008
train: A,B,C,D to 145 st. walk down Convent; 1 to 137
st. walk up hill
to Amsterdam
bus: M100, M101 to 137; M4, M5 to 137, walk up to
Amsterdam

Looking forward to a constructive dialogue
Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center
Students for Educational Rights (SER)
Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM!)

#9 no touchie

Like you rich whiny whities would ever set foot in CCNY or that lounge.
you say that like it's a bad thing

Roberto, a few notes:
You said

"was wrongfully convicted of killing a NJ State Trooper according to irrefutable physical evidence."

But you neglected to mention that she convicted by a Jury of her peers for that murder and for the death of fellow activist Zayd Shakur, who was killed that night along with officer Foerster in the shooting. You also make no mention of this "irrefutable physical evidence".

I also find it Odd that you make no mention of Guillermo Morales being a FALN bomber.

I'll go out on a limb here: Would I be mistaken to assume you Don't support Bombings as a means of political discourse? You don'tthink blowing up people is "constructive dialogue", do you?

IMO, You and others have chosen odd people to admire and idolize.

First of all, anyone who knows me understands that my family cmae from a communist country, so there is a reason why i have such a strong disapproval for Che Guevara, among other leftist idols.

Second of all the personal insults that osme peole here are throwing at me are useless, because they will not deter me from pursuing justice for the victims of Ms. Shakur. Did you know that she robbed a church in Brooklyn at gunpoint in 1972?

Finally, I come from a working-class background and am proud to attend CCNY

One last note on the idealists... Okay, two:

Cynicism is just idealism for assholes.

And... Let's just remember that whatever notions you have of the 1930s at CCNY, the student center at CCNY is currently named after Assata Shakur.

Those who oppose this naming are afraid of a democratic decision of the student body on the matter and would prefer that government figures impose their dictate.

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In lieu of the racist attacks on Assata Shakur, I figured I post this petition in support of her. It also includes some information on her.

Roberto R

"the burningman", I've got one better:
A conservative is a Liberal who got punched in the face once too often.

In case it was pointed at me; I'm not a Cynic, I just think it's wrong to idolize violence.

Let's just remember that whatever notions you have of the 1930s at CCNY, her and Guillermo Morales crimes took place in the 1970's.

"Those who oppose this naming are afraid of a democratic decision of the student body on the matter and would prefer that government figures impose their dictate."?

Democratic Decision? Did I miss something? Was a vote held to rename that series of rooms on the 3rd Floor? Again, your spouting propaganda.

Roberto, you want a dialog, here it is. Don't run away from it an ignore valid questions under the excuse of Racism.

Roberto, Nice video. That video is all propaganda. It seeks to erase her crimes (i.e. Bank Robbery, kidnapping, etc.) because American History is full of atrocities. So, it's safe to say you believe two wrongs make a right?

I'm curious: Will you add Mumia Abu-Jamal's name to the Student Center too?

Again, You want a dialog, here's you chance.

Student Democracy! Did you seem to forget that this is a publicly funded school? Do you think this is your little fiefdom where the overbearing liberals get to censor any opposition? Even if you can get away with it now, enjoy it while you can, before you realize what a pathetic misfit you are and how you will never amount to anything after college because everyone else has grown up and hasn't got the time to protest every perceived slight.

Have a good time earning your financially WORTHLESS degree in black history.

Why does this site sensor? What good does it do to present an idea if people can't comment and have others read it without GOTHAMIST passing "judgment" and leaving out certain comments and leaving others. Don't post it if we can't speak our mind.

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Assata Shakur is a revolutionary, mother, poet, artist. A beautiful woman who fought for oppressed people all across the country.

One day she and her friends Sundiata Acoli,and Zyed Shakur were pulled over by NJ state troopers. They defended themselves against what was more than likely an attack on their lives. Assata's friend and a NJ state trooper were killed that night. Assata was wounded twice and one shot left her paralyze in her arm for months .Sundiata escaped (only 2 be captured soon.) in the hospital she was beaten and tortured ( I've seen pictures proving it) by the NJ state police. She was held in the basement of a Mens correctional facility for years before being tried by an all white Jury ( come ooooon dammit it was the 1970s at that!) . Her inhumane treatment during that time can be captured in her autobiography ASSATA. She escaped to Cuba where she is currently in exhile.....

wow, RR, that sounds almost like a fairytale

Ok, here's one:

On May 2, 1973 New Jersey State Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster were patrolling the New Jersey Turnpike in the area of East Brunswick. They stopped a car with three occupants.

The Troopers were questioning the occupants when the driver and female passenger suddenly came up with semi-automatic pistols and opened fire. Trooper Foerster was struck twice in the chest, and Trooper Harper was hit in the shoulder. The female then proceeded to take the service weapon from the injured Trooper Foerster’s. She pointed it at the wounded Trooper and shot him twice in the head, execution style. The thirty-four-year-old trooper with just three years on the road died soon after. He left a wife and family behind.

Human rights and community groups cite examples that demonstrate the potentially fatal consequences of "driving while black." In 1995, Jonny Gammage (cousin of professional football player Ray Seals) was driving his luxury car through a Pittsburgh suburb when police stopped him. The officers crushed Gammage, who died of asphyxiation. Six years ago, Archie Elliott, a black motorist, was stopped by police in Prince Georges County, Maryland. The police handcuffed Elliott, placed him in the front passenger seat of their patrol car, and shot him 14 times. In North Carolina, a young man named Kenneth Fennell was killed in 1994 by a North Carolina state trooper who claimed that the 23-year-old accounting student was a drug dealer.

More recently, the New Jersey state police have come under fire for the racial profiling of African American motorists. According to the U.S. Justice Department, 72% of drivers stopped by the New Jersey police are black, although African-Americans make up only a small fraction of total drivers. Last year, two troopers patrolling the New Jersey Turnpike fired 11 shots into a van carrying four men of color. As a result of an outcry from the Black community, the Justice Department has begun an investigation into the State Police, whose commissioner was fired recently for making racially insensitive remarks.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0358227

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Why this attack on a relatively small usually unnoticed student / community center at CCNY at this time? Clearly the New York Police are in a heap of trouble these days after the outrageous police murder of Sean Bell, a young unarmed African American man who was to be married a few hours later, which has sparked militant protests in New York and outrage in New York and around the world.

Wow, when she robbed the church at gunpoint in Brooklyn was she afraid that a bigoted priest was going to kill her?

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I will now read from the 5 proofs that Assata Shakur is innocent, given by Evelyn Williams of the NJ crime labs in Trenton NJ and the FBI crime labs in Washington D.C.:

- The finger print analyses of every gun and every piece of ammunition found at the scene showed that there were no fingerprints of Assata found on any of them.

- Neutron Activation Analysis showed there was no gunpowder residue on her hands effectively refuting the possibility that she had fired a gun.

- Assata was shot under her armpit by NJ State Trooper James Harper, severely wounding and paralyzing her.

- A surgeon testified that “it was anatomically necessary that both arms be in the air for Ms. Chesimard [Assata Shakur] to have received the wounds that she did.

I will now offer 5 comments from the 5 "proofs" that Assata Shakur is innocent:

"- The finger print analyses of every gun and every piece of ammunition found at the scene showed that there were no fingerprints of Assata found on any of them."
Because it was impossible that they were wiped down, right?

"- Neutron Activation Analysis showed there was no gunpowder residue on her hands effectively refuting the possibility that she had fired a gun."
Very High tech, but when was it done? How long after the murder?

"- Assata was shot under her armpit by NJ State Trooper James Harper, severely wounding and paralyzing her."
And yet, she fled for several days. Was both arms shot and Paralyzed?

"- A surgeon testified that “it was anatomically necessary that both arms be in the air for Ms. Chesimard [Assata Shakur] to have received the wounds that she did."
I don't know about that. Even if true, it doesn't testify if she shot anyone or participated in that murder.

Based on both accounts: In my very unqualified opinion, Here is what I think happened: She and her colleagues got out with guns drawn.

This wasn't a "Police Murder Squad", it was just a car being pulled over. I'm sorry but acting belligerent and getting out of a car with guns drawn is an excellent reason for the police to open fire.

This entire tragic situation would never have happened if Assata Shakur and her colleagues did not pull out weapons. Which begs the question: Where they wanted prior to being pulled over? Could it be that the motivation for drawing a gun on police officers was not be "Revolution" but the desire not to get caught?

Roberto, are you still calling for the "Student Center" to be named after Guillermo Morales too?

Don't keep running away from the tough questions: Do you or Don't you support Bombings as a means of political discourse? Do you think blowing up people is "constructive dialogue", do you?
Do you support murder as "political expression"?

If so, you and GW Bush have too much in common.

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GWB invaded Iraq and used extreme amount of violence for political change. Killed thousands of Iraqis and US soldiers.

Truman dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, should we re-name anything with his name?

Many of the founding founders owned slaves and used them like property and kept them in bondage by force, should we re-name anything with their name, better yet, lets take their faces off the currency.

Columbus to part in the genocide of Native Americans and used violence to get his way, why don't we re-name Columbus day since we are all becoming pacifist and hate anyone who even dares to kill anyone for political reasons.

Lets also not forget the slavery, people who were assassinated during the civil rights movement and during the black power movement.

This is jus

See, you racist bigots and the media, hate resistance from the oppressed and what a world where the oppressor can do anything ie Lebanon has no right to kidnap Israeli soldiers yet Israel has in many cases kidnapped Lebanese civilians which is worst off crime under international laws, is that to say Israel should be invaded and haves its people killed and its infrastructures destroyed? no one in the media is calling for that, but off course is a okay for Israel to invade Lebanon and kill people in Palestine.

It is rather funny you see, the criminals of the state want to get rid of crime, the America terrorist want to get rid of terrorism, is like for a child molester like Foley who wanted to protect the children of this country. The hypocrisy you see is plain to see. It is just ideology to cover what they real are - racist bigots who want to keep oppressed people oppressed.

RR (Roberto? I doubt it, but I could be wrong) a few comments:
"GWB invaded Iraq and used extreme amount of violence for political change. Killed thousands of Iraqis and US soldiers."
Absolutely and I think it was wrong too.

"Truman dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, should we re-name anything with his name?"
Actually, I think they did. In any case, it's one thing killing someone during a war that was started against you (Japan attacked us first, remember?) another to kill a police officer for just pulling you over.

After that you seem to degrade into one hell of a run on sentence, among other things.

Let me see if I follow:
We're talking about "The Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center", you respond by

  1. Implying that GW Bush was correct. (Or did I read it wrong?)
  2. Mention Pres. Truman dropping the Atom Bomb.
  3. Mention the deplorable fact that some of our founding fathers had Slaves and suggest we take their names off things.
  4. Mention Columbus but leave out that he petitioned Queen Isabella to enslave the locals. (She said NO, BTW)
  5. Mention Civil rights era assassinations (Acts of terrorism)
  6. Etc.

From there you jump to Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Former Rep. Mark Foley (an apparent pedophile), mention what you consider Hypocrisy and I Totally lost you about here...

Let me summarize: You think anyone who disagrees with you is a "racist bigot".

A Very mature dialog. It's my sincere hope your not an example of a college student in CCNY today.

Radical chic. How....quaint(?)

SD-

Don't worry about Roberto. When someone is losing a debate, changing the topic and name-calling show desperation. Most CCNY students are hardworking and motivated to succeed in life. In fact, most go to class and then to work. You won't find much partying or fraternities on my campus- we are all busy studying. I love my college, in spite of the few radicals who are ruining its reputation.

I agree, RR is definitely the loser here, and he's hasn't mentioned nor bothered to debate Morales cause even he knows it's a losing situation.

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Armed Man Shot Dead By Police, 5th Police Shooting In A Month

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=12&aid=65076

Overall, in 2005, Blacks made up 40 percent of all inmates--three times larger than their proportion in the U.S. population. According to the Sentencing Project, in seven states--Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota--African Americans are incarcerated at more than 10 times the rate of whites.

You are totally useless RR, these facts don't dispute the facts that Assata and Morales are criminals and should be locked up. You lost your debate with SD already so give it up, asshole!!

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Assata Shakur

Assata Shakur was one of many revolutionaries in the U.S. driven into exile in the 1960s and ’70s. She has been living in Cuba since 1984 and is also the godmother of the late Tupac Shakur.

During the 1960s, Assata participated in the Black liberation movement, the student movement and the struggle against the Vietnam War. She became a member of the Black Panther Party in New Jersey.

On May 2, 1973, Assata and fellow Panther members were pulled over by the New Jersey state police. An unarmed Assata was shot twice--and then charged with murder of a white police officer. She was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison. She spent six-and-a-half years behind bars before escaping from the Clinton Correctional Facitlity for Women in 1979.

“[F]earing that I would be murdered in prison, and knowing that I would never receive any justice, I was liberated from prison, aided by committed comrades who understood the depths of the injustices in my case, and who were also extremely fearful for my life,” she said.

The federal government continues to pursue Assata. Last May, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez authorized a $1 million bounty “for information leading to the return” of Assata Shakur.

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Angela Davis

Angela Davis grew up in the segregated South, attending Black-only schools until she was accepted into an American Friends Service Committee program that brought her north to attend high school in New York City. Her further studies took her to Brandeis University in Boston, and later to the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Frankfurt in Germany.

Returning to the U.S., Davis immersed herself in the Black liberation and women’s liberation struggles. In 1969, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan fired Davis from her job as a lecturer at the University of California-Los Angeles because of her membership in the Communist Party. Following an outburst of opposition, she was later rehired.

The next year, Davis was charged with conspiracy and murder for her supposed participation in a plan to help radical Black prisoner George Jackson escape. After 18 months behind bars, Davis was acquitted of all charges.

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Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925. He endured a childhood of racist violence that claimed his father’s life and made his mother mentally ill. After moving from Michigan to New York and later Boston, he was arrested and sent to prison for burglary in 1946.

While behind bars, he converted to the Nation of Islam, and began using “X” to stand in for a name that was stolen during slavery. A brilliant speaker and debater, after his release, Malcolm became the Nation’s most effective organizer and spokesperson.

With the civil rights movement in motion in the South, Malcolm came to represent the more militant face of Black anger at racism in the U.S. He was harshly critical of movement leaders for insisting on nonviolent civil obedience and limiting the struggle to Southern voting rights. His outspoken support of the right of self-defense against racist attacks won growing support among the new generation of young civil rights activists.

In late 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, tensions within the Nation came to a head, leading Malcolm to break politically. Following a trip to Africa and the Middle East, Malcolm concluded that the Black struggle in the U.S. was bound up with anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggles around the world. He formed a new organization independent of the Nation and began building ties with other activists.

On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated during a speech in Harlem in a plot that is thought to have involved the FBI. But his influence was deeply felt in the Black Power movement to come, and continues to be to this day.

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Geronimo ji Jaga Pratt

Geronimo ji Jaga Pratt was a decorated Vietnam veteran and prominent member of the Black Panther Party in California in the late 1960s. He would spend 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit--one of the highest-profile victims of the FBI’s COINTELPRO operation.

After serving in Vietnam, Geronimo relocated from Louisiana to Los Angeles, where his enormous talents as a political organizer were quickly recognized. He became a leader of the Panthers in LA after the FBI-sponsored murder of Bunchy Carter and John Huggins in the fall of 1969.

Soon after, the FBI targeted Geronimo for “neutralization.” In 1970, he was charged with the murder of a Santa Monica schoolteacher, Caroline Olsen. From the start, Geronimo maintained his innocence, saying that he was in San Francisco attending a national meeting of the Panthers at the time that Olsen was killed.

The FBI could have proved that Geronimo was in San Francisco at the time of the murder because it was monitoring phone calls at the Panthers’ headquarters in Oakland. But this information was suppressed. The chief witness at Geronimo’s trial was a paid informant of the FBI, Los Angeles police and the LA District Attorney’s office.

Geronimo was falsely convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Amnesty International designated him “a prisoner of conscience,” and many well-known people, including his lawyer, the late Johnny Cochrane, campaigned for his release. He was turned down for parole 16 times.

Geronimo’s conviction was overturned in 1997, and he was finally released from prison.

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John Africa

John Africa, born Vincent Leaphart, co-founded the radical, mainly Black organization MOVE in Philadelphia in 1972. The group immediately faced harassment from police and city officials.

In 1978, Philadelphia Mayor Frank “Super-cop” Rizzo ordered a blockade of MOVE’s headquarters in a West Philadelphia neighborhood. An attempt to force out those occupying the building preceded a “shootout” in which MOVE members say they didn’t fire a shot. One officer was fatally wounded, almost certainly by a police bullet, but 10 members of the MOVE group were convicted of his murder.

Later, John Africa helped establish a new MOVE headquarters on Osage Avenue in Philadelphia. On May 13, 1985, police--allegedly responding to complaints from neighbors--surrounded the new MOVE home.

During the siege, a police helicopter dropped an explosive charge on the roof of the building, causing a fire that leveled the surrounding city block, destroying a total of 62 homes. John Africa was one of the 11 victims--five of them children--of the explosion and resulting fire.

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Ramona Africa

Ramona Africa was the only adult in the MOVE building to survive the police bombing in May 1985. Yet she, not the cops, was arrested on riot and conspiracy charges, and sent to jail for seven years.

On her release, her civil lawsuit pinned the blame for the bombing on city officials. Since then, Ramona Africa has continued the struggle to win freedom for MOVE members--and is a leader in the campaign in support of journalist and MOVE supporter Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was framed and sent to death row after helping to expose the truth about the first siege of the MOVE home in 1978.

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Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier is one of America’s longest-serving political prisoners. He has spent almost half his life--some 30 years--in prison for a crime he didn’t commit: the murder of two of FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in June 1975.

Peltier was an active member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the late 1960s and ’70s. AIM was subject to vicious government persecution. From 1973 to 1976, during the FBI’s “reign of terror” on the Pine Ridge reservation, more 60 AIM members and supporters were killed. Across the country, AIM leaders were murdered or jailed on trumped-up charges.

On February 6, 1976, Peltier was extradited from Canada to the U.S. based on coerced and fraudulent testimony. Federal prosecutors presented similar testimony during his subsequent trial in 1977--while suppressing evidence beneficial to Peltier. Years later, Peltier’s supporters learned through the Freedom of Information Act that a critical ballistics test on the rifle Peltier supposedly used was negative. As Lynn Crooks, the lead prosecutor in the Peltier, later admitted: “We can’t prove who shot those agents.”

In 2000, at the end of the Clinton administration, Amnesty International called on the president “to free a prisoner whose guilt has long been in question.” But as in past such efforts, FBI personnel mobilized a bitter opposition, and Clinton did nothing.

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George Jackson

George Jackson was one of the most prominent figures of the radical movement of the 1960s, and his prison writings, published in a book called Soledad Brother, touched the lives of millions when they came out in the early 1970s. But since his assassination in 1971, he has been almost forgotten by the general public.

Jackson was sentenced to prison in 1958 for his part in a $70 gas station robbery. He was given a 1-year-to-life sentence under California’s then “indeterminate” sentencing guidelines--which meant that he had no fixed sentence and was at the mercy of prison officials, who could keep extending his jail term if they chose to.

While Jackson was in prison, the civil rights and Black Power movements were sweeping the country. They had a huge impact on him, and he turned his life around. Jackson read voraciously and became an outspoken activist and writer. The Black Panther Party was so impressed by Jackson that it gave him the rank of field marshal.

After Jackson and two other inmates were charged with the murder of a prison guard in 1970, support committees sprang up across the country. Before he could stand trial, Jackson was killed by San Quentin prison guards on August 21, 1971--allegedly because he was trying to escape.

Prison officials spun a fantastical story claiming that Jackson’s lawyer, Stephen Bingham, smuggled a gun into San Quentin--past an array of metal detectors--and handed it to Jackson, who then hid it in his Afro before the shooting began. Bingham fled the country following Jackson’s assassination. He returned to the U.S. in 1984, and in 1986, he was tried and acquitted of all charges related to the alleged “escape attempt.”

There can be little doubt that George Jackson was targeted by the authorities because of his prominence as an articulate Black revolutionary, speaking out from within prison walls.

His assassination has never been seriously investigated, but Jackson’s writings remain a powerful indictment of racism in the criminal justice system and U.S. society at large--which is undoubtedly why Schwarzenegger singled him out for special attention.

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Dhoruba Bin Wahad

Dhoruba al-Mujahid Bin Wahad is the adopted name of Richard Moore. He joined the Black Panther Party in New York in 1968.

Bin Wahad was first arrested in 1969 as part of the Panther 21 conspiracy case, in which leaders of the group were charged in a conspiracy to blow up New York City department stores, subway stations and police stations. This nakedly political trial was an effort to destroy the East Coast leadership of the Black Panther Party.

But on May 13, 1971, after the longest political trial in state history, all 21 Panthers were acquitted of all charges after the jury deliberated for just 45 minutes.

While free on bail before the trial, Bin Wahad had fled to Algeria, but he returned to the U.S. following the acquittal. Shortly afterward, he was charged in the deaths of several police officers in New York. It took three trials to convict him, and he was sentenced to 25 years to life.

In 1988, Bin Wahad appealed his conviction, based on uncovered FBI COINTELPRO documents revealing the prosecutors’ suppression of evidence beneficial to the defense. His conviction was overturned in March 1990.

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Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal became probably the best-known death row political prisoner in the U.S.

Growing up in Philadelphia, Mumia joined the Black Panthers as a teenager, becoming Minister for Information of the Philadelphia chapter. During the 1970s, he turned to broadcasting and became one of the top names in local radio. His journalism helped to expose police misconduct and brutality, earning him the lasting hatred of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

On December 9, 1981, while he was driving a cab, Mumia saw his brother being beaten by police officer Daniel Faulkner, and intervened. Both he and Faulkner were shot in the ensuing confrontation. Despite witnesses who reported a shooter fleeing the scene, Mumia--who nearly died from his wounds--was arrested and charged with Faulkner’s murder.

The case against him was full of holes, but prosecutors succeeded in sending Mumia to death row--thanks especially to the misconduct of trial judge Albert Sabo, a life member of the FOP who handed out more death sentences than any other judge in the modern era of the death penalty.

Mumia didn’t remain silent on death row--on the contrary, he became the “voice of the voiceless,” penning several books and numerous articles from his tiny cell. National Public Radio offered to air his radio commentaries, but censored them at the last minute after a campaign by the FOP.

Mumia won a new federal appeal that could lead to a new trial--and hopefully his freedom.

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Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was the best-known leader of the struggle to overturn South Africa’s racist apartheid system--under which a small white minority held power and denied all rights to the Black majority.

Mandela became politically active as a student, joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942 and co-founding its youth organization in 1944. The ANC’s nonviolent campaigns of the 1950s had mass support, but were brutally suppressed. Mandela led the organization in adopting a strategy of armed struggle. He was arrested in 1962, and spent almost three decades behind bars in the notorious Robbin Island prison.

Mandela and the ANC were denounced as “terrorists” not only by the regime, but by the U.S. government and multinational corporations that wanted to do business in South Africa. But an international solidarity campaign exposed the truth about apartheid, and Mandela became a hero around the world.

With the struggle--led increasingly by Black workers--growing ever more powerful, Mandela was released in 1990, and the ban on the ANC was lifted. Following negotiations led by Mandela, the ANC won the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, and Mandela became president.

mazeartist and Dude; I'm hardly worried (or impressed) by "RR" (I hope it's not the same as Roberto) but I would enjoy a good discussion. To be fair, I seriously doubt anything could be said (or as ""RR" demonstrates, not said) about Assata Shakur or Guillermo Morales could erase the results of the crimes they committed, but it might demonstrate that they turned a new leaf in life.

At this time, "RR" isn't writing or discussing anything, merely cutting and pasting old propaganda and inserting clips about people unrelated to the topic at hand.

If "RR" wants to merely be a parrot for other people's opinion, it's sad, but that's "RR"'s choice. I suppose it's easier to believe that there is some "Evil Empire" to be struck against than face reality.

You see that? Because he is losing the debate, RR chose to flood Gothamist with spam- promoting other "wrongly convicted" radicals. Find me one inmate who does not think that he or she is innocent!

mazeartist I forgot to mention: I'm a product of CUNY and I attended classes at CCNY before changing my major.

I believe it's a fact that most students in CUNY are hard working. They tend to have a sincere desire to get an education and get on with life.

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Bronx teach is fan of killer on the run

http://www.nydailynews.com/12-15-2006/news/local/story/480316p-404131c.html

NY Daily News featured a Bronx teacher who uses Assata's autobiography in his class. Some of his quotes were pretty spot on.

"I don't think it's wrong to name a center after her, unless she gets a free and fair trial - which I don't think was possible for a member of the Black Panthers in the early 1970s," Feinberg said. "In my mind, she hasn't been proven guilty, and thus she's innocent. That's the law."

That for me is the key thing, can a Black women who was part of the Black Panther and political activist during the 70's get a free and fair trial? NO! She was convicted by an ALL WHITE jury. Let us not forget that. Let alone in New Jersey where state troopers have in recent past been accused of racial profiling. I posted all the stories above to show that the criminal injustice system is nothing but a racist system and to deny that is like denying the holocaust - to take a page from my friend over New Jersey who said in today's article that those who believe she was innocent is like to those who deny the holocaust ever happen. I find that interesting because this guy has been quoted calling her a terrorist and I am sure he thinks anyone in the Middle East ie Iran are terrorist. Wow, I never thought NY Daily News has become the new FOX NEWS of New York. I thought the Post was bad, now I see the NY Daily News is trying to out right them - just like the Democrats.

"RR", Assuming your not doing another "Cut and Paste" of other peoples words: She was convicted in March of 1977 not the early 1970's as Mr. Feinberg mentioned.

1. Your probably not old enough to have been alive but, Yes, it was easily possible for her to get a fair trial in 1977 in the state of NJ.

2. All the stories you cut and pasted posted above are mostly that: Stories. What you put there isn't facts as much as propaganda.

3. On top of that, this is discussion about a bomber named Guillermo Morales and a convicted killer, Assata Shakur, not the "Eeeeevil" US justice system.

Once again, your going off on an unrelated tangent (BTW, The Holocaust analogy was horrible!) and never even attempting to discus Guillermo Morales.

I bet by the time I'm done typing this, you cut and paste more unrelated "Issues" into this topic.

Don't keep running away from the tough questions: Do you or Don't you support Bombings as a means of political discourse? Do you think blowing up people is "constructive dialogue"? Do you support murder as "political expression"?

Finally, Can you actually address the actions of Guillermo Morales and Assata Shakur?

Based on your previous comments I really doubt it.

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"Yes, it was easily possible for her to get a fair trial in 1977 in the state of NJ."

You call an all white jury fair??? Till this day, today 2006, it is harder for a black person to get free and fair trial, as you don't understand or are just in denial but 40 percent of people in prison are black. This is not propaganda - this is a empirical fact. Do you call that unemployment among blacks are higher than whites propaganda? You make me laugh, that is why I didn't reply to you or nor that other racist bigot because you don't seem to understand logics.

Unrelated??? Don't make me laugh. She was convicted by an injustice criminal system and you can't just pretend that it isn't about that. You seem to want to limit and narrow the debate, which is what right-wingers do like Bill O'Reily.

Lastly, since, you seem to have a fetish for wanting to know if I support violence as a means for change. See the funny thing is that I think you ARE the one going on a tangent and don't want to see the bigger picture. You want to narrow things down. 1) Every human being has the right to defend themselves. So when for example US invaded Iraq, the Iraqis have every right to defend themselves. 2) I believe in collective direct action - such as strikes and protest - for things to change. 3) It doesn't change my defense of the naming because those two people were looked up to by students who fought for no more tuition hike.

This will be my last reply, as I can see this board is only be viewed by a few idiots who seem to deny the existence of racism.

"but 40 percent of people in prison are black."
Help me out here: Did you just say that the Majority of people in prison are not black?
Thats good to know.

"to you or nor that other racist bigot because you don't seem to understand logics."
Thanks for proving what I said above: You think anyone who disagrees with you is a "racist bigot". I also understand logic fine. Despite what you seem to think you just haven't applied any here.

BTW, I'm neither a racist or a bigot. At the least, "RR", you need to cut back on the coffee.

"Unrelated??? Don't make me laugh."
Yet again, this is discussion about a bomber named Guillermo Morales (Whom you still refuse to address, I'm sure you are hurting Willie's feelings) and a convicted killer, Assata Shakur, not the "Eeeeevil" US justice system.

"Lastly, since, you seem to have a fetish for wanting to know if I support violence as a means for change."
And yet you still to get around to directly answering it...

BTW: Loved the "fetish" comment!

As for "You want to narrow things down.", Since you apparently didn't read it: the title on this post is "City College Takes Fugitives' Names Off Campus Center" not "Let's talk about so-called Revolutionaries". The only one going off on a tangent and being incoherent is yourself.

Here, let's examine what you do Say (I'll even format it for you):
"1) Every human being has the right to defend themselves. So when for example US invaded Iraq, the Iraqis have every right to defend themselves."
But that's just it: Assata Shakur and her colleagues weren't defending themselves. They drew weapons on two police officers for a Traffic Stop. I wonder, was this after they robbed a church/Bank/Kidnapped someone? Guillermo Morales (whom you continue to Ignore...) wasn't defending himself either.

"2) I believe in collective direct action - such as strikes and protest - for things to change."
And yet you seem to idolize people who commit acts of violence against others. I suspect you really support both protests and violent actions. Tell me, How do you deal with that apparent dichotomy?

"3) It doesn't change my defense of the naming because those two people were looked up to by students who fought for no more tuition hike."
And as an VERY extreme example: In 1939, large number of Germans looked up to Adolf Hitler too.
I'm sorry, justifying it by saying "those two people were looked up to by students" is not as clean as you would like it to be. Either you support two people who believe the Ends justify the means or you don't. What you just typed is a cop out.

There now, you managed an attempt to concisely lay out (more or less) your rational. Was that really so hard?

"This will be my last reply, as I can see this board is only be viewed by a few idiots who seem to deny the existence of racism."
I tend to doubt it, but hey, don't cry in your beer. As for Racism, It does indeed exist and needs to be fought against. No one is denying that, despite the fantasy you insist on peddling to yourself.

At least you stopped cutting and pasting...

A few notes that I'm fairly sure you'll ignore:
You need to relax a bit. There is Racism and it must be fought, but there isn't a "Vast White Wing" Conspiracy, not in NYC at any rate. Not that I care what you think, but I'm not a racist or a bigot, I just don't think anyone should idolize killers.

If you want to convince anyone of anything, you need to learn to actually present an argument for it. This entire topic you talked about all sorts of people and only once actually attempted to explain your position. Even if people disagree with you, at least they'll clearly know where you stand.

You never once addressed Guillermo Morales, despite the fact that his name was on that "Student Center". Instead of running from it, you should have simply said one way or the other what you think about him and be done with it.

I wonder, will the 7:30pm "meeting" still take place at the former "Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center" AKA Room 3/201? Hope you're more concise there.

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Highlights:

* The truth is that I was examined by 3 medical specialists: (1) A Neurologist who testified that I was immediately paralyzed immediately after the being shot. (2)A Surgeon who testified that "It was absolutely anatomically necessary that both arms be in the air for Mrs. Chesimard to receive the wounds." The same surgeon also testified that the claim by Trooper Harper that I had been crouching in a firing position when I was shot was "totally anatomically impossible." (3) A Pathologist who testified that "There is no conceivable way that it [the bullet] could have traveled over to hit the clavicle if her arm was down." he said "It was impossible to have that trajectory. "The prosecutors presented no medical testimony whatsoever to refute the above medical evidence.
* In an obvious maneuver to provoke sympathy for the police, the NBC series juxtaposed my interview with the weeping widow of Werner Forester. While I can sympathize with her grief, I believe that her appearance was deliberately included to appeal to peoples emotions, to blur the facts, to make me look like a villain, and to create the kind of lynch mob mentality that has historically been associated with white women portrayed as victims of black people. In essence the supposed interview with me became a forum for the New State Police, Forester's widow, and the obviously hostile commentary of Ralph Penza. The two initial programs together lasted 3.5 minutes - me - 59 seconds, the widow 50 seconds, the state police 38 seconds, and Penza - 68 seconds. Not once in the interview was I ever asked about Zayd, Sundiata or their families.
* In an obvious effort to prevent us from being tried by "a jury of our peers the New Jersey courts ordered that a jury be selected from Morris County, New Jersey where only 2.2 percent of the population was black and 97.5 percent of potential jurors were white. In a study done in Morris County, one of the wealthiest counties in the country, 92 percent of the registered voters said that they were familiar with the case through the news media, and 72 percent believed we were guilty based on pretrial publicity.

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Under cross-examination at both Acoli and Shakur's trials, Trooper Harper admitted to having lied in these reports and in his Grand Jury testimony about Trooper Foerester yelling and showing him an ammunition clip, about seeing Shakur holding a pocketbook or a gun inside the vehicle, and about Shakur shooting at him from the car.

(sigh)
"RR", you're cutting and pasting again. C'mon, it's easy to lay out your points concisely.
Try this: Put it in MS Word, type it out, Walk away, Get a soft drink (decaf!), comeback and re-read it. After you calm down, If it makes sense , post it.

Let me ask you a loaded question that I'm sure you'll ignore:
Did Assata Shakur and her colleagues have guns and draw them? Since the two state troopers didn't shoot themselves, I'd say yes.

Who started shooting? If a cop says "Freeze!" the proper thing to do is put your hands up and Freeze, not start shooting.

Finally, you do know that the Jury was approved by the defense, right? It's done that way to make it as fair as possible.

Did you make the meeting? If so, how was it? I bet you missed it.

*Note to self, if I as a black man, commit an act of terror, some people will always ignore the fact that I was maimed while making a bomb in order to blow people up. People can delude themselves into whole-heartedly believing anything.

I will become a hero and will be remembered for my poetry instead of the fact that I built bombs and blew up people.

People who commit acts of terror are heroes to those who believe in their cause but they're still murderers. If I blow up a room full of KKK nazi fucks Im still a murderer. I know people who HATE white people treat them like shit every chance they get, but if the white people blew up my friends they're murderers. It goes the same both ways. Murder is murder. Bombs dont target specific people, they kill indescriminately. Men, women, children. Its murder. I would not be a hero.

Patrick,
Your concise, logical, and thoughtful statement is not welcome here.

You're all insane.

The name of the stupid lounge in question should be MINE.

Lord knows I forked over thousands of dollars of my hard earned cash to the CUNY system to get a degree.
I deserve it, not some former bank robber- turned- poet.

This is so sad! Whoever S.D. is has chosen to give more credibility to the police officers' side of the story despite the historical context (the era of overt racism, COINTEL Pro and the current irrefutable evidence of racist profiling).

There's no real debate here. He/she doesn't care about actual EVIDENCE, which is evidenced by the flaccid rebuttal he/she gave. So stop pretending you're saying something rational S.D., you're simply being obtuse by dismissing the real evidence and falling back on the herofication of racist ass police officer in NJ!

...aluta continua!!

The caucasian criminals who framed ji Jaga said the same thing about his criminal trial: the defense approved the jury; it was fair; it was legal; he was tried by a jury of his peers; blah, blah, blah! The case against him was as bogus as the case against Assata. It took 27 years to get his name cleared, but he had to suffer in jail the entire time. Fortunately for Assata, she does not!

There's nothing anyone has said that negates the evidence proving Assata DID NOT fire a gun or handle a weapon, and that she was shot while her hands were in the air. The police are notorius liars, but certain privileges in this society renders those people benefitting from the privileges blind... that and wholesale, willful and conscientious ignorance.

America still holds Woodrow Wilson up as an expert of foreign policy, despite the fact that he was a bigoted nativist, and attacked Haiti repeatedly on behalf of the French until the Haitians agreed to pay PROTECTION MONEY a/k/a reparations to French for the loss of Haitian SLAVE LABOR.

So it's no suprise that willful ignorance precludes people from processing actual evidence proving that Assata is innocent.

How many of the believers in Assata's guilt were there at the scene and can attest to the innocent intentions of the police officers and the nefarious behavior of Assata and company? Oh' surely not S.D.!! He/she just worships the police and believes they're always right.

The Chicago police were torturing alleged suspects (the common thread was their BLACKNESS) in the 60's thru the 80's to coerce false confessions. It just became more public in the last few years. Does that enlighten any of those convinced that the police during those years weren't always Dudley Do-Rights who were just trying to protect America's streets from harm?

Hmmm... probably not! But it's okay, we understand how hard it is to acknowledge that your worldview is tainted by certain privileges.

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