Free Ali Khallid Abdullah Lorenzo Komboa Ervin Ali Khallid Abdullah, Black Anarchist Political Prisoner, was recently denied parole for the FIFTH straight time by the Michigan Parole Board, confirming for him [and his supporters]that Michigan prison officials are intending to refuse him parole regardless of any accomplishments or self-help efforts in prison. He is being jailed for political reasons that they will not disclose publicly, or even at a parole hearing. Ali has stated: "... what is happening right here in the State of Michikkan is an act of genocide. It is beyond mere punishing [of] someone for what they have done. It is vindictive. Furthermore, I denounce the fact that I have commited any crime against the Peoples of Michigan ...because I have not attacked or caused harm to the peoples of Michigan...[but] how is it that my due process [of law] is being denied me? How is that my liberty and protection isn't being given [to me]?...Slavery! This is what the prisons are doing, and this is what I am condemned to...My time is running out". Ali was thrown into prison *for 10-20 years* for taking action against a drug dealer, who was going to take an 11-year old girl in "payment" for money owed the dealer by the girl's mother. He took forceful action against this creep that the cops and the government should have taken if they really had the Black community's interest at heart. But instead they have made Ali out to be a dangerous criminal, and condemned him to twenty years in prison. We must see that Ali Khallid Abdullah is released from prison and returned to his family and his comunity. He is not some gangster or criminal, as the authorities allege, he is someone who cares so deeply about injustice that he put himself out for persons who were virtual strangers. Now he is paying the price. Recently, discussions have begun on how to support Ali by several activists, including myself, and it was decided that his organization [PPWC]which does fine work for prisoners, is a general prison support and educational society, and that what was necessary was a group directed solely at *his release from prison.* A group to agitate for his release, obtain funds for his maintenance and legal defense, to contact officials on his behalf, distribute his writings, and build a mass base of support in the communities of poor folks and activists in North America and all over the world. This brother is the founder of the Political Prisoners of War Coalition, an advocacy and educational group for prisoners, whose efforts have already helped many, but not Ali himself. So he asked myself and others in BANCO, the ABC prison movement, PPWC, and other organizations to work together and create a support group for him. We are starting to do so, in support of work already done by those in PPWC like the tireless Cynthia Risher. Frankly, I feel that this should have been done long ago, but Ali's own concern for others first and his selflessness, has condemned him to additional years in prison. So now we have to come together on behalf of this fighter, to help him come out of the dungeon and into the sunlight. I have been there where he is. I was sentenced Life in prison in 1969 for "hijacking" a plane to Cuba. In my case, it was the ABC movement and so many other *non-sectarian* Left forces which went into creating the "Free Lorenzo" movement of the 1970's and '80's. This was an international movement with strong branches in countries in Africa, Europe, the UK, Canada, Austrailia and New Zealand, and several other countries. The pressure it put on the Carter administration, which was going all over the world lecturing other countries on human rights, and yet was holding myself and others in Control Units, [federal concentration camps], forced my release. There is no question that I would still be there if there had been no movement. It is a campaign that we can learn from, just as I learned to do it from Huey Newton's campaign and that of Black Puerto Rican Anarchist, Martin Sostre. We have to be an activist movement, to hold demonstrations at the prison department offices, write protest letters, file legal complaints, and let people in the communities all over the world know of the reality of the American prison system, police brutality and racism in the US, and of course what's happening to Brother Ali. It is a lot of work, and that is why it's so important to try to get all kinds of organizations to join the Campaign. This includes not only Black radicals or Anarchists, but all of those who believe in civil rights, civil liberties, anti-racism and basic justice for the poor. We must be united in a powerful movement which cannot be ignored or repressed, and that will win Ali's freedom. For in winning his freedom, we can then begin to win the freedom of all political prisoners and to shut the prisons/death chambers down, and begin to create a new society that does not need prisons to beat down poor folks or racial minorities. What can you do? 1. Let your group, community, labor union, or other group know about Ali's case, and endorse the campaign. INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT ALI KHALLID ABDULLAH, P.O. BOX 19962, Kalamazoo, MI. 49019-0962, Komboa@yahoo.com 2. Send protest letters to the Governor of the State and Michigan Parole Commissioner, demanding Ali's release. Write governor John Engler, because with the mere stroke of a pen, he can grant executive clemency to release Ali from the criminal conviction that was unjustly passed on him, and can order the parole authorities to release Ali on medical parole to treat his throat cnacer, or to give him a conditional release on his prison sentence. Governor John Engler can be reached at: P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, MI. 48993, e-mail: migov@mail.state.mi.us You can reach the MI. Parole authorities at: Stephen Marschke, Chair, Michigan Parole Board, Grank View Plaza, P.O. Box 3003, Lansing, MI. 48909 3. Write letters to the warden demanding that Ali receive proper medical attention and stop being harassed: Barry McLemore, Warden, Thumb Correctional Facility, 3225 John Conley Dr., Lapeer, MI. 48446 4. Help Ali with his parole plans. He has been rejected for years because he did not have a job, housing, friends and relatives in Michigan. If you live in the state and can help him with employment, counselling or other material support: please contact him at: Ali Khallid Abdullah, #148130, TCF, 3225 John Conley Dr., Lapeer, MI. 48446. We will update address and support work on a routine basis. If anyone is interested in joining the Campaign, please contact us at: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT ALI KHALLID ABDULLAH, P.O. Box 19962, Kalamazoo, MI. 49019-0962 e-mail: Komboa@yahoo.com (fax and VOICE MAIL will be coming soon) Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Acting Secretary Back to Anarchism And The Black Revolution