We lost another giant. In one week we lost Gil Scott Heron and now Geronimo Ji Jaga. Damn.....Yes, Geronimo was Johnnie Cochran's most important client (I know, you thought it was O.J. Give me a break....please). Yes, Geronimo was Tupac Shakur's godfather, but more important than either of those things, Geronimo Ji Jaga was a living image of the spirit of resistance within the African community to government oppression. As a recent Vietnam vet and student at UCLA in early 1969, Geronimo found himself being named Deputy Minister of Defense for the Los Angeles Black Panther Chapter by the just killed Aprentice "Bunchy" Carter who requested this service from Geronimo in a tape Bunchy prepared in the event of his death. Geronimo used his military experience to prepare the Panthers for the ongoing police onslaught. You see, the police were in the midsts of carrying out the government's counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) against the Panthers and other African organizations. COINTELPRO was an illegally designed program to discredit the African liberation movement and the FBI used a carefully planned and nationally coordinated effort to carry it out. Between 1967 and 1971 there were almost 300 COINTELPRO actions carried out and about 270 of those were against the Black Panthers (the others were carried out against the Republic of New Afrika, Nation of Islam, and others). An example of this terrorism is just four days after Chicago police brutally murdered Panther leader Fred Hampton and Mark Clark on 12/4/69, L.A. police raided the L.A. panther office with the apparent attempt to cause the same demise for Geronimo, but his military skills led him to have the L.A. panthers reinforce the panther office so when the police got there and started the shootout, the panthers were able to hold them off for four hours. Since media arrived and were capturing the entire thing was captured on live television, the police were unable to murder Geronimo the way they did Fred and so many other panther leaders they had earmarked for death. A side note here is Geronimo's leadership in L.A. led to the creation of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, or SWAT, which was unvealed for this raid described here (and subsequently, SWAT teams were created across the country, compliments of the government's efforts to destroy the Black Panther Party). Since murder didn't work against Geronimo, the slimy police agents turned to illegal tactics to railroad Geronimo in a murder conviction in 1972 when they knew he didn't commit this crime. They knew this because they withheld evidence from the jury, including the fact the murdered victim's husband, Mr. Olsen, identified another man as the assailant, not Geronimo. This was a frameup and Geronimo spent 27 years in prison as a result of it. Johnnie Cochran, Stuart Hanlon and others worked tirelessly to get Geronimo released, but the state had an interest in keeping Geronimo incarcerated and it wasn't because he was a bad person. Countless inmates, including Bloods, Crips, murderers, and even Aryan Brotherhood leader Moondog Mane testified at Geronimo's countless parole hearings that he was a model prisoner who helped reduce violence in the institution, but the authorities only wanted to know one thing, would he continue his political activities if released (not if he would confess to the murder he didn't commit). Geronimo never compromised and so he languished in prison until 1997 when he was finally released. I had the privilige of meeting and introducing him to the audience when he spoke in Sacramento in 1997 and his humbleness and that of his wife Ashaki astounded me. Since I was about 20 years old, he has been my hero and as I learned about his passing in Tanszania this week, I have been thinking of the impact he has had on my life. He used the million dollar settlement he received from his victorous lawsuit against the FBI for its illegal railroading to develop projects to help the people in Tanszania and he continued to support African liberation. Brother Geronimo, I love you and will eternally be grateful for your sacrifice. In this age when we are faced with false heros in high places who look like us, you stand as a shining example of someone who I have taught many youth of all nationalities about. Someone to emulate and respect and seek guidance and inspiration from your example. Thank you and may your soul rest peacefully while we do our best to continue your work. For more information about COINTELPRO, read Ward Churchill and JIm Vanderhill's book "Agents of Repression, the FBI's Secret War against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement." Also, find out about other COINTELPRO victims such as Mumia Abu Jamal, Mutulu Shakur, Sekou Odinga, and Assata Shakur (.liv
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