SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER: POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

Dhoruba Bin Wahad is a former leader of the New York Black Panther Party. He was imprisoned for 19 years for a crime he maintains was part of the FBI and New York Police Department's effort to target militant black leaders during the 1970s. New York Supreme Court Justice Peter J. McQuillan overturned Mr. Bin Wahad's conviction was last March, 1990, citing inconsistent and insufficient evidence. Mr. Bin Wahad presently works in New York with Freedom Now, a Chicago based organization which lobbies for the release of political prisoners being held throughout the U.S. The following text was extracted from a speech presented by Mr. Bin Wahad at Yale University on April 30, 1990 as part of a forum on Political Prisoners in the United States, sponsored by the Journal of Law and Liberation.