We recorded this conversation just before the world shifted on October 7th. We actually have several conversations that we still need to release that we recorded in August and September, but I wanted to get to this one first due to the urgency of Shaka Shakur’s situation.
Shaka Shakur is a New Afrikan Political Prisoner who has been behind the walls for the majority of his life since he was 16 years old. He’s currently held captive at Beaumont Correctional Center in Virginia. He was mentored by figures such as Zolo Azania and James “Yaki” Sayles. Shaka has an extensive track record of prisoner organizing and exposing injustices and human rights violations behind the walls. I’ll include a more extensive bio from his Jericho Movement page in the show notes.
Shaka had reached out to me after the publication of our discussion with Thandisizwe Chimurenga and Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur on Sanyika Shakur’s political writings. He wanted to share some things and also offer the perspective of someone from Sanyika's generation who spent many years studying and struggling in the same circles, and communicating with Sanyika through the Prison News Service and other publications that circulated behind the walls connecting New Afrikan prisoners and other political and politicized prisoners. Shaka also describes similar experiences of becoming politicized during their first period of incarceration at a young age, struggling upon his return to the outside & ultimately ending up back behind the walls.
Shakur shares his reflections on that era, on changes in the prison movement and outside support movements over time and on the disconnect that often exists between revolutionary rhetoric and revolutionary action in the US left in recent years.
Importantly, Shaka Shakur is currently dealing with multiple urgent health issues, including his battle with cancer and we have multiple links and ways people can support his legal campaign and his request for clemency. We will have links to all of this in the show notes, but just to say that he is still asking people to call in and put pressure the Department of Correction for further medical testing. That call is in the show notes as well.
This episode was also recorded before the passing of Ed Mead who we mention in this discussion. Rest well Ed, you've earned it.
The last thing I will say is that although this was recorded before the Palestinian struggle took center stage, I think many of Shaka’s reflections are relevant to that movement as well as the US based solidarity efforts that are currently underway so keep that in mind as you listen.
Shaka Shakur Medical Needs/Update
Shaka Shakur's Clemency Petition
Shaka Shakur's Jericho Movement page
Shaka Shakur's Legal Defense Fund
Documentary: Shaka Shakur Human Rights Held Hostage
Shaka Shakur's Defense Link Tree
Aidan Elias co-edited & co-produced this episode