This interview with John Sinclair was recorded a few months before he passed away on April 4, 2024.
John was an icon of the counterculture movement. In the late 1960s, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for marijuana possession, sparking protests and rallies like the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, which featured performances by John Lennon and Stevie Wonder, among others. After a high-profile legal battle that challenged and ultimately reformed harsh marijuana laws, Sinclair was released after two years in prison. Before and after his protested prison sentence, John was a renowned poet, writer, and political activist. He founded the White Panther Party in support of the Black Panthers, produced music festivals, managed the influential rock band MC5, and published and recorded prolifically, including John Sinclair: The Collected Poems and the music-in-verse collection Thelonious: a Book of Monk.
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