Someone You Should Know About...Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Someone You Should Know About

 

For decades Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin – also widely known as H. Rap Brown – has been among those at the forefront of the struggle for justice in this country. Over a period of time that spans sixty years he’s been consistent in his active involvement in the struggle in a manner that has few comparisons.

 

Long before ‘The Last Poets’ and ‘Gil Scott Heron’ came on the scene, H. ‘Rap’ Brown was ‘laying-it-down’; ‘running-lines’ with ‘rapid-fire-words’, ‘spitting-the truth’ while educating the youth. Known to be unmatched in the art of signifying; his sharp wit and quick tongue earned him the name ‘Rap’, at an early age. As he grew older and began developing his own perspective on the world around him; he started using his skills to articulate the problems in america in a manner that appealed to people across the entire strata of society: from the average person ‘on-the-streets’ to the most educated. He could ‘break-it-down’ like very few others could. 

 

After withdrawing from Southern University, H. Rap moved to Washington, D.C., to join his brother, Ed Brown, in the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG). NAG was a Howard University campus affiliate of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee [SNCC]. Most of its members, including future SNCC chairman Stokely Carmichael, attended Howard University. Due to his natural ability to organize both college students and community members, although he didn't attend Howard, he, nevertheless, rose through the ranks to become NAG chairman in 1965.*

 

In March of that year, he joined a delegation of civil rights leaders for a White House summit with President Lyndon B. Johnson. During the course of the meeting, Johnson complained about hours-long demonstrations that had prevented his daughter’s from getting any sleep the previous night. Rap Brown responded by acknowledging the one night his daughters were disturbed: but that “Black people in the south had been unable to sleep in peace and security for a hundred years!” He asked what Johnson planned to do about that? 

 

Along with Andrew Young, he is, perhaps, one of the oldest survivors of all the major figures who were at the helm of the ‘Civil Rights’ and ‘Revolutionary’ struggles of the 1960’s era. He along with Kwame Ture [Stokely Carmichael] were advisors to Dr. Martin Luther King and key organizers amongst the youth and college students who made-up large segments of the rank-and-file forces behind the ‘direct-action’ initiatives that were the core of the non-violent demonstrations that proved indispensable to the success of the ‘Civil-Rights Movement’.

 

In 1967 he became a target of the illegal FBI counterintelligence program dubbed COINTELPRO started by J. Edgar Hoover. In July of the same year he gave an address at a Cambridge, Maryland rally organized by civil-rights icon Gloria Richardson. Shortly after his speech, shots rang out and he was hit with buckshot. Later that night a building was set on fire causing 2 city blocks and 20 buildings to burn down. Not surprisingly, the blame was put on him. Consequently, the u.s. congress passed the ‘Civil Obedience Act of 1968’ referred to as the ‘H. Rap Brown Law’. In 1968 he was given an honorary post as Minister of Justice of the Black Panther Party. In 1970 he was placed on the FBI’s ‘10 Most Wanted List’ for not appearing in court for the charges related to the arson and riot in the Cambridge incident. In 1971 he was arrested at the scene of a New York City bar and drug-den where he was involved in a ‘drug-eradication’ operation to shut it down. After going to trial and being found guilty on attempted robbery charges, he was sentenced to five years. While in prison he embraced Islam.

 

Throughout the 1980’s Imam Jamil worked to forge close ties with the leadership of various u.s. based Muslim organizations. In 1993, the process resulted in the formation of the ‘Islamic Shura Council of North America’. This brought together, for the first time, the major Islamic organizations in the country. After a few years he was elected Amir [leader] of the council. So, after three decades of commitment, dedication and service to the cause of truth and justice; his selfless contribution and work towards the upliftment of the poor and oppressed culminated in his being placed in a position to spearhead the Islamic Movement in North America. During this same period, he was a key proponent in the treaties and truces established amongst the major street organizations in urban areas all across the country.

Compelled by their fear of his potential to catapult the Islamic Movement in the same manner he helped increase the level of participation and raise the intensity of the Civil-Rights/ Revolutionary Liberation Movements of the 60’/70’s era; the enemies of GOD and man could not stand for such! Determined to prevent it from happening; the american status-quo saw the need to neutralize whatever threat they perceived him to represent in their twisted minds. So, they continued the relentless dragnet that began in the 60’s to frame him for some charge that would stick.

In 2002 the superior court of Fulton County, Georgia tried him for 13 counts that included the murder of one, and the wounding of another, sheriff deputy on the evening of March 16, 2000. One year later, on March 14, 2002, a jury found him guilty on all counts including murder. Falsely accused, wrongfully convicted and unjustifiably imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, this grave injustice was committed as a means of isolating and silencing him. This has been done in a feeble attempt to prevent him from being able to influence the millions of marginalized youth in the u.s.a. who have the potential of organizing into a mass popular movement for real ‘social change’.

Imam Jamil has been languishing in prison for the past 23 years for no reason other than his effectiveness as an organizer, mobilizer and proven 'social-transformer' who, after relocating in Atlanta, Georgia, led work in transforming the entire ‘West End’ community into a peaceful, progressive community wherein the widespread presence of criminal elements and out-of-control drug activity was significantly reduced. Subsequently, he proved effective in uplifting the lives of scores of young Muslim men, women and children in inner-city communities all around the country. The 'behind-the-scenes-orchestrators' of american society dread to see this sort of transformation occur amongst young people living in its urban centers. This particularly holds true when it comes to those of African, Latino, Native Indigenous and Muslim descent along with their ‘working-class’, European counterparts.

Given his 'track record', going all the way back to his time with SNCC; certain elements amongst the U.S. 'status-quo' have 'had-it-out' for him for decades. Thus, his current predicament is not merely a matter of injustice. It is a long, drawn-out result of a vendetta carried-out against him because of who he is and what he's represented throughout all the years he’s fought for justice for all poor and oppressed  people in this so-called land of 'liberty and justice for all'. 

*https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/h-rap-brown/

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

H. Rap Brown and Otis Redding 

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

H. Rap Brown

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Kofi Bilal Mahmud Eid AlFitr 1443 A.H.

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Kofi Bilal Mahmud

Executive Director

Oppressed Peoples Online Word 

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