SAVE THE
DATE: SATURDAY, "BLACK AUGUST" 24TH
TO SUPPORT BLACK PANTHER POLITICAL PRISONER/POW RUSSELL MAROON SHOATS' BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATION
7:00PM-9:00PM
FEATURING: Grammy Award Pianist,
ARTURO O'FARRILL - Legendary Poet,
SONIA SANCHEZ - Zulu Nation Hip Hop Artists,
SPIRITCHILD & MENTAL MUSIC NOTES - ROSA CLEMENTE -
Zulu Nation Visual Artist, XEN MEDINA - Movement
In Motion Visual Artist, ZIEDAH DIATA -
World Renowned Martial Artists, -GREGG
ZILB, EMMANUEL BROWN & R. SCOTT PARKER FLOOR ROYALTY CREW - ART START YOUTH - MARINE FUTIN - AND MORE ........
@ Harlem's National Black Theater
2031 5th Avenue (bet. 125th/126th streets)
$15.00 advance - $20.00 door
Tickets: SCIENTIFICSOULSESSIONS.COM
Information: (973) 896-7697
Who Is Russell "Maroon" Shoats
Russell "Maroon"
Shoats is a Black/New Afrikan revolutionary, a writer, a dedicated
father, a founding member of the Black Unity Council, a former leader of the
"original" Black Panther Party, and a veteran soldier in the Black
Liberation Army. For over 41 years he has been held mostly in solitary
confinement by the United States Government as a captured Political
Prisoner/POW and who still continues to serve multiple life sentences in
solitary confinement for an alleged attack on a police station which resulted
in an officer being killed.
Personal
Background
Russell
was born August 1943 in Philadelphia. He was one of 12 children. At
the age of 15 he became involved in a gang and was in and out of reform shools
and youth institutions until the age of 18.
As a
young man he married twice and became the father of seven children. In
the mid 1960s Russell started becoming active in the New Afrikan liberation movement.
He founded the Black Unity Council, which merged with the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1969.
Tensions
were high in Philadelphia in the summer of 1970 because Philadelphia Police
Chief Frank Rizzo had ordered a crackdown on militant groups in the run-up to
the national convention of the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia on September
5, 1970.
Tensions
intensified when police killed a black youth in Philadelphia. A
retaliatory attack was carried out on a police station, killing officer Frank
Von Coln and injuring one other.
The
shooting of Von Coln prompted a 2 a.m. raid on the Black Panther headquarters
in North Philadelphia. After the raid police officials allowed news
photographers to take humiliating photos of the Black Panthers being strip
searched on the street.
Russell
and four others (who became known as the “Philly Five”) were immediately
charged with the attack. They went underground and continued to struggle
for New Afrikan self-determination as part of the Black Liberation Army.
Legal Case
In
January of 1972 Russell was captured. He was convicted of the attack on
the police station and sentenced to life.
Life in
Prison
1977 Prison Escape
Russell
escaped with three others from Huntingdon State Prison in 1977. Two were
recaptured and the third was killed during the escape. Russell remained
at large for 27 days, leading to a massive manhunt by local, state and federal
forces, as well as citizen recruits from nearby white, rural areas.
From his
capture in 1977 until 1989 Russell was shipped from state, county and federal
prisons, kept in long term solitary confinement the entire time. In 1979
he was forcibly transferred to the Fairview State Hospital for the Criminally
Insane. While at Fairview he was forcibly drugged, which in one case lead to
him being hospitalized when he was overdosed.
1980 Prison Escape
In March
of 1980 he escaped prison with a fellow revolutionary after a New Afrikan
activist smuggled a revolver and sub-machine gun into the institution.
Three days later all three were captured after a gun battle with local,
state and county police, and FBI agents.
Camp Hill Prison Riot
In 1989,
Pennsylvania prison Camp Hill erupted in a riot because of overcrowding
and inhumane conditions. Despite being held in a Dallas prison and having
nothing to do with the incident, Russell was implicated in it and as a result
was transferred to the notorious Marion Supermax prison over 1,000 miles from
friends, family and supporters.
Supporters
fought to have Russell removed from solitary confinement in Marion and released
into general population. They were finally successful in December of
1989.
Russell Returns to
Solitary Confinement
Unfortunately
Russell was placed back into long term solitary confinement in 1991 at SCI
Greene in Waynesburg, PA. Despite still being held in 23 hour a day lock
down, Russell remains a committed New Afrikan freedom fighter.
Write or Send Russell
A Birthday Card
According
to the Pennsylvania DOC, as of July 5, 2013, Russell has been transferred to
SCI Mahanoy
RUSSELL
MAROON SHOATS
#AF-3855
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, PA 17932
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