By Black Hammer
Many think that our Colonized, revolutionary heroes of the past are long gone. Either taken out by their oppressive governments, sold out to white power, or simply transitioned into ancestry. This is simply not true. There are Freedom Fighters and Revolutionaries still alive today. Whether they are being held captive by the united snakes’ government as political prisoners or fighting the prison that is colonialism, the Colonized Masses carry on the Revolutionary path our ancestors laid down for us.
Among these Revolutionary captives is Russell “Maroon” Shoatz.
Maroon is an African Revolutionary from the stolen Lenni-Lenape land (Philadelphia, PA) who has spent nearly five decades fighting for the liberation of his people.
Maroon became active in the New Afrikan liberation movement in his early 20s; not soon after he founded the Black Unity Council in Philadelphia, which ended up merging with the local Black Panther Party chapter in 1969.
During the Summer of the next year, after the pigs murdered an unarmed African youth in front of his mother in North Philly, African revolutionaries in the area retaliated against the local pig department. During the retaliation, one pig was injured, and one was shot dead.
This prompted another attack from the pig department where they raided the North Philly headquarters of the Black Panther Party at two in the morning. Photographers were invited to document the humiliation of the Panthers being strip-searched in the street. Maroon was lucky enough to have not been captured at the time and spent two years on the run with his comrades’ help.
Ultimately, Maroon and four others – known locally as “The Philly 5” – were arrested for the retaliation against the pig station and the killing and injury of two pigs.
Over the death of one pig, five people are being held captive for the rest of their lives. Four of the five got sentenced to life without parole, with Maroon getting multiple life sentences without parole. He would spend the next 38 years and counting suffering through abuse and neglect as a political prisoner in multiple state, county, and federal prisons all over the country.
Even facing life in captivity, Maroon never stopped fighting for the liberation of his people and himself. During his time, he has organized multiple escape attempts and prison demonstrations. Obviously, the colonial state has not taken a liking to his struggles against the prison industrial complex. Starting in 1991, for the next 22 years, Russell “Maroon” Shoatz would spend 23 hours a day, 365 days a year locked down in a cell by himself in solitary confinement at SCI-Greene in Waynesburg, PA – the same prison holding a fellow, well-known Black Panther Party member, and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Any concessions made to the African community by the united snakes’ government are crumbs to discourage the struggles of courageous Africans such as Maroon. The colonial state always tries to squash the dissent of Colonized people through the assassination or imprisonment of true Revolutionaries while replacing Colonized leaders with government-approved, “intersectional” leaders, like barack odrama and kkkopmala harris. Neo-colonialist “leaders” who willingly sell out the African community for their own selfish interests or to forward the interests of the oppressive colonial system are plagues to the liberation of Colonized people and must be treated as such.
Colonized people must pay respect to our siblings who have done nothing but fight for their communities yet are forced to live their lives in prison cells due to their sacrifice in struggling for our liberation. We must continue to struggle ourselves to release incredible freedom fighters such as Maroon, whose only crime was opposing an unjust colonial system and demanding freedom for the Colonized poor and working-class people of the world.
Russell “Maroon” Shoatz is 77-years-old. He has stage 4 colon cancer and has tested positive for the colonialvirus. Maroon and other inmates are being held in inhumane and unsanitary conditions. Prisoners with the virus at SCI-Graterford in PA are being housed in cubicles in a gymnasium with only ONE bathroom to share between them. He is also being denied urgent surgery to aid his colon cancer.
We must show unity with Russell “Maroon” Shoatz and all anti-colonial revolutionaries against the likes of white power!
We are calling on you TODAY to demand the release of Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, a modern day freedom fighter!
Take action now by sharing and tagging @GovernorTomWolf and @DOCSecretary and calling (717) 787-2500 to demand humane treatment and compassionate release of Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, a political prisoner with COVID19 and stage 4 cancer. The time is now for this colonial prison system to be dismantled. #FreeMaroon #FreeEmAll
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