TWO STATEMENTS ON THE PASSING OF BASHIR HAMEED

LONG LIVE BROTHER BASHIR HAMEED!  LONG LIVE REVOLUTION!  

It is with great sadness that we join the different organizations that have paid tribute to Brother Bashir Hameed who made his transition this past Saturday night, August 29th.  Some of us first met Bashir in these last months of his life and were moved by his spiritual strength, intellectual clarity, and love for his family and people.  We had hoped that the video that Bashir so wanted to do would be approved by the Department of Corrections before he passed, but that was not to happen.   

Bashir's history as a militant activist in the Black Panther Party parallels so many of the other histories of our political prisoners of African descent.  Born in New Jersey, after confronting the racism of the colleges he attended and that of the US Army, he moved to the Bay Area and in his own words "fell in love with the Black Panther Party".  Later, he was sent back to New Jersey to try to rebuild the BPP which had already been decimated by the US government and local police.  Within two years, he was either in jail or facing imprisonment for up to 20 years, all for doing regular BPP work, distribution of the party newspaper, the breakfast program, and political education.  He ended up spending four years in Trenton State Prison and upon release was immediately again targeted.  The Queens 2 case, which included Abdul Majid and himself, involved the alleged killing of two policemen in Queens.  Their first trial ended in a hung jury, the second was declared a mistrial with 8 to 4 for "not guilty", and the last involved very questionable witnesses and finally led to the conviction the state wanted, and a sentence of 30+ years to life, with the recommendation that Bashir and Abdul never be paroled.   

We say to Bashir's family, to his wife, and to all those who loved and admired him, that Bashir will not be forgotten.  Just this past Sunday, at the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement hip hop concert, hundreds of young people learned about who Bashir is, were very moved by Brother Dhoruba's tribute to him, and cheered with great respect as each hip hop artist began his/ her performance with an individual dedication to Bashir.  Would that Bashir had heard this in his lifetime, but he knew he would be remembered, and showed that confidence in his last days.  Revolutionaries never die! 

We extend our condolences to Bashir's devoted mother, Mrs. York, to his son, his sister, his niece (who became a doctor with the encouragement and prodding of her incarcerated uncle and who monitored his medical care in the last years of his life when he faced several serious medical conditions), and to his wife, Florence, who left her home in Texas to spend these last months by her husband's side.  

In loving revolutionary memory, 

International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC)

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I write this as a non-Muslim and non-African, and as someone who did not know Bashir for years and years as many  comrades have.  I attended one of the Queens 2 court hearings, and wrote and called the prison when asked to do so, regarding his health needs, several years back.  But I had the good fortune and honor to meet Bashir in the last months of his life, and to have some correspondence with him, originally, in planning the tribute to his comrade and mine, Safiya Bukhari.    -Suzanne Ross

"After Bashir Hameed's Funeral"

The State targeted him because of  his work to free his people.  And more than anything they criminalized him, tried to transform his love for his people into a crime.  They harassed him, locked him up again and again, framed him, tried him three times to get the phoney conviction they were determined to get regardless of the truth and their violations of due process.  And they finally locked him up for life, throwing away the key.  In prison, they continued to harass him, put him in the hole because he did not stop teaching the truth, denied him medical care when he desperately needed it. 

But his people continued to fight for him, fight for his medical care, fight for his release and fight for his honor.  The funeral at the Masjid in Elizaberth, New Jersey was the final statement on Bashir:  Bashir was a much beloved and honored member of the community.  The Masjid was packed with Bashir's loving family and his political comrades and supporters.  Bashir's message to his family was a moving expression of how much he cared for them, and had always cared for them, even from the confines of his incarceration where he was still able to support, encourage, and teach.  His concern that they not suffer from the loss of his life was so palpable as to make one cry.  Bashir's funeral was that of a hero, of a beloved martyr in the struggle.  This was no criminal.  This was not a man who should have been in prison.  History HAS absolved him.  History has shown our brother to be a revolutionary hero who never abandoned his principles, who fought for his people to the end, and who made his transition in the way he chose to make it, with friends and family following his wishes, leaving a grand legacy.  Yes, it is very painful to see our comrades spend their last days in prison, and we must think anew, be smarter, more unified, more focused to free all of our comrades in prison.  But in the end, it is we who will define how they will be remembered no matter how hard the State fights for its definition.  Long live Bashir Hameed!  Long live our revolutionary soldiers!