CHIP

Winter 2007

THE BUFFALO

The Nebraskans for Justice Newsletter

resurgence of socialism in SouthAmerica, the US-instigated wars in Iraqand Afghanistan, the attacks ofaffirmative action and "illegal"immigrants, and the recent elections,which she believed "the Democrats hadwon by letting the Republicans lose,"rather than by putting forward ameaningful agenda for changethemselves.

She reminded the audience that thereare still many political prisoners beingheld in the United States, and spoke ofthe life and work of the late Stanley"Tookie" Williams.

An extraordinarily lively question-and-answer session followed her talk.Professor Davis offered advice andconsolation to a woman whose son wascurrently incarcerated, and responded toa young man's inquiry about a revival ofthe Black Panther Party by cautioningagainst trying to meet new and

unprecedented challenges by imitatingthe past.

"Don't forget" was the messageProfessor Davis brought to the crowdfrom Ed and Mondo, and she herself hasclearly not forgotten.

Angela Davis, activist, author, prisonreformer, professor at the University ofCalifornia at Santa Cruz, and a "serioussenior sister of the struggle," made herthird visit to Nebraska in support of EdPoindexter and Mondo we Langa onNovember 11.

A capacity crowd filled the PrestonLove Jazz and Art Center at 2510 N. 24thto hear Professor Davis speak.

Earlier in the day, at the NebraskaState Penitentiary in Lincoln, she hadhad visited both Ed and Mondo, now intheir thirty-seventh year of incarcerationfor a crime they did not commit. Herseparate meetings with the two men,each about an hour long, enabled thethree to renew their acquaintance as wellto discuss the prospects of their cases.

Professor Davis's remarks to theaudience at the Omaha NF J fundraiserincluded greetings from Ed and Mondo,whose main message to their supporters,she reported, was "Don't forget."

Her talk ranged knowledgeably andeloquently over a great many topics ofcurrent concern: Hugo Chavez and the

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First, I want to thank everyone fortheir hard work and dedication to ourmission. We are quickly approachingone of most important dates in the effortto gain freedom for Ed and Mondo.

NEBRASKA ACLU FILESBRIEF IN POINDEXTERHEARIN G

On January 18, 2007 a hearing was heldon the admission of the 911 tape. Theprosecution argued that the defense's useof the tape was not for the same purposethat the prosecution had earlier used itfor. Therefore, the prosecution claimed,the burden of proof of its authenticityfalls on the defense. We argued, in part,that since the tape has been held in thecustody of and already been used by thestate, we should not be denied its use.

On February 8, 2007 Judge Bowieissued his response: "The court declinesto rule in advance of the evidentiaryhearing on defendant's motion for postconviction relief that Exhibit # }7 isauthentic and admissible. ..' .

The evidentiary hearing has beenscheduled for May 8 -11. 2007.

On December 12, 2006 Mondo made anappearance before the Parole Board.There were three members present. He

was later notified by the board that hiscase had been deferred until the year2016. Let's do the math; he will be 69years old. We can't let that happen.

ACLU Nebraska has agreed to file anamicus curiae ("friend of the court")brief for Ed Poindexter. These sorts ofbriefs are submitted by outside partieswith no stake in the outcome of the casebut who have a perspective that may behelpful to the court.

"Our brief will focus on the historicalfacts about COINTELPRO and how theFBI targeted black nationalist leadersduring the 1960's and 1970's," saidACLU Nebraska Legal DirectorAmy --

Miller. "This is the sort of informationthe judge needs to know to fullyunderstand what happened in this case,but it's not appropriate for Mr.Poindexter's own attorney to argue aboutthese issues since they're outside thescope of evidence. We have moreleeway as amicus, and hope to broadenthe picture of how racial discriminationmotivated federal agents to frame blackactivists. "

The FBI records released about bothEd Poindexter and Mondo we Langaprove that the men were undersurveillance by law enforcement, andthat the FBI was interested in"neutralizing" their political activismlong before the murder of officer LarryMinard.

The ACLU Nebraska brief will besubmitted to the trial court when thehearing is held.

A Luta Continua, Tariq AI-Amin

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The Buffalo Chip, Winter 2007Page 3

their relative. They speak of anger that I,and now Ed, won't give up this fight forrelease from prison.

Because it seems to me that Minardfamily members who have been interviewedhave made up their minds that Ed and I areguilty of the killing of their relative, I won'tsay much in their regard. But I will say this.If a relative of mine was murdered, I wouldbe in pain and would be angry at the

person(s) responsible.I doubt that I would be willing to forgive.

But at the same time, I would want to knowwho the killer of my family member trulywas and I would not be willing to justautomatically accept a finding of guilt by acourt system which allowed a trial to occurthat was marked by the uses of perjuredtestimony, coercion of a key witness,falsified physical evidence, selectiveprosecution, etc.

I would want to know that I was angry atand unforgiving toward the right person orpersons. That fact is that I can identify witha person having a sense of loss at the deathof a loved one. But I am an African man,who has never killed anyone, neverconspired with anyone to kill or injurepeople, and who has spent almost two-thirdsof my life locked up for the "crime" ofhaving been an outspoken Black Panther.

What am I expected to do? Stopattempting to get relief from the courts forthe unjust imprisonment I've been subjectedto for more than three decades because thereare people who feel hurt whenever newsabout the case comes up? Don't I haverelatives? Don't they have feelings?

Essentially, I'm addressing myself to youin the African community of Omaha where Iwas born and raised by my mother, VeraRice, and my Daddy (may the spirit of Otisbe at peace in the realm of the ancestors. )

fThe following piece by WopashitweMondo Eyen we Langa .first appeared in theOmaha Star, June 22, 2006. J

Earlier this month, it was reported in thelocal media that a voice analyst hired by anattorney for Ed Poindexter had detenninedthat the voice on a tape of a 1970 call topolice was not that of Duane Peak. DuanePeak is the person who testified at the trialof Ed Poindexter and myself (then known asDavid Rice) that he had placed a suitcasebomb in a vacant house and then calledpolice headquarters to lure cops there with afalse report of a woman screaming.

The significance of the finding by thevoice analyst, Tom Owen, is that, ifDuanePeak did not make the call, this is proof ofperjury on his part and evidence ofprosecutorial misconduct on the part of theDouglas County Attorney's office for usingtestimony it knew or suspected was false.Robert Bartle, Ed's attorney, is using thisfinding by Owen to seek a new trial for Ed.

In the near future, I will say more aboutthe legal and justice-related issues that are apart and/or are connected to efforts by Ed toachieve judicial relief- it's more than 35years tool ate for anything approachingjustice. For now, I want to deal with acouple of issues that are, in a sense, more

personal.Every time, over the course of these 35-

plus years that Ed and I have been lockedup, there's been some kind of positivedevelopment in this case, when there's beensome glimmer of hope ofone or both ofusbeing released, the local media have soughtout the surviving family members of LarryMinard, the cop who was killed by the boob-trap bomb that Duane Peak testified to

planting.These family members speak of pain that

comes from having to relive the slaying of

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The Buffalo Chip, Winter 2007Page 4

youth who was studying about the u. s.political/economic systems and so forth.

He was a young brother who, like manytoday, was looking outside ofhis home for asense of belonging. I don't believe he actedon his own. But I did not use him. I did notput his life in jeopardy.

While there has been much made over theyears of the fact that the Black Pantherparty , in Omaha as well as nationally, calledcops "pigs" and otherwise was in a war ofwords with them, and sometimes in aphysical war, little has been reported in thelocal media about the fact that Ed andmyself and a couple of other members of theOmaha Chapter of the Black Panther Party'sNational Committee to Combat Fascism(NCCF) were meeting with certain Africanmembers of the Omaha Police Department.

We were meeting with them in an effortto get a local chapter formed of the Afro-American Policeman 's League, which hadbeen founded in Chicago by RenaultRobinson. Eventually, some years after thetrial-and Eftandmy imprisonment, the ~ ~~

Brotherhood of Midwest Guardians wasformed.

What's the point in this? It is that thehouse at which the bombing took place wasat 29th and Ohio. The African policemen wehad been meeting with could have been sentto that house. The two African policemen inparticular, who had intervened in a couple ofvolatile situations between our NCCFchapter and gangs of trigger-happyEuropean (Caucasian) cops, could have beensent to that house. Their lives could verywell have been put in jeopardy.

There are many issues concerning thiscase that can and will be talked about. But Iappreciate the opportunity to have spoken ofjust the few raised here.

There are a couple of things that must bemade clear. I was in the Black Panther Partyand am proud of this. I became a member ofthe party because of my love for Africanpeople, not for any hatred of others. While Iwas and am a man ofpeace, I was not aperson who believed we had an obligation toturn the other cheek when subjected to abuse-physical or otherwise.

In fact, I had guns in my house -noautomatic or other illegal weapons, andcontrary to reports otherwise, I had nodynamite or blasting caps. I had these gunsbecause I had no intention of being a willingvictim of a police shoot-in. We must recallthat in 1969, Panthers'Fred Hampton andMark Clark were murdered in their beds byChicago cops. This was a police shoot~in.

As I said, I joined the Black Panther Partybecause ofmy love for African people.Duane Peak, who was 15 years of age at thetime of the bombing, is an African. At thetime, he was an African who essentially wasstill a child. Had I decided it was anecessary for 8; cop or anyone1ese-1o be ,;,"killed, I would not have used a child. Iwould not have put an African child's or anyother brother's or sister's life in jeopardy.

In this case, we are talking about a suitcasebooby-trapped with sticks of dynamite. Onecannot claim to be a "brother" and, at thesame time, use someone he's allegedly abrother of to perform a deed that would theperson 's life at risk.

Not only is there the matter oflove, butone of good sense. As was testified to inEd' s and my trial, Duane was someone whodid pills and other drugs and was suspendedat least once from our chapter for beingintoxicated from drug use. Another time hewas suspended for firing several bullets at asparrow that had flown inside ourheadquarters, which was at 26th and Parkerat the time.

In short, Duane was a youth who wasunstable. Moreover, Duane was notpolitical. Like any African or other personof color in the U. S., he had justifiablereasons for being angry .But he wasn't a

The Buffalo Chip, Winter 2007Page 5

FUNDRAISER DINNER FOR ED AND MONDO

Mark your calendars now for April 14th! The University of Nebraska's Nebraskans forPeace organization is sponsoring a dinner on behalf of Mondo we Langa and EdPoindexter. The dinner will be held in the Regency Suites Room of the University ofNebraska City Campus Union in Lincoln. The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. and is beingcatered by Cafe de Mai. Tickets will go on sale March 19th. Tickets are $10.00 forstudents and $15.00 for the general public. The attorneys will be there to give an updateand to discuss the upcoming evidentiary hearing on May 8th through the 11 th. Pleasejoin us on April 14th! Tickets and additional information can be obtained from MaryDickinson 435-3073 (mdickin@los.org), and Nan Graf 435- 7883. You can also obtaintickets from Nic Swiercek, 659-1420 and at nebraskansfo~ace.unl@gmail.com.

IDEAS REQUESTED FOR AUGUST 2007

Nebraskans for Justice needs to plan for the August, 2007 events that will call attention toEd's and Mondo's 37th year ofunjust incarceration.

IfEd Poindexter's evidentiary hearing in Douglas County Court- May 8,9, 10, and 11-results in his release, then he, of course, would be the keynote speaker of our main event. But weneed to plan for fund-raising and informational events from Friday, August 24 through Friday,

August 31,2007.We invite supporters and new readers of the Buffalo Chip to send additional program

ideas to us. If you know ofa celebrity who is friendly to JUSTICE FOR ALL, please contact usabout a date and time when the person or persons could come to Nebraska and take a stand forthis important cause. Any ideas/ Call Nan Grafat (402) 435-7883.