If They Come in the Morning ... (Radical Thinkers)

267 Pages·2016·1.11 MB·English

by  Angela Y. Davis

Angela Y. Davis
and
George Jackson Bobby Seale Ruchell
Magee James Baldwin Fleeta
Drumgo John Clutchette Julian
Bond Huey P. Newton Erika
Huggins Bettina Aptheker
and others
raise impassioned voices in defense of the American political
prisoner. Many speak from brutal, firsthand experience at the
hands of a judicial and penal system that does not hear—or
will not listen. Others, as leaders in the struggle to alter—or
overturn—that system. Together, they have produced an
explosive document that is truly of and for our time.
This book was edited and prepared for publication by Angela Y. Davis,
Bettina Aptheker and other members of the National United Committee to
Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners.
If They Come
in the Morning
VOICES OF RESISTANCE
Angela Y. Davis
Ruchell Magee, the Soledad Brothers
and Other Political Prisoners
With a Foreword by Julian Bond
This edition published by Verso 2016
First published by The Third Press 1971
© National United Committee to Free Angela Davis 1971, 2016
The publisher would like to acknowledge the following publications where
these essays appeared before being collected in this volume:
“An Open Letter to Angela Y. Davis” (James Baldwin), New York Review
of Books, January 7, 1971; “The Soledad Brothers: How a Prison Picks Its
Victims” (Eve Pell), Ramparts, August 1970; “The Soledad Brothers: An
Appeal” (Angela Y. Davis), Black Scholar, April 1971, and People’s World,
April 24, 1971; “A Political Biography of Angela Y. Davis,” National
United Committee to Free Angela Y. Davis, New York, November 1970;
“Angela Y. Davis Speaks from Prison,” Muhammad Speaks, December
1970, and Guardian, December 26, 1970; “Angela Davis: Black Soldier”
(Robert Chrisman), Black Scholar, November 1970; “Letters to Jonathan
Jackson” (George Jackson), Soledad Brother, Bantam Books, New York 1970;
“Ruchell Magee” (Robert Kaufman), People’s World, July 10, 1971
All rights reserved
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
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Verso is the imprint of New Left Books
ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-769-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-770-7 (US EBK)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-771-4 (UK EBK)
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Printed in the US by Maple Press
To all who have fallen in the liberation struggle—Jonathan Jackson,
William Christmas, James McClain, Jon Huggins, Bunchy Carter, lil’
Bobby Hutton, Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Sam Napier … They must live
again through us and our struggles. Through our children and our unborn,
they must enjoy the rewards of victory—a victory towards which they have
already made infinite contributions.
Now also for George, who fiercely resisted to the very end. Under a
hail of enemy fire, he fell August 21, 1971, at San Quentin prison. His love
for his oppressed kin was unbounded, his revolutionary dedication
unconditional, and his contributions to our struggle incalculable. Though
his keepers sought to destroy him, George lives on, an example and
inspiration for us all.
August, 1971
Angela Y. Davis
Some of us, white and black, know how great a price has already been paid
to bring into existence a new consciousness, a new people, an
unprecedented nation. If we know, and do nothing, we are worse than the
murderers hired in our name.
If we know, then we must fight for your life as though it were our own—
which it is—and render impassable with our bodies the corridor to the gas
chamber. For, if they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us
that night.
J B
AMES ALDWIN
from An Open Letter to My Sister, Angela Y. Davis
CONTENTS
Foreword, by JULIAN BOND
Preface, by ANGELA Y. DAVIS and BETTINA APTHEKER
An Open Letter to My Sister, Angela Y. Davis, by JAMES BALDWIN
PART I: POLITICAL PRISONERS, PRISONS AND BLACK
LIBERATION
1. Political Prisoners, Prisons and Black Liberation, by ANGELA Y.
DAVIS
2. Lessons: From Attica to Soledad, by ANGELA Y. DAVIS
PART II: THE PRISON SYSTEM
3. The Social Functions of the Prisons in the United States, by BETTINA
APTHEKER
4. Prison, Where Is Thy Victory? by HUEY P. NEWTON
5. Prisoners in Rebellion: The Folsom Prisoners Manifesto
PART III: REALITIES OF REPRESSION
6. Trials of Political Prisoners Today, by ANGELA Y. DAVIS
PART IV: BOBBY SEALE AND ERICKA HUGGINS
7. Poems from Prison, by ERICKA HUGGINS
8. A Message from Prison, by BOBBY SEALE and ERICKA HUGGINS
9. A Letter to Ericka from Angela
PART V: THE SOLEDAD BROTHERS: FLEETA DRUMGO, JOHN
CLUTCHETTE, GEORGE JACKSON
10. A Letter from Fleeta
11. How a Prison Picks Its Victims, by EVE PELL
12. An Appeal, by ANGELA Y. DAVIS
13. On Prison Reform, from a letter by JOHN CLUTCHETTE
14. Towards the United Front, by GEORGE JACKSON
15. Letters to Jonathan Jackson from George Jackson
PART VI: RUCHELL MAGEE
16. Ruchell Magee, by ROBERT KAUFMAN
17. Letters to Angela Y. Davis, by RUCHELL MAGEE
PART VII: ANGELA Y. DAVIS
18. A Political Biography
19. Prison Interviews with Angela Y. Davis
PART VIII: ANGELA Y. DAVIS AND RUCHELL MAGEE ON TRIAL
20. Angela—Symbol of Resistance, by HOWARD MOORE, JR.
21. From New York to California: The Extradition of Angela Y. Davis, by
JOHN ABT
22. Statement to the Court, by ANGELA Y. DAVIS
23. Ruchell and Angela Want to Represent Themselves, by MARGARET
BURNHAM
24. Statement to the Court, by RUCHELL MAGEE
25. Notes for Arguments in Court on the Issue of Self-Representation, by
ANGELA Y. DAVIS
PART IX: THE CAMPAIGN
26. The Political Campaign, by FANIA DAVIS JORDAN, KENDRA
ALEXANDER, FRANKLIN ALEXANDER
27. Statements and Appeals
Notes