The 3rd Annual Black Panther Party film festival took place from December 8th-December 13th at Maysles Cinema in Harlem, New York. The festival screened various documentaries combined with archival footage on the legacy of the Black Panthers. Each film focused on different aspects of the fight against oppression, and the current issues faced today, including the injustices happening to political prisoners. Prominent guest speakers included Ward Churchill (Native American activist/author), Robert King (freed Angola 3), and Lumumba Bandele (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement). Empowering. Fearless. Unbreakable…the energy I felt each night being amongst past Panthers and current activists.

Black August trailer

Part documentary, part concert, Black August shows the efforts of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) to bring awareness of political prisoners with interviews from Assata Shakur (in exile since 1979), Talib Kweli, dead prez, Mos Def, and more.

The film was humbling and insightful. I walked away with a better understanding of our political prisoners and the role this country played in dehumanizing them. Mumia Abu Jamal and Sundiata Acoli are just two names amongst others who have been locked up for over a decade for their political beliefs.

Cointelpro 101 trailer

This film gives more in-depth detail on the counterintelligence program developed under J. Edgar Hoover to “neutralize” nationalist groups, progressive movements, and revolutionary leaders. Stated in some of the film interviews, it was a war against the people, a militarization of criminal justice, and an attack on Black America and other “brown people”.

Ward Churchill, one of the panelists, spoke about cointelpro operations still taking place today but under a different name and on more sophisticated levels.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmDA-7EdaO0]

In the Land of the Free trailer

Last film I saw was about the Angola 3, Herman Wallace, Robert King Wilkerson, and Alfred Woodfox, three black men, who have spent over 25 years in solitary confinement for crimes they did not commit. Their political affiliations with the Black Panthers while in prison was seen as a motivation to accuse these men of murdering a white prison guard.

The prison was built on a plantation by slaves who were from Angola. With the highest incarceration rate in the U.S., Louisiana imprisons more people per capita. The Angola Prison is considered to be the largest maximum security prison.

The story takes you through the conditions and treatment of these men as well as a look into their unjust trials to keep them locked up. Although the court never sentenced these men to closed cell restriction (CCR), they have served over a 100 years collectively in solitary confinement.

Robert King was finally released 29 years later with all charges dropped. The other two men have served 37 years as of now. Woodfox was up for a new trial earlier this year but the Court reversed the appeal and put him back into solitary confinement.

The men have a collective lawsuit against the state of Louisiana as they continue to fight for prison rights,de-segregation, better living conditions, and an end to the sexual violence and police brutality.

The most fascinating thing about this film was seeing their spirits and minds unbroken. These men exemplified true mental freedom. They were unbreakable. I left with tears in my eyes.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2H8P33aXhc]

Speechless and overwhelmed, this film festival was necessary and right on time. As one of the Panthers had us chanting in the room, FREE THEM ALL, FREE THEM ALL, FREE THEM ALL.

Links for your reading pleasure

Emory Douglas (revolutionary artist for the Black Panther Party)

More Emory Douglas

History of the Black Panther Party

Prison industrial complex (1)

Prison industrial complex (2)

The Angola 3

COINTELPRO

P.E.A.C.E. (Positive Energy Always Conquers Evil)