Back Issues
Issue
159
12th Nov 03
Re-print
international news
Segregation still reigns in the 'land of the free'
by Roz Paterson
"We've been everywhere. In 35
years, there's been no place where we can have a life."
Musician and activist Aisha and her writer husband Bankole Irungu have been
rendered stateless by a US government intent on stamping out black liberation
movements.
Forget an America where freedom is sacred and justice colour-blind. The America
they experienced was one where black schoolchildren are abused by openly racist
teachers and black activists are harassed to the point of losing their mind.
Aisha, whose father refused to fight in WWII for a segregated America, only
learnt about pre-colonial African history as an adult.
"There was a real, strong resistance to us knowing anything about
ourselves."
Shedding her Americanised name in favour of Aisha, she became involved in the
fight for the African voice in America to be heard.
Bankole's political views were informed by the release, in the early 80s, of
many of the political prisoners of the 1960s.
It became clear that political activism and career advancement didn't mix.
Though talented and educated, by the time the couple were married and living in
Charlottesville, Virginia, Bankole was working as a shelf-stacker and Aisha as a
part-time music teacher.
Then the trouble really began.
"I was seeing black children getting harassed. By their teachers,"
recalls Aisha.
"One child was repeatedly tied to a chair. Eventually, $800 was paid out to
the parents by way of compensation - but the teacher continued to tie this
little boy to a chair!
"The parents told the press and I don't know if the $800 constituted a
gagging order or what, but the school then threatened to sue the parents! It was
unbelievable racism."
But in the course of challenging this, Aisha and Bankole's life became
intolerable.
"We suffered constant intrusion. Our mail was opened, our phone-calls
tapped, I was followed to the office. Suddenly we had no personal life and were
being run out of our jobs."
What Aisha is describing is COINTELPRO - The Counter Intelligence Programme - a
method devised during the McCarthyite era to infiltrate and break up communist
groups and, in 1967, directed at black liberation and Native American movements.
An FBI document from 1971 states clearly it was to be used to "expose,
disrupt, misdirect, discredit or otherwise neutralise activists of black
national, hate-type organisations."
The FBI vowed to discontinue its practise, but Aisha and Bankole left America
with 4000 pages worth of evidence which strongly suggest that promise was a
hollow one.
"Ours was low intensity COINTELPRO - also know as the 'thousand pinpricks'
or 'eavesdropping'. What happens is that people can't handle the pressure of
being followed and listened in on. They become paranoid, develop physical
illnesses, take to alcohol and drugs.
"They develop a mental state in which they'll destroy themselves."
At its highest intensity, COINTELPRO can mean false imprisonment, such as that
of Geronimo Pratt, the model citizen indicted on murder charges but released
after 27 years with a $4.5million compensation payout.
His crime? According to his supporters, instigating social programmes designed
to educate, feed and clothe poor black people.
Aisha feels they are targeted because she is a musician and Bankole a writer.
"The American government has always persecuted artists who took a stand. In
one COINTELPRO memo, they stated that they have to 'prevent the rise of a black
messiah'.
"They want to target people before they become known. They don't want
another Nina Simone or Malcolm X," says Aisha.
In Charlottesville, Bankole and Aisha had to fight alone. "People were
afraid, and not just of physical abuse, though there was plenty of that."
Nonetheless, three years of methodical, determined legal wrangling and they
forced the school to comply with race relations laws.
Some school board members, who had served during the segregation era, quit. So
did Aisha, who saw there was no future for them in Virginia.
They fled to the more "humane, more friendly" society of Canada.
But five months in, the COINTELPRO started up again, in intercepted phone-calls
and opened mail.
Aisha says, "A cultural message about the African-American experience was
not wanted in Canada. I sing songs about love, politics and the fact that people
have the power to change things.
"For me, being a political activist and a musician are one and the same.
The essence of African-American music is political no matter how you look at
it."
Norah Jones can make a buck as an ersatz soul singer but the real thing's lucky
if it gets to play for beer.
"I feel that cultural destruction is one of the worst forms of
racism."
They were found eligible to claim refugee status in Canada, but following Bush's
election in 2000, they received a letter reversing this, while also warning that
they shouldn't return to the US.
"Canada is violating both Canadian and international law. We've been
rendered stateless."
Now in Europe, the blacklist appears to be following them.
Reluctantly, Bankole admits, "Now I meet young African-Americans who want
to join groups and I caution them not to do so. That's how bad it is."
Aisha and Bankole live on the earnings from their music and writings alone. They
are in need of housing and survive the blacklist with their books, concerts and
CDs. Further information is available at: www.oocities.org/exiledone2002/index
America's Black List
Dr Mutulu Shakur: Pioneer in the
field of acupuncture and drug detoxification, Shakur is a co-founder of the
Republic of New Afrika. In prison since 1982.
Ali Khalid Abdullah: Member of Republic of New Afrika. Despite being up for
parole since 1996, has been consistently denied.
Mumia Abu Jamal: Award-winning African-American journalist, now on
Pennsylvannia's Death Row.
Obadyah Ben Yisrayl (aka Christopher Peterson): On Indiana's Death Row for
allegedly perpetrating a killing spree. Interestingly, the original eye-witness'
composite picture of the killer was of a white man.
Zolo Agona Azania: Member of Republic of New Afrika, now on Indiana's Death Row.
Jamil Al-Amin: Black Power leader of the 1960s, on whom the government has a
44,000 page file.