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Sometimes the state seems all powerful. However, we should never lose sight of what we can win when we work together.

The Puerto Rican people have worked hard to generate the political and moral pressure necessary to free two generations of political prisoners from U.S. prisons. In 1979, Irving Flores Rodriguez, Lolita Lebron, and Rafael Cancel-Miranda were freed after spending 25 years in prison for struggling to end U.S. colonial rule of Puerto Rico. In September 1999, eleven younger independentistas were freed after almost twenty years in prison.

Today New Afrikan activist and former political prisoner Assata Shakur lives freely in Cuba despite the efforts of some within the U.S. to have her killed or imprisoned.

We celebrate the release of Linda Evans in Jan. 2001, Black Panther Robert "King" Wilkerson in Feb. 2001, Juan Segarra Palmer's release to Puerto Rico in January 2004, and the eleven Puerto Rican independentistas in Sept. 1999. Yet we know that close to 100 women and men remain in U.S. prisons because they have dared to struggle for the liberation of oppressed peoples.

When we support these political prisoners we defend our own right to struggle for justice. This is especially crucial since the passage of the "USA-Patriot Act" and other unconstitutional assaults on dissent in the name of the "war on terror."

"Love of people and belief in life lead us to resist imperialism, always striving to find the methods that are most effective and most consistent with our underlying humanism. An important way to reaffirm the history of struggle and to contribute to the spirit and energy of today's movements is to never forget, and to actively support, political prisoners around the world."

David Gilbert

anti-imperialist political prisoner

statement for International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners

12/3/05: