The full title of this article is “Shaka Shakur vs. the State of Indiana: Talking Points: Mental Health and So-Called Black Criminality.” You can find several ways to help Shaka Shakur bring his case to light here.
Historically, the united states was founded on slavery and genocide, which gave rise to a white-supremacist ideology in order to justify and rationalize its crimes against humanity. This was as capitalism went through its early stages of development.
As the country continued to develop and its laws went into effect and were structured in a way to maintain the oppression of Afrikan and indigenous people—to legitimize it under the color of law—as time progressed this practice also infected and contaminated the development of all institutions within this society. This includes its academic disciplines, social sciences, and humanities. You cannot separate such.
You cannot talk about implicit bias, institutionalized racism , prejudice, etc., and attempt to separate them from the superstructure of society and its institutions with all of their inherent contradictions.
If the origin of something is corrupt and it is used to establish the very foundation of what you are using to facilitate and maintain the status quo, then anything that stems from that process or is the-product of such, is tainted.
Moving forward to today.
When it comes to so-called Black Criminality and the historical and false narratives that have been generated around them, We never get the benefit of doubt. If We enter a Temporary Insanity Plea or bring up issues of personal trauma, family trauma, or even community trauma, We are already at a disadvantage in having to overcome certain hurdles of preconceived notions, cultural and political biases inherent and built in mechanisms that don’t allow Us to receive a non-biased evaluation or assessment within the overall process.
You cannot separate the historical context and foundation of this society and the very creation of its institutions from the culture and dominant ideology in which it evolved.
The first impulse is to criminalize Us and Our behavior and not see Our humanity. The trauma on whatever level it may exist is minimized, if not outright trivialized and/or dismissed. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy to some extent when looking through a biased lens at what might go on in certain aspects of Our community, etc.
In my case, for example, after the tragic loss/murder of a child, my pain, my trauma were dismissed because for one, he was just another young Black male and, for two, i was just another ex-con who wasn’t entitled to feel such empathy or have my trauma acknowledged or recognized.
The fact that i had been sent to prison as a 16-year-old kid was dismissed. Throughout my trial there was evidence and testimony presented that i had been subjected to physical and mental torture/abuse at the hands of prison guards and as a result of administrative policies; evidence that i had been subjected to multiple tours within supermax prisons and solitary confinement, evidence that i had also been the Plaintiff in several law suits that were either won or settled in my favor in dealing with these abuses and Human Rights Violations; evidence that i had been featured in a Human Rights Watch Report and documentary about the conditions of confinement within Indiana’s first Supermax Prison [1]. They were all dismissed.
The fact that i had expert witnesses testify on my behalf validating and establishing the psychosocial impact of the above, it was dismissed and not looked upon as any form of mitigating circumstances. Why? Because We aren’t looked upon as human and aren’t supposed to feel what “normal” people are supposed to feel. Again We must go the extra mile and jump over higher hurdles to substantiate what should be obvious to the objective mind.
Again, this is part of the record. The expert witnesses for the State or Court appointed doctors who were supposed to be impartial only to become witnesses for the prosecution. In fact, they testified that i was too smart and too intelligent to be suffering from various issues of trauma and insanity. In fact, they stated that i took over the psychological exam and was using words like “trauma,” “closure,” “healing,” and “suicidal ideation,” with the inference being suggested or implied to the jury that this “nigga” can’t be going through what he says and could appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions because he is using such terminology.
What did the prosecutor tell the jury? “You heard the experts tell you how smart he is, that he took over the interview and evaluation.” “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how he gets out. He is trying to trick you!” He then went on to misquote and erroneously quote the law on insanity.
Then the expert testimony went into the fact that I was attending Purdue University full-time and that i had either created or had the knowledge of how to create a 501(c)3 non-profit—again raising the bars and hurdles that We must climb. What does either have to do with the heat of the moment and the alleged crime or incident itself? It’s almost like a mental health poll tax that We must pay.
So again, this is all because of national oppression and racism, because of perception and stereotypes, because of inherent bias and structural racist oppression that affects and contaminates every aspect of u.s. society, including its so-called academic disciplines, We do not get a fair shake or evaluation. We do not get the benefit of doubt, because We got to fight against all of the extra shit.
Take the recent case of Rodney Hinton Jr., who allegedly killed a cop in Ohio after the police killed/murdered his son. He allegedly committed this act after watching the body cam footage of his son being murdered. Having lived through and experienced some of this myself, i can just imagine the mental anguish and mental state that he was in. The human aspect of it. But i’ve heard none of this talked about in the mainstream media [2].
This reaction of a Father, not a Black Father, but a Father, a Dad that just watched a video of his 18-year-old son be murdered six seconds after the arrival of the police, is what’s relevant. This is just another instance and example of the larger issue i am talking about.
Since my conviction, there has been more data and scientific evidence produced about the psychological and physiological affects and impacts of long periods of solitary confinement and isolation. There is also an understanding of what scientists, psychologists, and psychiatrists are calling the Post-Solitary Housing Unit (SHU) Syndrome and Extreme Emotional Distress.
The Post-SHU Syndrome wasn’t available as an argument or defense when i went to trial, but the Extreme Emotional Distress Defense was. Due to ineffective counsel, it was never raised. So this can now be revisited and/or resubmitted as possibly new evidence and as a mitigating factor..
There is a wealth of new information that has been generated by experts about Supermax prisons, isolation, various aspects of sensory deprivation, social isolation, and other forms of clinical torture. There are now legal precedents established on these types of issues that can possibly be used to reopen cases or submit Post Conviction Litigation.
My case meets much of these criteria. Help me bring this to the light of day as i fight for either a new trial or modification of sentence. i’ve served 23 years on a non-murder case where no one was seriously injured.
Free All Political Prisoners!!
Shaka A. Shakur
The colonizer cannot see the humanity of the colonized and is thereby unable to discover the humanity in themselves.
References
[1] Jamie Fellner and Joanne Mariner, “Cold Storage: Super-Maximum Security Confinement in Indiana” (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1977), available here; Joshua Moise (Director), “Supermax Wisconsin,” (2003), available here. – Ed.
[2] While the media hasn’t covered the human aspect of this case, it has certainly resonated with masses of people. In fact, so many have sympathized with Hinton Jr. that David Yost, the Ohio Attorney General, is urging the state to pass a law to “ban crowdfunding for people charged with violent crimes.” At the time of publication, a single fundraiser on GiveSendGo by Hinton’s family has raised almost $50,000. See Bret Buganski, “Ohio AG Calls for Takedown of Fundraisers for Rodney Hinton Jr.,” WCPO 9 News, 20 May 2025, available here. – Ed.