In advance of the inaugural July 19, 2025 meeting of the New Afrikan Freedom Campaign, New Afrikan Revolutionary and Political Prisoner Shaka A. Shakur explains the reasons behind the Campaign’s formation.
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Transcript
This is Shaka Shakur on behalf of the New African Freedom Campaign, making a statement for the upcoming event, this weekend of July 19th. And I just want to push out some things and trying to get some clarification on what it is We are trying to accomplish. So, the title of this piece is “Why is the New Afrikan Freedom Campaign Necessary?”
Why is this event and the launch of this organization so important? It is both so important and necessary because We are Our own liberators and must take responsibility to not only build bases and support structures within Our communities but We must support members from that community who has been harvested by the prison industrial complex and has taken a stance against oppression against the inhumanities being visited upon us by those who choose to abuse power while reinforcing structural forms of institutionalized oppression.
We choose to focus on Our own far as African prisons because both statistically and factually, and in comparison with Our population, We are often the most targeted. We get the most time. We represent the majority of those often housed in solitary or so-called long-term or administrative sanitation. We represent the majority of those sent out of state and into exile via the interstate compact. We are the most targeted for human trafficking by corrections as they ship us around the country. This is no slight to any other community. We know that We have allies, supporters, and even sympathizers as well as comrades from other communities that doesn’t look like us. And We welcome that solidarity.
But We believe that when Our community is represented and the organizing of that community and the building of bases within that community, the leadership must come from us. that is New Africans/Black people. There are many New African political prisoners, prison activists, and jailhouse lawyers that has been fighting and putting in quality work for decades who have been targeted and repressed by the state, who has been repeatedly denied parole or sent to exile out of state or who has been human trafficking.
This particular class of prisoners doesn’t often have an outside support base, community support, a network within the community, etc. This is an attempt to change that. We can’t complain that Our movements is too dominated by other people if you are not willing to step up, take responsibility, and put the work in. We need you. We are asking you to come out and let’s put Our minds, energy, and resources together.
Free the land!
You can find further information on ShakaShakur.org.
Peace.