Eddie Conway on COINTELPRO
An extremely special multimedia post for you today, dear readers. Last night (May 21), Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, Baltimore’s collectively-run infoshop and radical bookstore (and a great AK customer!) played host to a book talk by Marshall “Eddie” Conway, former Minister of Defense of the Baltimore Black Panther Party and currently incarcerated political prisoner. Thanks to the help of the tech team at Emma’s and Eddie’s defense team, Eddie called in to Red Emma’s from the Maryland State Correctional Facility in Jessup, MD to talk about his new book, The Greatest Threat:The Black Panther Party and COINTELPRO, recently released by iAMWE Publications in Baltimore.
The Greatest Threat puts the government’s war on the Panthers into historical context. Eddie spent years compiling the available documentation and research on COINTELPRO, and traced its dirty history, from the active repression of the black revolutionary movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s, to the conditions of Black America today and the dozens of political prisoners who remain in U.S. prisons on charges stemming from their involvement in the Black liberation movement.
It was an extraordinary event, and an amazing experience. Eddie is a great and extraordinarily generous interlocutor, and for many of the folks assembled for the event, it was a chance to reconnect with an old friend and comrade, or an opportunity to learn and be inspired by the struggle and spirit of a movement elder.
In February 2011, AK will publish Eddie’s second book, Marshall Law: The Life and Times of a Baltimore Black Panther, his autobiographical account of the rise and fall of the Panthers, his arrest, sham trial, and decades of incarceration, and his continuing organizing on the inside. I’m honored to be working with Eddie on his memoir, and I’m excited that you’ll all be able to read it next year!
In the meantime, check out the audio file linked below, and consider donating $20 and getting a copy of The Greatest Threat. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to Eddie’s defense fund. You can also read more about Eddie’s case at the Partnership for Social Justice website, and read Eddie’s latest update on his MySpace page.
Listen:
Email Erica Woodland (erica_woodland@hotmail.com) to donate to Eddie’s defense and get a copy of the book, or write to iAMWE Publications, PO Box 4628, Baltimore, MD 21212.