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Angola 3
Newsletter, October 4, 2013:
The
"Muhammad Ali of the Criminal Justice System" - An Extraordinary
Life
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This morning we lost
without a doubt the biggest, bravest, and brashest personality in the political
prisoner world. It is with great sadness that we write with the news of Herman
Wallace's passing.
Herman never did
anything half way. He embraced his many quests and adventures in life with a
tenacious gusto and fearless determination that will absolutely never be
rivaled. He was exceptionally loyal and loving to those he considered friends,
and always went out of his way to stand up for those causes and individuals in
need of a strong voice or fierce advocate, no matter the
consequences.
Anyone lucky enough to
have spent any time with Herman knows that his indomitable spirit will live on
through his work and the example he left behind. May each of us aspire to be as
dedicated to something as Herman was to life, and to justice.
Below is a short
obituary/press statement for those who didn't know him well in case you wish to
circulate something. Tributes from those who were closest to Herman and more
information on how to help preserve his legacy by keeping his struggle
alive will soon follow.
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On October 4th, 2013,
Herman Wallace, an icon of the modern prison reform movement and an innocent
man, died a free man after spending an unimaginable 41 years in solitary
confinement.
Herman spent the last
four decades of his life fighting against all that is unjust in the criminal
justice system, making international the inhuman plight that is long term
solitary confinement, and struggling to prove that he was an innocent man.
Just 3 days before his
passing, he succeeded, his conviction was overturned, and he was released to spend his final hours surrounded by loved
ones. Despite his brief moments of freedom, his case will now forever serve as
a tragic example that justice delayed is justice denied.
Herman Wallace's early
life in New Orleans during the heyday of an unforgiving and unjust Jim Crow
south often found him on the wrong side of the law and eventually he was sent to
the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for armed robbery. While there, he
was introduced to the Black Panther's powerful message of self determination and
collective community action and quickly became one of its most persuasive and
ardent practitioners.
Not long after he
began to organize hunger and work strikes to protest the continued segregation,
endemic corruption, and horrific abuse rampant at the prison, he and his fellow
panther comrades Albert Woodfox and Robert King were charged with murders they
did not commit and thrown in solitary.
Robert was released in
2001 after 29 years in solitary but Herman remained there for an unprecedented
41 years, and Albert is still in a 6x9 solitary cell.
Herman's criminal case
ended with his passing, but his legacy will live on through a civil lawsuit he
filed jointly with Robert and Albert that seeks to define and abolish long term
solitary confinement as cruel and unusual punishment, and through his comrade Albert Woodfox's still active and promising bid for freedom
from the wrongful conviction they both shared.
Herman was only 9 days
shy of 72 years old.
Services will be held
in New Orleans. The date and location will be forthcoming.
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