health care clinics. today we focus on an overlooked part of the panthers legacy, political prisoners. we will feature interviews with panthers who originally were convicted after tortured confessions. >> in 1973 in new orleans, herself and john bowman and ruben scott was arrested in new orleans by the police department. place wheren -- the we were arrested, they took us to jail. immediately, they started beating us. amy: in a historic round table we will be joined by four former black panthers who are held in prison for decades before winning the release. in his first national broadcast interview, we will speak with sekou odinga, who helped build the black panther party in new york city from a later involved in the black liberation army. we will speak with eddie conway, released from prison in 2014 after serving 44 years behind bars. and we will speak with two members of the angola 3 who formed one of the first black panther chapters in prison, robert king and albert woodfox. when he was in prison, woodfox served more time in solitary confinement than any prisoner in u.s. history. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nato is seeking to station more troops in eastern europe in what reuters reports could be the biggest military build-up on russia's borders since the cold war. as part of the u.s.-backed plan nato is planning to send battle , groups to poland, lithuania, estonia and latvia with forces , ranging from armored infantry to drones. this comes as tension mounts between russia and the united states over the crisis in syria. on tuesday, u.s. national intelligence director james clapper said he fears russia could shoot down a u.s. aircraft if a no-fly zone were imposed over syria. meanwhile donald trump warned in , an interview on tuesday hillary clinton's policy on syria could lead to world war iii. mr. trump: she has no plan for syria. with her, you will end up in world war iii. she doesn't know what she is doing. just like with libya and with everything else she has done. so syria now is no longer syria. syria is russia and the new iran that we built through the iran deal, which is one of the worst negotiated deals i've ever seen. amy: in other news on syria, amnesty international is reporting u.s. coalition airstrikes have killed as many 300 civilians in syria since u.s. airstrikes began two years ago. overall, the war in syria has killed over 400,000 people. in election news, the guardian is reporting the details about donald trump's close financial ties to energy transfer partners, operators of the controversial dakota access oil pipeline. kelcy warren, the chief executive of energy transfer partners, has given just over $100,000 to elect trump and another $67,000 to the republican national committee. in addition, trump financial disclosure forms show he has between $500,000 and $1 million invested in energy transfer partners, with up to another $1 million more in phillips 66 -- which will have a 25% stake in the pipeline once it is built. wikileaks is continuing to release more emails hacked from the account of clinton's campaign chair john podesta. one newly revealed email showed up clinton's aides privately handled the controversy around her use of private email server while secretary of state. when president obama was first questioned about the scandal last year, he replied that he learned of her private email server through news reports. shortly after obama made the comment, a top clinton aide privately wrote to podesta -- "we need to clean this up -- he has emails from her -- they do not say state.gov." defense secretary ash carter has announced another offensive will soon begin in iraq. this time to take the city of raqqa, which is seen as the de facto capitol of the islamic state. this comes as u.s. and iraqi forces are planning the next stage in the fight to retake the city of mosul. the united nations children's fund is warning that as many as 1.5 million people may be affected by the fight to recapture mosul, half of them children. and humanitarian workers say some 200,000 people may need shelter during the offensive. pope francis has made an appeal for the world to be more welcoming to refugees fleeing violence. he spoke oneay afteresidents theli tn of goro formed a blockto arrival of 12 migrant women, including one who was from pregnant. >> in some parts of the world, walls and barriers are coming up . it seems sometimes the silent work of the many men and women who in diverse ways are doing their utmost to help and assist refugees and migrants is obscured by the noise of other's who are giving a voice to an instinctive egoism. the closing up is not the solution. it ends up helping criminal trafficking. deal the solution is that of solidarity. -- the only solution is that of solidarity. solidarity. amy: meanwhile, in france, migrants set tents and shelters ablaze last night in calais as authorities moved to clear refugee camp known as "the jungle." thousands of refugees from afghanistan, iraq, syria, somalia, eritrea, sudan, and other war-torn countries have been living in the camp as they seek to reach england through the channel tunnel. to get a sense of the largest refugee camp in france, go to democracynow.org, where we were last year. in the largest auto scandal settlement in u.s. history, a federal judge has approved a $14.7 billion settlement over the volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal. the payouts include buybacks for impacted vehicles and cash compensation to u.s. car owners. volkswagen has admitted to rigging some 11 million vehicles worldwide. u.s. regulators say volkswagen vehicles were emitting up to 40 times more pollution than standards allow. in healthcare news, the obama administration has announced the average premium for obamacare insurance plans sold on healthcare.gov will rise 25% next year in the biggest jump since the affordable car act was -- affordable care act was passed. republican lawmakers jumped on the news saying obamacare should be repealed. meanwhile, advocates of single payer also reacted to the news. former labor secretary robert reich wrote on facebook -- "we need a 'public option' allowing people to choose a less-expensive medicare-for-all alternative." new details have emerged about how at&t has been spying on americans for profit. the daily beast is reporting at&t is keeping private call records and selling information to authorities investigating everything from the war on drugs to medicaid fraud. the secret plan is called project hemisphere. at&t reportedly has been retaining every call, text message, skype chat, or other communication that is passed through its infrastructure. some of the record state back to 1987. sheriff and police department each pay upwards of $1 million a year for access to the call records. no warrants are needed. the report comes as at&t is seeking government approval for its $85 billion takeover of time warner. in news from venezuela, the opposition-led legislature has voted to put president nicolas maduro on trial. at times, scuffles broke out on the floor of the national assembly as opposition lawmakers accuse maduro of breaking the constitutional order. the vote is seen as largely symbolic as the venezuelan government and supreme court have declared congress illegitimate. the vote came a week after venezuela's electoral council blocked a drive for a referendum to recall maduro. on tuesday, the president accused president obama of backing those who are trying to oust him from power. maduro said -- "these attacks from the right are an attack by obama because he is close to leaving." in news from britain, climate activists are protesting plans to build a third runway at london's heathrow airport. on tuesday, activists staged a runway blockade outside parliament. protesters included green party mp caroline lucas. >> it is quite clear and expansion of aviation at either future or gatwick will be incompatible with the obligations we have signed up to at the paris climate talks a year ago. it is a great shame our political leaders don't have a slightly longer memory and they don't connect these things. we know the aviation is the fastest-growing gas emissions. we know the massive expansion as well as having local environmental impacts will certainly have global environment impacts as well. amy: and finally, video of fox news' megyn kelly interviewing former house speaker newt gingrich is going viral. gingrich is one of donald trump's most vocal backers. he appeared on making kelly -- making kelly's show last night. >> if trump is a sexual predator -- >> he is not sexual predator. i'm sick and tired of people like you using language that is inflammatory that is not true. talks excuse me, mr. speaker. you have no idea whether it is true or not. >> neither do you. >> and i'm not taking a position. >> yes, you are. words, youed the took a position. i think that is the bias people are upset by. what's i think your -- >> i think your defensiveness its volumes. >> you are fascinated with sex and you don't care about public policy. that is what i get out of watching you tonight. >> you know what, mr. speaker? , but i fascinated by sex am has made by the protection of women and understanding what we're getting in the oval office. amy: that is megyn kelly and ingrid. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. this month marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the black panther party. huey newton and bobby seale founded the organization as a way to combat police brutality and oppression. they began in oakland where they famously monitored the behavior of the city's police department, which was notoriously brutal towards african-americans. in 1968, they began a free breakfast for children's program. as their efforts drew media attention, the movement grew nationally and chapters formed dozens of other cities. members of the party eventually founded more than 60 different serve the people programs that focused on providing other services, such as free medical clinics. the black panthers outlined their goals in a 10-point program that included demands for freedom, land, housing, employment and education. , around the same time the party was founded, the fbi began a secret program called cointelpro to disrupt and "neutralize" what it characterized as black nationalist hate groups. by 1969, the black panthers had become the primary focus of the program, which ultimately led to the deaths and imprisonment of many members, and contributed to the party's collapse. well, over the weekend, many former members reunited in oakland for one of the many events marking the group's 50th anniversary. this came after beyonce's black panther-themed performance in february during the super bowl halftime show and after pbs aired a major new documentary called, "black panthers: vanguard of a revolution." this is the trailer. >> ♪ power to the people >> the thing that led to the panthers, what we were seeing on television every day, attack dogs, firehose of them a bombings. >> on the eve of the black revolution. >> i was a cocktail waitress in a white strip club two years before i joined the black panther party. how did that happen? >> the rage was everywhere. i say he is a coward. i would challenge you to a duel. >> right into the heart of the enemy. was he insane? [bleep] yeah. that what was crazy. >> there were china change the government as we know it through terrorist activity. >> the state recently was in the middle of a heated debate when neighbors marched into the capital. >> do you feel the nation is in trouble? >> it definitely is. >> what is the answer? >> vigorous law enforcement. >> how about justice? >> justice is merely incidental to law and order. >> very, very threatening and violent revolutionary movement. they absolutely wanted this organization to be destroyed. free.eel absolutely a free negro. in that little space that i had i was the king. and that is what i felt. what's the great strength of the black panther party was its ideals and it's useful enthusiasm -- useful enthusiasm. that sometimes can be dangerous, especially when you're up against the united states government. juan: that is the trailer for "the black panthers: vanguard of the revolution," directed by stanley nelson. shortly after the film's release, democracy now! spoke with one of its subjects, kathleen cleaver, who served as communications secretary of the black panther party and is now a law professor at emory university. >> when i got involved with the black panthers, it was a brand-new group. in fact, there were like five when i got there because most of them were in prison after some criminal. it was very exciting. all of the principles -- it was one of the first organizations based on the concept of black power that had been articulated in the pacific. and by sncc. and innvolved with them december i got married and we stayed out there and continue to work for the panthers. amy: how to dr. martin luther king fit into this picture? >> in what way? did he your picture and inspire you, how to the black panthers relate to him? onoh, everyone was inspired some level by martin luther king. tremendously decent and caring person. he was extremely intelligent and he inspired a lot of christians. now, elder made a comment one of his features and said, how about integrating some of this bloodshed? that was one of the issues we had. too much that the black people should absorb all of the punishment and we should be forgiving and we should want to be peaceful in the face of murderous brutality in the middle of the vietnam war. that wasn't really a message a lot of young people cared for. when the black panthers came, started talking about self-defense, droves and droves of young people wanted to do that. i thought that was -- we followed robert williams. he said, if you're confronted by a racist who believes himself arms,or, then -- and your yes to consider, does he want to risk his superior life to take your inferior life? if you have a gun, you can put him in that position. nine times out of 10 he doesn't and that is the end of violence. we believed it was a way to put reduction to violence, and i accept that. amy: that is kathleen cleaver. today we focus on an overlooked part of the black panther party's legacy, political prisoners. the black panthers were one of the most criminalized movements in u.s. history, with many of its members arrested and sentenced to decades in prison. in some cases, court documents show they were punished, essentially, for being in the black liberation struggle. in others, it was later revealed that torture was used to extract their confessions. over the years, democracy now! has interviewed many black panthers who eventually won their release from prison such , as a group of men arrested in for allegedly killing a san francisco police officer. known as the san francisco 8, their charges were thrown out by a stre based on statements made under torture. this is former black panther harold taylor describing his arrest in the case on democracy now! in 2007. >> well, in 1973 in new orleans, myself and john bowman and ruben scott was arrested in new orleans by the police department. we were taken from the place where they arrested us and took us to the jail. immediately, when we got to the jail, they started beating us. they never asked as questions in the beginning, they just beating us. they had arrested ruben earlier that day before they arrested me and john bowman. they put me in a room with ruben scott when they first got me there, and he a been there a couple of hours. well, he was laying on the floor in the fetus position where he , and his on him, feces face was scratched up and he was swollen and he was traveling. i asked him, ruben, what is going on? he said, nothing. he doesn't say anything. he is just shaking. immediately, the door opens up and the police pull to me out and tell me, if you don't cooperate, this is what you're going to get. they made me take off my clothes, change me to a chair by my ankles to the bottom of the chair and my wrist to the side of it and i just had on my shorts. at that point they started beating me. amy: that was former black panther harold taylor speaking about his 1973 arrest. it was for a murder charge later thrown out. now 50 years after the party's founding, many former members are still held in prison based on similar tortured confessions. others were convicted based on questionable evidence or the testimony of government informants. widely recognized as political prisoners, they account for one of the black panther party's most enduring legacies. when we come back from break, we host and is sort roundtable, speaking with some of the people who have spent decades in prison. we will be joined by four former black panthers who have been released from prison, three of them within the last three years. back with them in a moment. ♪ [music break] amy: "free bobby now" by the lumpen. they were the black panthers house band. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. this month marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the black panther party, and we are spending the hour looking an overlooked part of its legacy -- political prisoners in the united states who are former black panthers. perhaps the most famous is mumia abu-jamal, who has regularly been interviewed on democracy now! as an award-winning journalist. but there are many others. in fact, two former black panthers have already died in prison this year -- abdul majid in new york and mondo we langa in nebraska. in a web exclusive feature on democracynow.org, we describe other panthers who remain locked up. they include romaine "chip" fitzgerald, who was convicted in 1969 of attempted murder of a police officer during a traffic stop shoot-out in which he himself was shot in the head but survived, as well as the murder of a security guard in a separate case based on flimsy evidence. it was the same year the fbi's j. edgar hoover declared "the black panther party represents the greatest threat to internal security of the country." fitzgerald has since suffered a stroke while in prison. despite his medical condition, he has been repeatedly denied parole despite california's push to release people over age 65 who have served more than 25 years of their sentence. amy: well, for more, we are joined now by four former black panther party members who became political prisoners and lived through similar ordeals. all but three of them were released from prison in the last three years. here in new york, in his first global broadcast interview, we are joined by sekou odinga, who helped build the black panther party in new york city. he was later involved in the black liberation army. he was convicted in 1984 of charges related to his alleged involvement in the escape of assata shakur from prison and a brink's armored car robbery. after serving 33 years in state and federal prison, he was released in november 2014. in baltimore, eddie conway is a former black panther leader in baltimore who was released from prison in march 2014 after serving 44 years for a murder of a police officer. he always maintained his innocence, saying he was set up. we first spoke to eddie conway less than 24 hours after his release from prison. and we're joined from austin by two former members of the angola 3 who formed one of the first black panther chapters in a prison. robert king spent 32 years in angola -- 29 of them in solitary confinement. released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned. with him is albert woodfox. until february of this year, woodfox was the longest-standing solitary confinement prisoner in the united states. he was held in isolation in a six-by-nine-foot cell almost continuously for 43 years at the louisiana state penitentiary known as angola prison. he was released on his 69th birthday. we spoke with him two days later, and i asked him how it felt to be free. >> being released into society, i'm having to learn different know, just you trying to learn how to be free. i have been locked up so long. prison within a prison. for me, it is just about learning how to live as a free person and just take my time. right now the world is speeding so fast for me. and i have to find a way to just slow it down. amy: albert woodfox speaking on democracy now! in february just days after his release. we welcome him and all of you to democracy now! i want to begin in austin with robert king and albert woodfox. you just came from oakland, california, where you were at ,he 50th anniversary discussion celebration of the founding of the black panther party. how did it feel, robert king? >> thank you, amy. it was great. the 50th anniversary. i think the turning point in our -- we focus on a lot of things but the main focus was, in my opinion, was focusing on political prisons. everything else was important and most likely [indiscernible] that is what caught our attention at this point in time -- we need toless focus on political prisoners. languageo devise the invalidate our contention the approach that we had in trying [indiscernible] victims. juan: albert woodfox, the whole idea of starting chapters of the panthers in prison, which happened across the country and many people are not aware of, what initially inspired you to do that and your sense of went withp when you people who did been on the outside as well? >> for me, the were both conditions, the brutality, constant murdering and raping of that inmates necessitated that something be done since i had joined the black panther party while in prison, i felt as though the best way to address these horrible conditions was by forming a chapter along with herman wallace and robert king to combat these were both conditions -- horrible conditions. whilejoining the panthers in prison, i knew no other way than to uphold the principles and the values of the black panther party to do this. juan: what was the reaction of the prison officials to your attempt to organize inside? >> well, at the time, i think we lasted as long as we did -- we were as successful as reward because they had an internal struggle going on in angola between what is called the old families, families that go back generations. secretary hunt, my think was the first female secretary they had ever had, had brought in personnel from outside. the warden. he in turn brought in people from outside. given this internal struggle between the old families in the personnel brought from outside and theirna concentration was on that rather than on the organizing that myself and herman wallace and robert wilson were participating in the you know, the prison population. woodfox, we play the clip of you right after you got out of prison. then we came down to new orleans and all you, met you. it is almost a year since you have been out. how are you doing now? you were the person held in solitary confinement longer than anyone in u.s. history, for over 43 years. >> i am doing well. i am constantly adjusting to being a free man after such a lengthy time being in prison. comradeship of the former black panther parties, as well as being embraced by my community and my family. and the one thing i have learned is that living free is a constant adjustment. so i don't know if i will ever stop adjusting to how society constantly changes. juan: we're also joined in the studio by sekou odinga. talk about how you originally got involved with the panther party, what drew you to it, and how it has shaped your a life -- own life. >> i got involved in the black panther party in early 1968 when the party first come to new york. what kind of motivated me to join the black panther party was that i come along with some of the comrades that i was working with in new york, had heard about the black panther party and there were doing things that we wanted to do in new york and we thought that would be a better vehicle than the vehicle that we had going on in new york . it was better organized and they are he had the 10 point platform and program and people had already heard about them. so we decided that we would join the party when given a chance. a few of us had actually went lateo california in the 1967 two check it out deceive it was all we thought it was. we found out from them it was. when we heard they were coming to new york, we got there are joined the party as soon as we could. juan: before that, you are a member of malcolm x's organization. >> yes i was. --the group was only a year old or maybe less. we didn't really get a chance to do much work in that organization. i had been attracted by malcolm x when he was still a member of the nation of islam and i was in -- supposed to be in a youth prison, but it was just a prison they had turned over and said now it is for youth. i was 16 years old when i went in there. when i come out, i was looking for him to see, you know, to hear him, to see him, to see if i wanted to be a part of what he was dealing with. it took me about two years before i actually joined, maybe a little less. i did not spend much time with it. we tried to organize our own organization called the grassroots advisory council. amy: talk about how being in the black panther party shaped your case, how you ended up in prison. >> well, as one of the leadership of the black panther party in new york, i was the first bronx section leader when they first come to new york. of thelso a member founding member of the international section of the ,lack panther party in africa algeria. i was one of those identified by the cointelpro as someone to maintain, to follow, to listen to, to control any way they could. amy: that was jaeger hoovers program. >> yes. i think once they realized to i was -- when they first captured me, they did not know who i was. what they called a shootout. there was no real shootout. we were running, my comrade and , from the police. he is been involved in an action -- he had been involved in an action in rockland county. they were looking for him and i was trying to help him get out of new york. we were running from the police. we both shot over our shoulder while we were running, hoping to slow them down so we could try and get away. when we were first captured -- well, he was murdered on the streets. when they caught him, they knew who he was right away and murdered him laying on this treat. they did not know who i was. they had not seen me in about 13 years. when they brought me in, they first charged me with something like, if i remember right, it was resisting arrest and having an illegal gun or something to that nature. prints come back and i find out who i was, later on that night or the next day, -- actually, it was the next week, if i remember correctly. it has been a while now post up we're talking about 34, 35 years ago. but later on -- amy: you are captured in 1981. >> yeah. they upped the charges from resisting arrest, etc., to attended murder of police -- attempted murder of police, which upped the time they could give me from a few years to life for attempted murder of police. you can get 25 years to life. that is what they gave me. charges -- six counts of 25 years to life or six sentences of 25 years to life running together. that is how i think it changed. once they realized who i was and that i was one of the targets of cointelpro, the charges went from low charges to extra high charges. juan: this whole issue you mention of being part of the international section of the party, especially young people, don't really understand necessarily the impact the panthers had not only in the united states, but internationally. for a while after, there was a split in the party between huey newton and eldridge. there was a group working in algeria, weren't they? talk about what happened there and your impact in terms of the movements in africa that were in existence at the time. >> well, let me back up a little bit. i don't think it was just a split between eldridge cleaver and chewing newton. there was a split between two factions the people have for whatever reason identified it as huey newton and eldridge cleaver. for my perspective, it was the left and the right, you know, that some people were on the , or moving to the right mainstreaminto politics rather than revolutionary politics. and those of us on the left was maintaining that we had to be different from that. -- the partyfact was having a big effect all through the world. through europe, latin america, africa. and in many places, support committees came up in europe and in africa we were able to work many of the different liberation movements. we were welcomed by all of them that was in there, and all must everyone -- excuse me. in algeria at the time. affect we had a profound on many of the different movement. you've seen people in relating our 10 point program and platform. you see people starting to , thete our dress code leather jackets and stuff like that. amy: and a 10 point program, what was most important to you? what was it that attracted you to the black panthers? >> the whole program attracted me, but what attracted me more than anything else was the standard against police brutality. ghettos in the other this country or black areas of this country, police brutality was running rampant. from my first memory of it was in new york was glover who was murdered in my neighborhood over on new york boulevard. i think what we were really concerned about was trying to put some kind of control on the police -- or at least, be in a position that we could counter some of what they were doing. that was the big attraction for me personally. and many members that i came in with -- we were not part of the civil rights movement that turned the other cheek. we mostly were followers of the position that if someone smacks you, you smack them back. if someone punches you, you punch them back. they your life was the biggest and best thing you had and you had a right to not only protected, but to defend it by any means necessary. those were the things that really attracted me to the party. amy: how did you get out of jail after 33 years? the think -- i know that bigger thing is that i filed an article 78, which is a legal position in the courts claiming that new york state had did -- did not have the right to hold me any longer. their law basically says that the jurisdiction -- i was under two jurisdictions, new york state and federal jurisdiction. the law basically says the first jurisdiction, the controlling jurisdiction, has to exhaust everything with you before giving you to another jurisdiction. i maintained that they did not do that. that once they gave me up him and then they lost in troll of may because that is what the law says -- control of may because that is what the law says. basically, the judge agreed with me. he rolled -- the only thing he rolled that they did not give me up deliberately him as he put it, he said i think they made a mistake -- which the law doesn't have a position in there for making a mistake. if you give him up, you lose him. it to say -- he said, i think they made a mistake. to fix that mistake, what i'm willing to do is run the time that you did in the federal system with the time that you were supposed to do in the state system, and i'm going to order them to give you everything that they should have given you. basically, he was saying you have to give him parole. amy: were you convicted of helping assata shakur to escape? >> that was one of the charges in the federal system. amy: what was your contention? >> i have no contentions on that at this point. i was found guilty of it. if anything, i am proud to be associated with the liberation of assata shakur. since they found me -- i did plead not guilty to it, if you're asking me that. i did not plead guilty to in the court case, but at this point that i have done the time, i don't have any contention on it any longer. i am proud to be associated with the liberation of assata shakur. she should have never been locked up all that time anyhow and treated like she was treated because it was clear that she did not murder any officer or her comrade. that is my position now. amy: we are talking to sekou odinga, here in new york. and robert king are in austin, texas, about to go on a european tour talking about their experiences in jail. the 50th anniversary of the black panther party and more. when we come back, eddie conway will join the conversation, served over four decades in prison. he is joining us from baltimore. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "the meeting" by elaine brown. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. elaine brown is a former leader of the black panther party as well. month marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the black panther party. there's nothing the hour focusing on an overlooked part legacy, political prisoners in the u.s. were former black panthers. i want to bring into the conversation from baltimore, eddie conway, former baltimore black panther leader who was released from prison in 2014 after serving 44 years for a murder he denies committing. he was convicted in the killing of baltimore police officer donald sager, but has maintained his innocence, saying he was set up. for years conway's supporters , campaigned for him to be pardoned. welcome to democracy now! >> thank you. juan: talk to us about how you got involved in the panther party and the incidence that led up to your original arrest. >> well, primarily, i got involved in the panther party as the result of me deciding not to go to vietnam and come home from the army because there was a tremendous amount of riots taking place in the united in 1965, 1966, 1970 seven. i wanted to see if i could come and help solve whatever problems it was in terms of the black committee rebelling like it was. joined the naacp, worked with core, try to integrate the .orkplaces during the process of that, i found out there were serious problems in the community. young children were going to school without food. there was no medical care. there were a number of things -- the community was under attack by the police department, etc. and looked around identified what i thought was the best organization to address that. it was the black panther party. so i joined the black panther party. a medical clinic, breakfast program, educational program, committed to controlled does committed to control of the police, etc. during that period, the fbi with the cointelpro program, decided to destroy the black panther party. within a year and a half, it destroyed about 25 of our 37 state chapters. rennie leadership out of the country, the primary leadership, ed the map were assassinated them. and locked up the secondary leadership or force them to flee the country. i was part of the secondary leadership. i ended up getting locked up illegally as a result of a shooting incident between panthers and police. police got killed. one that wounded. other ones engaged in a shootout . a couple of days later, i was put in with two other panthers that have been locked up in the job, anden from a tried, convicted, found guilty, and spent 12 years in prison before they made the determination that we had all been tried illegally in the state of maryland according to the law. but it took another 32 years to actually win our release -- or win my personal release. juan: you mention the wave of repression, first at the top leadership and secondary leadership. i remember years after that repression had occurred, "the new york times" reported about a seeker hold the -- secret poll the government had done where the federal government concluded that at least 25% of all african-americans in the country were supporting the black panther party. so they were deeply worried that the black committed he was being recently radicalized as a result of your efforts. >> well, not only that, but their problem was that we worked to reform the alliances with groups and other communities, the native american community, we formed alliances with the latino community or the brown the puerto rican community, the young lords, the white committee, the patriot party, the white panther party, etc. we formed alliances throughout the country, but alliances were also being formed in our programs -- and our programs are being duplicated in israel and africa, in europe, and the caribbean, and so on. so it was those ideas that were spreading that unity in terms of creating an alliance that scared the government the most. so they weren't just concerned about what was happening in the black committed he, but there was concern about the ideas of international socialism spreading throughout the radical committed these around the world, taking an example from the way we were building and organizing. and they had to disrupt that building and organizing and the only way they could was they labeled us as black militants with only a self-defense component. -- by isis and aiding us, blowing up our buildings and intoot, they gored us resisting, protecting the stuff we had built. a split, fored to want of a better term, between those of us that thought building a broader base among the masses was the correct way to go and those of us that was tired of being persecuted and attacked and tired of seeing our members assassinated. , while you arega out of jail, you're very much focused on those who are still in prison. can you talk about some of those cases? >> yes. we have a number of brothers left in the prisons, about 15 of them. for the most part am a they are in bad conditions. most of us are getting older. i believe all of them are 60 years or older. they have been in prison for long periods of time. many of them should never have been in prison at all. they were framed and illegally convicted. trying, as well as many of the other brothers -- i know all through the other brothers on this program with us have in advocating for the release of these political prisoners, prisoners like geronimo ji-jaga pratt --mumia abu-jamal, robert hayes, miles -- like i said, 15 from the party itself and there are many other political prisoners in this country. this country maintains their is no political prisoners that everybody is criminals and it is not true. we supportings that in other places like people like nelson mandela, our prisoners were doing the same things and they were captured and convicted of the same things. and we should remember them and treat them like the heroes they are. they earned that respect. most of them, like i said, are getting older. a lot of them are sick. a lot of them are being held even after the courts have ordered them released. people like d then was, after he was on his way out, they locked him back up with no charges. he is been locked up for 11 or 12 years now after he did all of his time. man, a court case where the judge ordered him released, and it refused to release him. they keep going back with appeals so they can keep him in jail. now he is honest 80 years old -- now he is almost 80 years old. amy: the judge ordered the judge to viciously order his release and he then said of his june 2016 new jersey parole board on was, they asked me nothing about my positive accomplishments. they asked, aren't you angry they broke assate out of prison than you? a response was, no, i don't or wouldn't wish prison on anyone. >> these brothers need to be released. first of all, we need to know who they are. people don't even know that we have political prisoners. most of the names that i mentioned, most people would not if they're not already politically involved. their names upe to a point where people will start knowing who they are and start demanding their release. juan: is there any hope that president obama might do something before he leaves office? >> yes, there is hope. there is definitely hope. i know for a fact that the prisoners -- the political prisoners in the federal system i've asked him for clemency or for some kind of release. i don't know if he is going to recognize them and help them. amy: albert woodfox, earlier this month coming up the opportunity to meet the u.s. district judge james brady who issued the order saying that you should be immediately released and barred from being retried for the killing of angola prison guard brent miller. whose former wife even said she did not believe that you had done this. judge brady later said, "i did what a judge is supposed to do." only have a minute, but what was it like to meet him and the power of judges in some of these cases, as former black panthers are still seeking release? >> well, you know, at the time i was speaking at southern university law school in baton rouge, louisiana, and there was -- it was a total surprise to know judge brady was in the audience. speaking with the law students and attorneys and other people involved in the judicial system, i learned that judge brady was there and i wanted to thank him for having the kurds to apply the law -- courage to apply the law and not allow being a former black panther party or my activism in prison and to applyissues .he law and that is exactly what he'd done. we know the state of louisiana, mostly through the attorney general office, continuously appealed his rulings. in most cases, his rulings were reversed or stayed, and this process was drug out over a 44 year period. amy: we have to leave it there but it has been a fascinating discussion. i want to thank albert woodfox and robert king, in austin, and sekou odinga in new york and eddie conway in baltimore. we have a special report on the black panthers on democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] days, everyone's moving at the speed of light, and boy, life can be so stressful. but eating well doesn't have to be. i have great strategies for getting dinner on the table, like that. like how to stock your kitchen and having fast, crowd pleasing recipes at your fingertips. like these: shrimp with spinach, garlic and smoked paprika. and tomato bread. peach chicken with crispy bread crumbs. and three ingredient, two minute mango sorbet. so let's kick back and cook. right now on ellie's real good food. (playful music)

Related Keywords

Vietnam , Republic Of , Latvia , Louisiana , United States , Paris , France General , France , Heathrow , Hillingdon , United Kingdom , Abdul Majid , An Nil Al Abya , Sudan , China , California , Angola , Syria , Gatwick , Surrey , Russia , San Francisco , New Orleans , Pacifica , Libya , Poland , New York , Oakland , Texas , Algeria , Iran , Afghanistan , Eritrea , Puerto Rico , Robert Williams , Huambo , Raqqa , Ar Raqqah , Iraq , Estonia , New Jersey , Nebraska , Israel , Maryland , Somalia , Rockland County , Lithuania , Venezuela , Americans , Venezuelan , America , Puerto Rican , Britain , Iraqi , American , Robert King , Eddie Conway , Huey Newton , Elaine Brown , Baltimore Eddie Conway , Brent Miller , Nicolas Maduro , Robert Reich , John Bowman , J Edgar Hoover , Martin Luther King , Robert Wilson , Albert Woodfox , Ruben Scott , Sekou Odinga , Juan Gonzalez , Stanley Nelson , Megyn Kelly , Panther Harold Taylor , Caroline Lucas , James Brady , Sherman Wallace , Nelson Mandela , Bobby Seale , Amy Goodman , Newt Gingrich , John Podesta , Robert Hayes , Hillary Clinton , Mumia Abu Jamal , Donald Sager ,