n the Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful
THE PEACE AND JUSTICE FOUNDATION
8604 Second Avenue, PMB 173
Silver Spring, Md. 20910
special note: While the length of this e-mail (approx. 3 pages) may pose
a
minor inconvenience to some, I believe you will find the subject matter
worth
it. Its purpose is to counter the deluge of negative and false
propaganda.
Most of you receiving this, for a variety of reasons, will not be able
to
attend the forum later tonight in Maryland; and thus, your receiving
this is
the next best thing. For those interested, audiotape(s) will be produced
from
this evening's forum, and will be available tomorrow. Just send a
contribution of any amount, payable to The Peace And Justice Foundation,
and
we will send you a copy of what we produce. (Please be as generous as
you
can.)
A Fact Sheet on Imam Jamil Al-Amin
Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin was born Hubert Gerold Brown, the youngest
of
three
children, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on October 4, 1943. He acquired the
nickname “Rap� from the streets (growing up) as a result of his
impressive
dexterity with language, combining keen intellect with blunt coarseness.
He attended Southern University from 1960-64. In 1964, he moved to
Washington, DC, and became politically involved in the Student
Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In May 1967, at the age of 23, H. Rap
Brown
was elected chairman of SNCC, succeeding Stokely Carmichael.
In July 1967, he addressed a civil rights rally in Cambridge, Md., a
small
town on the eastern shore. Brown arrived late, and from the hood of a
car
gave a customary fiery address (later described by authorities as,
“inciting
the people to riot.�) After he spoke, a young woman requested an
escort
home. As Brown and two others escorted her up the street, assailants
opened
fire on them from bushes nearby. (Years later, reflecting upon that
incident,
Imam Al-Amin would remark, “We found out later the gunmen were black
policemen.�) After the shooting there was a lot of commotion in the
streets
which quickly escalated into a riot.
Two days after the explosion in Cambridge, Brown was arrested by FBI
agents at
Washington, DC’s, National Airport and charged with unlawful flight to
avoid
prosecution. Three weeks later, the State of Maryland charged him with
inciting a riot.
By 1968, much of SNCC’s leadership had merged into the Black Panther
Party for
self defense, which had been organized in Oakland, California, by Huey
P.
Newton and Bobby Seale; Brown would become the organization’s Minister
of
Justice.
In 1969 Brown’s first book was published entitled, Die Nigger Die!
(publ.,
Dial Press). The central premise of this book can be found in the
following
excerpt: “I lived near Louisiana State University, and I could see
this big
fine school with modern buildings and it was for whites. Then there was
Southern University, which was about to fall in and that was for the
niggers.
And when I compared the two, the message that the white man was trying
to get
across was obvious...Die Nigger Die.�
Brown went underground before trial on the Cambridge (Md.) charges and
made
the FBI’s most-wanted list; he resurfaced near the scene of a holdup
(a bar)
and shootout in New York City in 1971. Consequent to this, he would
serve
five years in prison. In prison he would embrace Islam, and begin his
transformation from H. Rap Brown to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin.
A New Focus in Life
Paroled from prison in 1976, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, opened a
community
store and became the Imam (leader) of the Atlanta Community Mosque.
While H. Rap Brown was known for his fiery rhetoric and in your face
confrontation, Jamil Al-Amin was known as a quiet, mild-mannered,
stabilizing
force in Atlanta’s West End community. In the words of 73 year old
Hattie
Stegall, “I never saw him angry. When someone would die in my family,
he
would come by and offer his hand. And when the Muslim children would
fight my
grandchildren, he would make them come to me and apologize.�
Iman Jamil would grow to lead a national community of Muslims, with
members
scattered around the US and Caribbean.
When Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin moved into Atlanta’s West End, it was
reportedly
a crime ridden section of the city known for prostitution and drug
proliferation. Under Imam Al-Amin’s leadership, Muslims led a
renaissance
which has resulted in the West End becoming a source of pride for the
city of
Atlanta. Despite this, however, the Imam’s past coupled with his
[Islamic] ori
entation would serve as a lightning rod for additional struggle.
On August 7, 1995, Imam Jamil Al-Amin was arrested in connection with
the
July shooting of a young man who was pressured by authorities into
identifying Al-Amin as his assailant. Even members of Atlanta’s
Police
Department openly expressed amazement when agents of the FBI, the
FBI’s
Domestic Counterterrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and
Firearms became involved in a case that the police themselves described
as “a
routine aggravated assault.� The charges were later proved unfounded
and
dropped.
A few months ago, Al-Amin was stopped by police and charged with
possessing
stolen goods (an auto), driving without insurance, and impersonating an
officer. He borrowed the car from a friend of his who operated a car
lot, and
who later (or so it was thought) resolved the issue of it being a stolen
auto, operated without insurance. The badge that police discovered - in
the
process of checking his wallet for identification - was given to him by
the
mayor of the town of Whitehall, Al., where Imam Jamil (along with
members of
his community) initiated a community project. He was made an honorary
member
of the town’s police force; and the
mayor of the town confirmed this in a letter to Georgian authorities.
Instead of dropping the charges, in light of these mitigating
circumstances,
the prosecutor notified Al-Amin’s attorney that his office intended to
pursue
charges, with the caveat that a deal could be worked out where Imam
Al-Amin
would “only spend six months� in jail. Imam Al-Amin’s position was
that he
did nothing wrong, and so he rejected the “deal.� When the trial
date came
around, Imam Al-Amin refused to cooperate (show up); as a consequence a
bench
warrant was issued for his arrest.
On Thursday, March 16, as Muslims around the world were in the process
of
celebrating the most important holiday in the Muslim calender (Eid
ul-Adha),
two sheriff deputies attempted to serve a warrant that was reportedly
issued
months earlier. One deputy was killed, the other injured; Imam Jamil
Al-Amin
was accused of being the assailant, and became a fugitive until his
arrest on
Monday, March 20th, in the State of Alabama by federal authorities.
On Tuesday, March 21, a press conference, sponsored by a number of
national
Muslim organizations, was held at the offices of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, DC. A prepared
statement
read in part: “We are not here today to judge the guilt or innocence
of any
party to this tragic series of events. Just as we do not prejudge, we
ask
that others wait until all the facts are known. In America, as in Islam,
anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty... Finally, we
make
note of a past incident in which Imam Jamil was apparently falsely
accused of
a similar, though far less serious crime. At that time, the alleged
victim
recanted and claimed that he was pressured by the authorities to
name Imam Jamil as the perpetrator.�
Final Thoughts
For more than two decades, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin has been one
of
the most respected leaders in the U.S., a man whose prominence
transcends the
Muslim community in America. From his years of involvement in the
struggle
for change in America during the 60s and 70s as H “Rap� Brown -
first with
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and later with the
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense - to his embrace of Islam and
transition
to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin in 1976, he has been committed to the struggle
for
justice and the liberation of
the oppressed.
The media and law enforcement community has consistently portrayed
him as
a violence prone “Black Panther� (regurgitating a quote which,
unfortunately, still holds true: “Violence is as American as cherry
pie.�).
No doubt, when the time for Imam Jamil's trial comes around, we will
hear
repeated references to his Black Panther past - as was the case in the
trial
of the award-winning journalist (on death row in Pennsylvania) Mumia
Abu-Jamal.
An excerpt, however, from Imam Jamil Al-Amin’s last book
(Revolution: By
The Book, publ., 1993 by Writer’s Inc.), is a far more representative
reflection of the man he is today. In it he writes:
“It is criminal that, in the 1990s, we still approach struggle [by]
sloganeering...saying, ‘by any means necessary,’ as if that’s a
program. Or,
‘we shall overcome,’ as if that’s a program. Slogans are not
programs. We
must define the means which will bring about change. This can be found
in
[what] Allah has brought for us in the Qur’an and in the example of
the
Prophet (pbuh). Our revolution must be according to what Almighty God
revealed.
“The struggle is an ongoing process...When the first slave
rebelled
against being a slave, he gave an alternative to slavery that has been
built
upon until now. That’s struggle; and there have been many movements in
the
struggle - the abolitionist movement, the antislavery movement, the
civil
rights movement...but, the struggle still goes on.
“The mission of a believer in Islam is totally different from
coexisting
or being a part of the system. The prevailing morals are wrong. Their
ethics
are wrong. Western philosophy has reduced man to food, clothing,
shelter, and
the sex drive, which means he doesn’t have a spirit. Successful
struggle
requires a Divine program. Allah (God) has provided that program.�
This is the Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin that the opinion shapers want to
keep
hidden! This is the Jamil Al-Amin that threatens the status quo!
In an article recently published in the National Review (February 21,
2000,
pp.40-41), noted commentator Daniel Pipes takes aim at a number of
American-born Muslims whom he considers a threat to the “American way
of
life.� He observes: “...the one time radical H. Rap Brown, now known
as
Jamil Al-Amin, declares, ‘When we begin to look critically at the
Constitution of the United States...we see that in its main essence it
is
diametrically opposed to what Allah has commanded.’�
In the land of “freedom of speech, conscience and religion,�
this
influential voice in the Western socio-political construct advises his
readers on the necessary course of action: “The first priority is for
journalists, intellectuals, clergy, and academic specialists to awaken
Americans to this still-incipient but rapidly growing problem...�
If there has been a conspiracy to neutralize Imam Jamil Al-Amin (and
others
like him), could this line of thinking be at the heart of it?
prepared by: El-Hajj Mauri’ Saalakhan
Tel: (
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