The New Afrikan Peoples Organization and the Malcolm X Grassroots
Movement salute the life of our brother and comrade Geronimo ji Jaga.
The life of Geronimo, or “G” as he was affectionately known, represents a
freedom fighter that sacrificed and loved Afrikan people and humanity.
Geronimo was given the name Elmer Gerard Pratt at birth on September
13, 1947, in Morgan City, Louisiana. He was born into a loving family
that would nurture him and provide support throughout his life. He grew
up in a community where he and other youth had to fight white
supremacists from the “other side of the tracks.”
Geronimo said he was encouraged to go into the US military by his
community Elders, who had roots in Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro
Improvement Association and the Deacons for Defense. His objective was
to learn military skills to be utilized for the defense of our community
and our people. “G” was a decorated soldier in the wrong army, earning
two Bronze Stars, a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts. He distinguished
himself as a Sergeant and Ranger in the 82nd Airborne of the US Army.
His Elders would redeploy him, after returning from two Vietnam
combat tours, to the greater Los Angeles area. There he would work with
Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, the principal organizer of the Southern
California Chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Carter and Geronimo
both became students at the University of California at Los Angeles
(UCLA). They participated in the Black student movement and the
formation of the Black Studies department at UCLA. Geronimo rose to
leadership of the Southern California Chapter and National BPP after
Carter and John Huggins were murdered in a Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) COINTELPRO inspired internecine conflict between the
US Organization and Panthers on the UCLA campus, in September 1969. He
quickly became a primary target to be eliminated by the FBI and Los
Angeles Police Department (LAPD) due to his organizing ability, military
skills, and the popularity of his comrades.
December 8, 1969, four days after Fred Hampton and Mark Clark was
assassinated in a pre-dawn raid in Chicago, Illinois; the LAPD launched a
military strike in South Central LA with Geronimo as its principal
focus. This raid was the first time that the infamous Special Weapons
and Tactics (SWAT) unit would be deployed in the United States. The LA
Panthers, comprised mostly of teenagers and young adults, engaged in a
four hour long gun battle, which can be attributed to the fortification,
preparation and training provided by Geronimo.
Since so many Panthers were arrested and/or killed during 1969,
Geronimo decided to concentrate on building the BPP’s capacity to defend
itself around the US Empire. He also collaborated and served as a
consultant to other defense formations nationally and internationally.
He assisted in establishing the groundwork for what would later be known
as the Black or Afro-American Liberation Army, the underground of the
Black Liberation Movement.
Geronimo and other comrades were arrested in Dallas, Texas in
December 1970. The impact of their ideological differences, coupled with
the FBI’s “divide and conquer” tactics, resulted in the BPP Oakland-
based national leadership expelling Geronimo. This was the precipitating
event that led to the organizational split of the BPP in 1971.
Lacking support from his organization, Geronimo was convicted in and
sentenced in September 1972 for the December 18, 1968 murder and robbery
of Caroline Olsen in Santa Monica, California. Geronimo steadfastly
maintained his innocence, stating he was over 400 miles away from Santa
Monica in Oakland, California for a BBP Central Committee meeting at the
home of David Hilliard. Also among those present at that meeting was
Kathleen Cleaver. MS. Cleaver testified, along with many other alibi
witnesses, at the trial of Geronimo.
Government agencies, primarily the FBI, had surveillance records of
Geronimo at this time. These records would prove that G was in San
Francisco Bay Area from December 13, 1968 to at least December 26, 1968.
The FBI, LAPD and LA County District of Attorney’s office conspired
to convict Geronimo based on the false testimony of a Paid Confidential
Informant – Julius Butler, infiltrating his legal defense team, and
concealing/withholding crucial evidence that would later exonerate him.
During 1971, while Geronimo was in captivity, his first wife and
comrade in the revolutionary nationalist underground, Sandra Pratt (aka
Nsondi ji Jaga) was murdered while eight months pregnant and left in a
ditch. Her murder was considered a political assassination.
Geronimo was held captive for twenty-seven years in the State of
California Penal system for a murder he did not commit. His first seven
years of his captivity were in solitary confinement in an attempt to
stifle his ability to organize. Geronimo remained active in his legal
defense, and managed to politicize and organize other prisoners while
behind bars. He maintained that he was a “Prisoner of War” because he
had been targeted for organizing and instructing New Afrikan people in
self-defense.
Geronimo declared his citizenship of the New Afrikan nation while
incarcerated. He strongly believed that our people would choose to vote
to establish an independent New Afrikan Republic, if given the
opportunity. He was a strong advocate of organizing a plebiscite – an
election for us to determine our relationship with the US Empire.
He choose the last name “ji Jaga” while incarcerated. “ji Jaga” is
Bantu for “of the Jaga people.” The Jaga or Imbangala people of West
Central Afrika formed “kilombos” or warrior societies after being
dispersed from a variety of Afrikan ethnics during the period of the
MAAFA (or Great Disaster) and the height of the Middle Passage.
While in prison, Geronimo met and married Ashaki ji Jaga. Two
children were born from this union, a daughter Shona and eldest son
Hiroji Geronimo. They also shared a beautiful granddaughter, Ashaki.
In the late 1970s, the National Task Force for COINTELPRO Litigation
and Research, under the leadership of Dr. Mutulu Shakur and Afeni Shakur
developed the legal strategy that would ultimately lead to the vacating
of the wrongful murder conviction of Geronimo. The National Task Force
believed that by invoking the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI would
be forced to release confidential surveillance documents that would
corroborate Geronimo’s alibi, proving that he was actually in Oakland at
the time of Olsen’s murder. The National Task Force obtained attorneys,
specifically Stuart Hanlon, to assist with Geronimo’s case. The
original murder trial attorney, Johnnie Cochran, rejoined the legal team
following the notoriety he received in the acquittal of O.J. Simpson.
The international and national support Geronimo’s case received was
essential in exposing the conspiracy against him, the BPP, and the Black
Liberation Movement.
Victoriously, Geronimo was eventually released in 1997. The United
States government and the County of Los Angeles were forced to pay a
$4.5 million settlement for the premeditated calculated conspiracy
against him.
Both NAPO and MXGM were central organizers of the national and
international campaign to win the release of our brother comrade. We
also played a role in organizing mass support, providing emotional
support for the family, and performing fundraisers for Geronimo’s
freedom in the Los Angeles area and throughout California. NAPO and MXGM
also provided the coordination of his national victory tour following
his release.
Geronimo did not stop working for his people after he was freed. He
continued to offer his good name for the cause of amnesty for our
Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. He worked and provided
financial support to activities for the development of neighborhood
youth in his hometown of Morgan City. “G” also committed himself to
putting the ideology of Pan-Afrikanism into practice. He supported
economic development and educational projects in Ghanaian and Tanzanian
local villages.
Geronimo married Joju Cleaver after his release. Their union produced
a son, Kayode. He later married Laila Minja in Tanzania and who gave
birth to his youngest son, Tkumsah.
“G” described himself as a “country boy.” He loved nature – to hunt
and fish. He considered himself at home whether in rural Louisiana or
with Afrikan people in the plains of Tanzania. He was a spiritual
person, who was inspired by his Ancestors and the concept of MAAT. He
loved life, family, comrades and human beings in general. He was
generous, passionate and a humorous brother who would roll up his
sleeves and do the necessary work for the betterment of Afrikan people
worldwide.
Geronimo made transition to the Ancestors on June 2, 2011. We are
proud to call him our Brother Comrade. “G” was one of the most humble,
straightforward and self-sacrificing servants of our people. He is a New
Afrikan, Pan-Afrikan and international hero. His name will live on
forever in the great pantheon of freedom fighters for our liberation and
self-determination.
MXGM
understands that the collective institutions of white-supremacy,
patriarchy and capitalism have been at the root of our people’s
oppression. We also understand that without community control and
without the power to determine our own lives, we will continue to fall
victim to genocide.
PDF
No comments:
Post a Comment