Store
“If you don’t know anything about Dr. Mutulu Shakur, you should. The info below will give you an idea of the kind of man he is and the level of commitment and dedication he’s invested in pursuit of liberation, independence, self-determination and national sovereignty for American-born Afrikan-descended New Afrikan people. Please, take a little time to send him a card, note, letter – or something – to show some appreciation and love.” – AbdudDharr Abdullah
About Dr. Mutulu Shakur
Dr. Mutulu Shakur is a New Afrikan (Black) man whose primary work has been in the area of health. He is a doctor of acupuncture and was a co-founder and director of two institutions devoted to improving health care in the Black community.
Mutulu Shakur was born on Aug. 8, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland, as Jeral Wayne Williams. At age 7, he moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York City, with his mother and younger sister.
Shakur’s political and social consciousness began to develop early in his life. His mother suffered not only from being Black and female but was also blind. These elements constituted Shakur’s first confrontation with the state, while assisting his mother to negotiate through the maze that made up the social service system.
Through this experience, Shakur learned that the system did not operate in the interests of Black people and that Black people must control the institutions that affect their lives.
Since the age of 16, Dr. Shakur has been a part of the New Afrikan Independence Movement. As a part of this movement, Dr. Shakur has been a target of the illegal Counterintelligence Program carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigations known as COINTELPRO.
This was a secret police strategy used in the U.S. starting in the 1960s to destroy and neutralize progressive and revolutionary organizations. It is believed that Dr. Shakur’s resistance to this program led to his arrest and trial.
During the late ‘60s, Dr. Shakur was politically active and worked with the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), a Black Nationalist group which struggled for Black self-determination and socialist change in America. He was a member of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika, which endorsed the founding of an independent New Afrikan (Black) Republic and the establishment of an independent Black state in the southern U.S. Dr. Shakur also worked very closely with the Black Panther Party, supporting Lumumba and Zayd Shakur.
In 1970, Dr. Shakur was employed by the Lincoln Detox (detoxification) Community (addiction treatment) Program as a political education instructor. His role evolved to include counseling and treatment of withdrawal symptoms with acupuncture. Dr. Shakur became certified and licensed to practice acupuncture in the state of California in 1976. Eventually he became the program’s assistant director and remained associated with the program until 1978.
From 1978 to 1982, Dr. Shakur was the co-founder and co-director of the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA) and the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture. Where, at Lincoln, Dr. Shakur had managed a detox program recognized as the largest and most effective of its kind by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Acupuncture Research Society and the World Academic Society of Acupuncture, at BAAANA he continued his remarkable work and also treated thousands of poor and elderly patients who would otherwise have no access to treatment of this type.
Many community leaders, political activists, lawyers and doctors were served by BAAANA and more than 100 medical students were trained in the discipline of acupuncture.
By the late 1970s Dr. Shakur’s work in acupuncture and drug detoxification was both nationally and internationally known and he was invited to address members of the medical community around the world. Dr. Shakur lectured on his work at many medical conferences, and was invited to the People’s Republic of China. In addition in his work for the Charles Cobb Commission for Racial Justice for the National Council of Churches, he developed their anti-drug program.
Dr. Shakur has five biological children and several grandchildren who he maintains loving relationships with despite his incarceration. He was an inspiration for many of the positive messages in the musical work of his late stepson, Tupac Shakur.
To learn more, visit http://mutulushakur.com/site/about/, http://mutulushakur.com/site/ and https://www.thejerichomovement.com/profile/shakur-mutulu.
December 2019 Medical and Legal Update
by Family and Friends of Dr. Mutulu Shakur
Dear friends and comrades,
Dr. Shakur received a diagnosis of life-threatening bone marrow cancer in October 2019. Until now, he has requested that this information be kept private.
For over a year he had experienced pain in his bones, but he was not even x-rayed until April 2019. Although the prison doctor probably suspected cancer and called for a CT scan, the scan was delayed for four months.
After a year of delay, we know now that Mutulu is suffering from extensive painful bone lesions, caused by a rapidly growing bone marrow cancer. He is 69 years old, and aging in prison after 33 years of incarceration.
In 2014, he suffered a stroke, which required several months for recovery. He has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and vision problems from glaucoma.
We fear for his survival and his life. Dr. Shakur’s legal team has filed a compassionate release petition because now Dr. Shakur’s very survival depends on his release.
He meets the conditions for compassionate release under federal law. He is a recognized advocate for human and civil rights who poses no danger of committing any crimes against anyone. As evidenced by widespread support for his parole, he will be welcomed back into a community that will also provide for his financial and medical support.
However, on Dec. 5 he was denied compassionate release by the central office of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). He is currently receiving chemotherapy, but the BOP has not told him or his lawyer the exact type of treatment he is getting.
He has been able to talk with his newest lawyer, Mark Kleiman, and may receive a family visit from his son. Most importantly, Mutulu says that he is managing the treatment and his spirit is strong.
Our next steps are two-fold: Mutulu will petition his original judge, Judge Haight in the Southern District of New York, to modify his sentence so he can be released immediately based on his current medical condition. Dr. Shakur also has a habeas petition in front of Judge Wilson in federal court in Los Angeles, detailing the Parole Commission’s abuse of discretion through their politically-driven denials of parole. We will move to expedite that petition based on the newest information about his life-threatening medical condition.
Please send letters of support and love to Mutulu at Victorville: Dr. Mutulu Shakur, 83205-012, USP Victorville, P.O. Box 3900, Adelanto, CA 92301.
We are asking his comrades and supporters to give money for medical, legal defense, commissary and more. The quickest way to send financial support is through the Family and Friends of Mutulu Shakur PayPal (go to mutulushakur.com and click on the red and white DONATE button in the right sidebar if this direct link doesn’t work).
For your contribution to be tax-deductible, FFMS (Family and Friends of Dr. Mutulu Shakur) has a partnership with Community Aid and Development (CAD) (cadnational.org) that allows for tax-deductible donations via the PayPal button on their website. For a check or money order to be tax-deductible, make it payable to CAD, and send to P.O. Box 361270, Decatur, GA 30036-1270 with “FFMS” in the memo line.
At Dr. Shakur’s request, we are not creating a public campaign for his release at this time. We will update this information as we move into federal court.
