Editor's Note: Thanks to Angola 3 Newsletter for contributing this piece to PNN.
Well, the old man has decided to leave us! I am sure it was a very hard choice for him, who will I serve, the ancestors who have called me home, or humanity whom I love so much?
Old man was my term of endearment - it had to do with the age of everything - to do with his heart and soul. Herman "Hooks" Wallace was not a perfect human being, and like all men, he had faults and weaknesses, but he also had character! He could make me so mad that I wanted to rip his head off! Then he would melt my heart with a word, or act of kindness to another human being.
On October 1st, sitting in a hospital room with the other part of my heart (Robert H. King), I tried to will a miracle and it was granted, not the miracle of life that I wanted but the miracle of freedom! After 42 years of tireless struggle against evil, he was a free man!
I wanted so badly to witness his walk to freedom, but it was not to be, I had to leave, but after losing my mother, sister and brother in law to cancer, I was at peace!
I had a chance to say goodbye to my comrade in the struggle, my mentor in life, my fellow panther and most of all, my friend. Herman taught me that a man can stumble, even fall, as long as he gets up. That it's OK to be afraid, but hold onto your courage. To lose battle, is not the loss of a war!
Herman Wallace's greatest pride was joining the Black Panther Party for self defense! He believed in duty, honor and dedication. He never broke the faith of the party, his comrades or the people. As I bent to kiss his forehead, my heart said goodbye - I love you forever - my soul said - separated but never apart - never touching, but always connected. He was the best of us, as long as we remember him, he lives on.
All Power to the People!
Albert "Shaka Cinque" Woodfox
(Photos of banner and mural from North Carolina)