If it doesn't stop here with the SF8, who's next?

by Lola Bean/POORNewsNetwork

"Put your purse on the table and step through." The armed guard pointed to the metal detector and I quietly did as I was told. I stood and waited as he rifled through my purse and directed the woman behind me to wait her turn. He turned over my cell phone, my wallet, my camera, my pen and my paper a number of times before handing me back my bag and allowing me to
pass.

On this day the San Francisco 8, former Black Panthers, elders in the Black community, and mentors to generations of resisters would stand in court on charges stemming from a 36 year old case.

I was at the courthouse at 850 Bryant to re-port and sup-port the San Francisco 8 for POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork. With numerous other supporters I chanted "Free the SF8!" in hopes that they could hear us from inside the building and know we are there for them.

Like many others born into violence and discrimination, my life has been characterized by struggle and resistance. My struggles led me to the tenderloin office of POOR Magazine and into a family of resistors dedicated to defending their communities and giving voice to those without. We are scholars in abuse, race, disability, and poverty that have come together to deconstruct the margins of oppression and much of our scholarship is rooted in the collective struggles of elder resisters like the SF8.

I followed a woman that I had recognized from outside past the elevators and around the corner to the hallway in front of Department 12. The area was filling up rapidly and soon I found myself leaning up against the wall outside of the courtroom surrounded by concerned members of the community.
The waves of concerned chatter rolled through the San Francisco courthouse and above crowded sounds my ears caught the words, "How can they do this? They are our heroes!"

It was here in the Bay Area in 1966, just over 40 years ago that the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was formed. During the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers sought to provide much needed social services to the Black community. In San Francisco, they began their Free Breakfast for Children Program which would eventually feed over 10,000 children across the United States every morning. They provided vocational training, educational resources, and community enrichment programs. They distributed clothing, food, and provided medical services. They were models of community self-empowerment and mentors to generations of resisters.

Their historic struggles laid the foundation for organizations like POOR Magazine, who provides the community with programs that are focused on teaching non-colonizing, community-based and community-led media, multi-media and art with the goals of creating access for unheard voices, preserving and de-gentrifying rooted communities of color and re-framing the debate on poverty, homelessness, disability and race in the US as well as creating short and long-term social change and racial justice.

For their contributions to the Black community, in 1968 President Hoover described the Black Panthers as "The greatest threat to the internal security of the country." By 1969, the Black Panthers had become the prime target of the federal counter-intelligence program, COINTELPRO. COINTELPRO carried out arrests, torture, and assassination of political dissidents and resisters. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense organized to protect community members from violent state attacks and their lives were put in danger because of it.

"Everyone get in a single file line!" 3 uniformed guards appeared at the front of the courtroom. 2 had metal detecting wands. It was 1:30pm and finally time for us to enter Department 12. When I reached the front, one of the guards asked me to spread my arms apart so I could once again be searched. He waved the wand over my arms and legs and stomach and pointed me
in the direction of the third guard. This uniformed man took my purse and searched through my belongings.

In 1971, Sgt. John Young of the SFPD was murdered in Ingleside. At the height of the investigation, 13 Black activists were arrested in connection with the murder in Louisiana. The late John Bowman, Harold Taylor, and Ruben Scott were among those detained and interrogated in New Orleans in 1973. Two San Francisco detectives, McCoy and Erdelatz, supervised what
would turn into days of the interrogation and torture of these men. They were handcuffed to chairs and beaten. Plastic bags and hot blankets were wrapped around their heads and bodies until the suffocation found them unconscious. Cattle prods were used to shock their genitals and anuses.

After days of enduring this horrifying torture, law enforcement agencies succeeded in extracting "confessions" for the 1971 murder. In 1975, a San Francisco court recognized the torture used and dismissed the case citing that statements made under torture are neither credible nor legal. The men were free to continue their lives.

I took my purse and walked through the doors and into the courtroom. There were rows of old wooden chairs that folded down. A few were broken. I found one in the center row on the left hand side of the room. I was fortunate to have found a seat. There were more supporters in the courthouse than there was room to hold us.

The SF8 have spent the last 30 plus years as leaders in their communities. Richard Brown has worked in the Fillmore community for decades. Richard O'Neal works for the city of Dan Francisco and at a community center in the Bay View. Ray Bordeaux has worked for LA county for the past 25 years and has been involved in the community in his area. Harold Taylor continues his activism in Panama City, Fl. Hank Jones is a community elder in Altadena and Frank Torres works with trouble youth. Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaquim have been political prisoners for over 30 years, but continue their struggle from prison.

The SF8 have been productive members of society, elders in their community, and mentors to those of us struggling in society. The impact of their work was clearly exhibited by the outpouring of support from the seats in Department 12. In San Francisco and throughout the United States, organizations like POOR Magazine continue community based, grass-roots service and resistance for communities of struggle. Individuals such as myself personally engage daily in resisting state oppression and supporting communities of struggle. In this witch hunt against political activists, my fate, the fate of POOR Magazine, and the fate of all those engaged in the struggle against oppression may all be determined at 850 Bryant St.

In 2005, over 30 years after the charges had been dropped, post 9-11 legislation, especially regarding the use of torture, and restructuring of law enforcement and intelligence agencies has enabled detectives McCoy and Erdelatz, the same detectives that supervised the torture of Bowman, Taylor, and Scott, to combine forces with the FBI to once again reopen the case against SF8. On January 23, 2007 these community leaders were targeted for arrest stemming from the 36 year old case in which false confessions were extracted through the use of torture.

Members of the SF8, the eldest 71 years old, entered the courtroom shackled and in orange jumpsuits. These men, fathers, grandfathers, and great-grand fathers, looked with warm eyes out at the packed courtroom. They are chained at the waist, wrists, and feet and are kept on 24 hour lock down. Their bail is set at $3 million. No one has ever been charged for the torture that was carried out in New Orleans. Two of the men began speaking to each other. "SHHHHHHH." Warned a young, black woman in uniform. They weren't allowed to speak to each other.

The hearing lasted only a handful of minutes. Some technicalities were argued and the courtroom was cleared. We are still early in the process and the SF8 will see many more days behind bars before they will be brought to trial. The crowd disperses with promises to return to show support at the next hearing.

The government is sending a clear message to us. Resist and we will never forget. Resist and we will never stop going after you. Resist and we will find a way to destroy you no matter how long it takes. The government is spending millions of dollars to go after resisters past and present. If it doesn't stop here with the SF8, who's next? Will I find myself and the other members of POOR Magazine in shackles and orange jumpsuits or plastic bags and hot blankets. Will they come after us now, or 30 years from now.

Please show your support to the SF8. Come to 850 Bryant on May 4 at 1:30pm.