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By Any Means Necessary
Mutulu Shakur Hiram Rivera
Dr. Mutulu Shakur is one of the most decorated prisoners of the New Afrikan Independence Movement. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Shakur moved to Queens, New York City at the age of 7. Acutely aware of the ways in which the systems and institutions of New York City and the federal government so negatively impacted his family, Dr. Shakur made a commitment at a very early age to fight for the self-determination of his people. Understanding that without complete control of the institutions impacting the lives of New Afrikan people, there would never be freedom, justice, or equality for his family or the millions of New Afrikan families to come. Dr. Shakur was politicized in an era of violent segregation, racist policing, and the beginnings of U.S. military and imperial domination of the world. He understood that his life was going to be one of service to his people and to the oppressed peoples of the world. By the age of 16 he was an active member of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM). RAM was a revolutionary nationalist organization founded by Dr. Muhammad Ahmad and Donald Freeman, and it fought for the self-determination of the “internal Black colony” of the United States. He later joined the Republic of New Afrika, under the leadership of Imari Obadele, where he again experienced firsthand the extreme violence of the state toward New Afrikan people fighting for freedom within the empire. Already a veteran of this country’s open war against its New Afrikan population, Dr. Shakur channeled his experiences and skills into healing the most marginalized of our community. Using the eastern practice of acupuncture, Dr. Shakur worked alongside members of the Black Panther Party, the Republic of New Afrika, the Young Lords, and Students for a Democratic Society to establish the Lincoln Detox Center inside the notorious Lincoln Hospital. Healing Black and Brown people of their heroin addictions through natural medicine and political education, Dr. Shakur not only gave these individuals their lives back, but also gave them the skills and knowledge to go back and fight for the communities they came from. With the increased violence as a result of the federal government’s COINTELPRO terrorism campaign, Dr. Shakur acted on his belief that self-defense is a human right. After being indicted in 1982 by a federal grand jury under U.S. conspiracy laws, he lived underground until he was captured in 1986. Dr. Mutulu Shakur has remained a POW ever since. You can write to Dr. Shakur at: Dr. Mutulu Shakur #83205-012 Victorville USP P.O. Box 3900 Adelanto,CA 92301