The Impact of Jails and Prisons on Black Protest, 1940-1972
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NARROW CELLS AND LOST KEYS: THE IMPACT OF JAILS AND PRISONS ON BLACK PROTEST, 1940-1972 Seneca Vaught A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2006 Committee: Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, Advisor Jeff S. Peake Graduate Faculty Representative Liette Gidlow Beth Griech-Polelle © 2006 Seneca Vaught All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, Advisor Jails and prisons have exerted a considerable amount of political and cultural influence on black activists and political prisoners in American social movements since the 1940s. The impact of these institutions can be interpreted in two ways: through the responses of activists using carceral factors as a central point of reference in their repertoire of protest and secondly in the cultural consciousness that envisioned imprisonment and/or carceral confrontation as a process of redemptive suffering. For nearly half a century, carceral institutions significantly affected the practice, perception and the opposition of black activism in American society. This dissertation outlines how the impact of imprisonment, jailing, policing and other carceral factors developed as a central theme in black protest over time. iv To Baba Djisovi v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to numerous individuals for their assistance in the completion of this project. I would like to thank my dissertation advisor Dr. Lillian Ashcraft-Eason and her late husband Dr. Djisovi Ikukomi Eason for their endless support of this project. The Easons have committed their hearts and souls to the furthering of knowledge of the African world and its people. I am truly grateful for the priceless lessons that they have taught me and all the help that they have provided along this intellectual journey. This work would not be possible without their greatness, compassion and intellect. I am truly grateful to the members of my committee—Dr. Liette Gidlow, Dr. Griech-Polelle and Dr. Jeff Peake for their assistance in this project. Thanks to Dr. Carter Wilson at the University of Toledo for his rigorous criticism and suggestions. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Tom Mascaro in the BGSU Telecommunications Department for introducing me to the skill of historical documentary-making. My undergraduate advisor, Dr. Ciro Sepulveda was influential in the pre-research phase as well. Thanks to Tina Amos for everything you did that helped me through this. Insights gained in Dr. Robert Buffington’s Crime and Punishment course and his comments helped frame the parameters of this dissertation. Thanks to Dr. Apollos Nwauwa for assisting me in learning about Africa. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Don Rowney for all his care, concern and advice. Thanks to my mentor Dr. Zachery Williams of the Africana Cultures and Policy Studies Institute who made living applications of this research possible, I am deeply indebted to him for providing such engaging experiences, detailed commentary and intellectual support for this project. I would also like to formally acknowledge Project Search and AAGSA---particularly Dr. Lisa Chavers, Kenyatta Phelps and Camillia Rodgers for supporting the completion of this research. Lastly, thanks to my wonderful wife Luwanda who suffered while I completed this work and helped me in countless proofreads and revisions. Thanks to my mother who believed in me, loved me and supported me through all this. Above all, thank God. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ........ .................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. MALCOLM’S JIHAD, 1941-1965 ............................................................................ 17 Carceral Experiences in Formative Years .............................................................................. 21 Emergence of a Delinquent ‘Little’ Thug ............................................................................... 24 The Impact of Incarceration on Malcolm Little/X ................................................................. 32 Carceral Factors and the Rise of Black Militant Islam .......................................................... 38 A Prison Scholar .................................................................................................................... 42 The Hinton Johnson Incident ................................................................................................. 47 The Ronald Stokes Incident ................................................................................................... 51 Carceral Factors and the Spheres of Malcolm ....................................................................... 55 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER II. BAYARD RUSTIN: THE PACIFIST PRISONER, 1944-1963............................... 75 The Roots of Radical Carceral Pacifism............................................................................... 81 Conscience and Conflict ...................................................................................................... 87 Rustin’s Carceral Experiences in Post War America ........................................................... 91 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 107 CHAPTER III. CAPTIVITY IN MARTIN LUTHER KING’S ACTIVISM, 1955-1963................ 111 Carceral Origins of the Civil Rights Movement ................................................................... 113 Significance of Political Imprisonment in the South ............................................................ 115 Imprisonment as a Central Strategy of Resistance................................................................ 123 Losing at Prison Politics ....................................................................................................... 124 Birmingham or Bust.............................................................................................................. 139 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 148 vii CHAPTER IV. SNCC AND THE USE OF THE JAIL NO-BAIL POLICY, 1961-1966................ 151 Charting a Jail No-Bail Philosophy and Strategy ................................................................. 153 Implementing the Strategy.................................................................................................... 165 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 197 CHAPTER V. KOFI LUKWABA EFU CONFRONTS MILITARISM, 1966-1977....................... 200 Efu and Carceral Activism.................................................................................................... 201 The Atlanta Project and the African Soul Brothers .............................................................. 203 Resistance to the Draft.......................................................................................................... 209 African Traditional Religion and Cultural Protest................................................................ 216 Redemption as a Black Scholar and Yoruba Priest............................................................... 220 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 230 CHAPTER VI. BLACK PANTHERS AND CARCERAL FACTORS, 1966-1972........................ 233 The Carceral Policy Context of the Black Panther Party...................................................... 236 Carceral Politics of Black Panther Party Protest................................................................... 244 The Carceral Persona of the Black Panther Party ................................................................. 251 The Free Angela Davis Movement ....................................................................................... 258 Black Women Engaging the Carceral—Fugitive and Female .............................................. 268 George Jackson’s Radical Carceral Consciousness .............................................................. 272 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 278 CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION: NARROW CELLS AND LOST KEYS ..................................... 280 BIBLIOGRAPHY......... .................................................................................................................... 297 1 INTRODUCTION If American history is recounted as a story of freedom, it can also be rendered a story of restriction. In early American history we often forget that tens of thousands of persons were transported to the American colonies as convicts. This was especially true for Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania with smaller numbers going to New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia, New York, the Carolinas and Massachusetts. Sentenced in a different manner, was a rapidly growing population of Africans who were convicted to life-long sentences of inequality based solely on the color of their skin. Many of these Africans living as slaves in the Americas derived notions of freedom and justice out of the stark reality of their own experiences in bondage. Captivity is a central theme in African