Issue 19 Introduction

Greetings, readers, friends, fellow activists and revolutionaries. Welcome to 4sm number 19 (mid-summer 2011). This issue begins our seventh year of publishing the news, views, insights and analyses of political prisoners and allies.

Tens of thousands of readers check out each issue (primarily the online edition). Yet 4sm’s production team is very modest and the work gets done because of the extraordinary voluntary effort and commitment of a small number of dedicated and righteous comrades in Canada. And of course it is the words of political prisoners and other insightful writers (inside and out), who create the material that makes this unique mag what it is. So thanks to everyone who has contributed to 4sm, in words, work or material support. Let’s keep it up and keep advancing. We welcome and need your words and your political and financial support.

After our letters section, we begin this issue with our celebration of Black August 2011. 4sm dedicates Black August and this entire issue as a tribute to geronimo ji-jaga, who passed of a heart attack on June 2, in Tanzania. geronimo, who was 63 (and chose to write his name without capitalization) was a major leader of the Black Panther Party and a founder of the Black Liberation Army. He was railroaded to prison on a bogus charge and did 27 years before he was exonerated and freed in 1997. We include several tributes to geronimo, as well as basic information on Black August in the first section.

Then we have a section on updates and actions. Everyone should check out the material on Pelican Bay, as well as this year’s “Running Down The Walls” (RDTW), which will take place on July 31. Next is our primary analytical and dialogue section, on the war in Libya. Following this is our section on struggle and analysis which includes essays on “Being Anti-Racist,” information on the government’s recent attacks on Carlos Montes, an original founder of the Brown Berets, and more. Remember, we welcome feedback and revolutionary dialogue on all our articles. We will look forward to your words for issue 20, including updates on Pelican Bay, and report backs on RDTW.

As you go through this issue, keep geronimo in your thoughts, as well as our warrior sisters who passed last August: Senora Lolita Lebron and Ms. Marilyn Buck. They all did so much, and now it is our turn. See you all in issue 20, out in November.

Jaan Laaman, editor/anti-imperialist political prisoner