Free Angela and All Political Prisoners Page #6

---

"and All Political Prisoners."

She insisted on "All Political Prisoners."

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.

We had connections and people

in the Trade Union Movement

and the churches, we were able to go

and say, "Will you support a resolution

"for Angela Davis to be released on bail?"

And they might say yes or no,

but they'd say,

"Persuade us. Come in and talk to us."

It was actually Henry Winston,

who was National Chairman

of the Communist Party,

he said, "Campaign for bail. "

I went like, looking at him,

"What, are you nuts?

"No way we campaign for bail."

The President of the United States

made a public statement

in which he congratulates

the FBI on the capture

of the "dangerous terrorist,"

Angela Davis.

That's a quote. "Dangerous terrorist."

He was saying, "Campaign for bail."

We'd say, "Campaign for bail?"

President of the United States...

He says, "Campaign for bail."

That man was a genius.

He was a tactical genius,

because people would sign petitions for bail

who may have thought she was guilty,

but believed that she

was entitled to a fair trial.

Charlene Mitchell, who was the brain

behind the whole

National United Committee

to Free Angela Davis.

I didn't know the first thing about

organizing movements, but Charlene did.

All of our efforts and all of our energies

had to be focused

on getting her out of there.

Politically, I saw this case as a bellwether.

They are not going to kill her.

They're not going to imprison her,

we're going to free her.

We're gonna win her freedom.

I was in solitary confinement,

some distance from where

the majority of women were kept.

It was lonely, very lonely.

I read a lot. I wrote a lot.

I followed the examples

of other prisoners, such as George.

I was able to create

a certain sphere of freedom, you might say,

within the context of that confinement.

Well, I suppose as far as you're concerned,

it's no surprise

that you're in solitary confinement.

And I'm wondering what kind of

shock that has been to your sensibilities,

to your emotions?

But see, I understood

very well that the reason why

the Marin County officials

would not permit me to talk

to any other woman in that jail

was because they wanted to break me.

They wanted me to respond in that way.

They wanted me to feel

the burden of the solitude,

and I just had to make up my mind

that I was not going to

let it affect me that way.

I think that what George Jackson said about

life in prison is very appropriate here.

He says that prison either breaks

a person or makes the person stronger.

And I would like to think

that I have become stronger

during this experience.

My emotional relationship with George

became far more intense

when I was behind bars.

Part of that passion

consisted in

our being able to imagine ourselves

as comrades

helping to usher in a new world.

When she was in prison

and when George was in prison,

they had the opportunity to meet.

We met for a period of time,

we had discussions

and the type of things that you discuss

when you have a legal meeting.

And then Angela and George had met

separately to discuss things

that only the two of them wanted

to discuss with each other.

It was a meeting that was

really complicated and full of

all kinds of emotions and feelings.

She's been locked up.

And if she's had the opportunity

to do some hugging and kissing, right on.

That's my theory.

Those were the years

of the black revolution.

Everybody wanted to organize.

And your organization,

the first thing of it was, it was black.

Black teachers, black doctors,

black lawyers.

Black people who were professionals.

Black people who had done

everything that the system says,

they were, now.

I thought it was important strategically

for a black attorney to be the public face

of a political prisoner at trial.

We wanted to present to the world

the picture of African-American lawyers

performing at a very high level

on a worldwide stage.

And you have to understand the workings

of a racist judicial system,

that the system

is in control of the white people.

And white people don't take any risks

when it comes to black people.

So, I don't think that

you're gonna find a jury

who's going to have the courage

to do what's demanded of them.

I don't know of any other

cases in the last century

that presented that degree of difficulty.

Where the courthouse

itself was a crime scene,

and the judge, the prosecutor,

the jurors and witnesses were all victims.

A big issue at the beginning of the case

was whether or not

to sever the trials

of Angela Davis and Ruchell Magee.

So he is the surviving

prisoner from August 7th.

And he was being charged

with the same thing.

First degree murder,

first degree kidnapping

and conspiracy to commit both.

There were those who wanted me

to be disassociated with Ruchell

and felt that that was the best way

to assert my innocence.

I didn't want to disassociate myself.

Ruchell argued it was like a slave rebellion.

In a lot of ways, it probably was.

It was, kind of this last ditch effort,

some way to assert

some control over one's life.

We had a big debate because we said,

"Look, Angela wasn't even there.

"It's very prejudicial to her

to have him tried together with her.

"She never even met the man. "

On the other hand,

we didn't want to abandon Ruchell.

Miss Davis' attorneys asked the judge

to set her free on bail.

But Magee objected,

saying it would prejudice his own case.

Apparently, defendants Davis and Magee

are at odds on each other's

defense tactics.

The court denied bail,

so both defendants

were sent back to their cells

until a new judge is appointed.

That could take several weeks.

None of the judges in Marin County

were qualified,

because Judge Haley was their colleague.

So, the judicial council

then had to select a judge

to try the case.

Will you ever find a judge who can give

you a fair trial in your estimation?

Well, we certainly

have got to search for one.

We are sort of like Diogenes,

looking for the honest man.

We're looking for an honest judge.

The next judge who was assigned

was Judge Richard Arnason

from Contra Costa County.

And the first day he was on the bench,

we reached the conclusion that this is

the judge that should have this case.

'Cause he had an air about him

that he would be fair,

he would make an effort to be fair,

and that he would be in charge.

I think that, perhaps,

it would be much better to ask

somebody who has seen me

in the years I've been on the bench,

what kind of a judge I am.

Self-analysis has never been

very productive for anybody,

and I'm not going to do it now at this time.

Defense attorneys today asked

that the murder and kidnap indictments

against Angela Davis be dismissed.

"Because she's completely

innocent of these charges

"and she's locked into a proceeding

that never gets started."

The judge, the sixth

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes